Mergui Archipelago: Mergui Archipelago (Myeik Kyun Su)

Myeik or Mergui Archipelago, located in southernmost part of Myanmar (Burma), comprises over 800 beautiful islands, some of them the size of Singapore, completely covered with green forests, a series of underwater mountains and fabulous coral gardens.

The only human inhabitants in the area are sea gypsies (Moken) namely Salon in Myanmar(Burma). They live on boats during dry season and remain on land during rainy season. They still practice the same fishing and boat building techniques used for generation.

Just north of the Surin Islands, an imaginary line divides Thai waters from Myanmar's Mergui Archipelago. Also known as the Myeik (in Burmese) Archipelago, this immense area covers approximately 36,000 sp km (14,000 sq miles) and included roughly 800 islands. Diving here is still in its infancy, as the entire region has been off-limits to outsiders since the late 1940s. After several years of negotiation by Phuket dive operators, the archipelago was opened for tourism in 1997, yet much of the area remains unexplored.

Underwater, this region offers scenic reefs, fascinating topography and prolific fish and invertebrate life. One of the main attractions for divers is the strong possibility of seeing big animals, especially sharks and rays. More dependable, however, is the tremendous variety of smaller fish and reef creatures, including many unusual species, some of which are rarely encountered in Thai waters. Add to this the allure of diving where few people have before and you've got all the ingredients for a top-notch dive destination. Considering the vast number of islands and reefs, many more dive sites are undoubtedly waiting to be discovered.

It is too early to say what this area's long-term prospects are, but hopefully, increasing interest in ecotourism will provide enough incentive for the authorities to take action and protect the reefs before it is too late.