Black Rock
Mergui Archipelago
Black Rock is an 80m wide islet, standing in a northwest to southeast position, with steep banks all around, and a wall on its west and south west sides.
Many divers' favourite Burma scuba diving spot in the Mergui Archipelago, Black Rock will have your your heart pounding from spectacular passes of whitetips, silvertips, and blacktip sharks.
Standing alone in the Andaman Sea, Black Rock is just as famous for its incredible schools of mobula rays. Then, there's the majestic encounters with manta rays and eagle rays soaring above and around you off the deep north western corner, and huge marble stingrays and leopard sharks on the sandy bottom.
On the boulder slopes to the south you'll find sprawling carpets of brown disc anemones (Corallimopharian Discosoma) and purple soft corals (Dendronephthya). Home amongst the lower boulders is the granddaddy of all great barracudas. Over 1½ m long, this thick set monster is so huge it ignores divers, intent instead on receiving dental surgery from the cleaner wrasse. Its scars bare testimony to many a bruising encounter.
Head to the shallower eastern section for mantis shrimp, red swimmer crabs and large hermit crabs, and dotted on the rocks are the unusual white hairy urchins (Lovenia Elongata).
Explore the wall for blue, yellow, green and orange soft tube corals, and the banks for hunting big-eye trevally, pompano and banded sea snakes.
Please do take note that currents can be strong and terminally downward, particularly on the deeper sides of the islet. Altogether, a truly awesome Burma dive site.
Black Rock Reef Basics: Sharks and rays
Depth: 5 - >40m
Visibility: 15 - 50m
Currents: Can be strong
Surface Conditions: Can be rough
Water Temperature: 25 - 28°C
Experience Level: Advanced
Diving Season: October to May
PADI Course Suitability: Great for deep diving
Distance: ~140 km north northwest of Kawthaung (7 hours)
Access: Burma liveaboard diving from Phuket, Khao Lak and Ranong in Thailand
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