Ashitol Bay is one of the best places for drift diving in Phuket. It is quite a difficult dive though because of the current and so can only be dived by experienced divers. The maximum depth is around 35 meters and visibility can be as low as 10 meters depending on the currents and the weather. On good days, visibility can be higher than 20 meters. Usually when diving this site, it is better to dive with milder currents so that the drift dive is more comfortable.
The bay protects the dive site and so there are many healthy corals and bommies (coral mounts) to be explored. The currents whilst strong enough for drifting are not as strong as other sites in the region. Like much of the area, the reef provides shelter for a huge variety of reef fish and other invertebrates and marine life.
Much of the coral is in good condition and is made up of both soft and hard coral with staghorn coral dominating. Amongst this coral, it is common to see some larger fish such as wrasse, jacks and trevally. Smaller fish include Moorish idols, moral eels, butterfly fish, sweetlips, lionfish, and scorpion fish. Triggerfish are common in the bay and they can be quite aggressive toward divers, when they are nesting. They have been known to approach divers in order to frighten them away from their offspring. This makes for an amusing site as a 20 cm fish tries to attack a 2-meter person.
Along the drift dive, larger fish will include trevally, shark, and sometime larger school of barracuda or snapper. Turtles, rays, and sea snakes have also been spotted here. Shark species are normally reef sharks but like other sites in the area, leopard sharks can be seen relaxing at the bottom of the dive site.