Satellite view of Koh Tao with approximate depth contours every 10 m

Koh Tao in January

January is outside the peak season in Koh Tao (best: Mar-May). Expect water around 28 °C at the surface and 28 °C at depth, with about 18 m of visibility.

Season
Off peak
Water
28 °C
Visibility
18 m
Waves
0.7 m
Species likely
394
Best sites for January DecemberFebruary
Koh Tao from Sentinel-2, 1 December 2025 · Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025; depth contours approximate (NOAA ETOPO 2022)
January at a glance

What January is like in Koh Tao.

Month grade from logged dives across 23 sites: visibility, sea state and sightings. Tap a month to compare.

Divegrade month grade, 0 to 10Best monthsOther months
January · Off peakOutside the best months (Mar-May)

Surface 28 °C, at depth 28 °C, visibility 18 m, waves about 0.7 m.

Peak seasonBest: March, April, May

Compare Koh Tao in March or see the whole year on the Koh Tao page.

Where to dive in January

Best dive sites in Koh Tao in January.

Ranked by Divegrade score for January. Each line shows the site's January conditions where divers have logged them.

Interactive map loads here. Every site on it is also listed on this page.

  1. 01Chumpon Pinnacle19 m viz · 28 °C · Advanced · 12-45 m8.1
  2. 02HTMS Sattakut19 m viz · 28 °C · Advanced · 18-31 m7.5
  3. 03Southwest Pinnacle18 m viz · 28 °C · Advanced · 4-40 m7.5
  4. 04Sail Rock18 m viz · 28 °C · Open Water · 0-40 m7.3
  5. 05Aow Tanote19 m viz · 28 °C · Beginner · 2-20 m7.2
  6. 06Hin Ngam18 m viz · 28 °C · Beginner · 3-16 m7.2

Site list photos: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · Leonard Low from Australia, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), Moon wrasse, taken elsewhere · (c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) · (c) Jean Jacques Godon, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · (c) ig: underwater.logs, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · (c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) · (c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · Amada44, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA 3.0) · (c) Kat Lim, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · (c) Gonzalo Ganda Álvarez, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · (c) luluchouette, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY) · H. Schlegel, via Wikimedia Commons (PD), Doublebar Rabbitfish, taken elsewhere · (c) Shane Austin, some rights reserved (CC BY), via iNaturalist (CC BY).

What you'll see in January

Hongkong Butterflyfish on 9% of dives.

Chance per dive in January across all sites here, from sightings in logged dives.

Also likely in January 390 species · chance per dive

Other months

Peak season: March, April, May.

All 23 dive sites in Koh Tao

More places to dive

Pair it, or trade up.

All of Thailand
Best dive sites in Thailand
Citizen science

Turn every dive into ocean science

The ocean covers 70% of the planet but is the least-recorded place on Earth. Scientists can't be on every reef. Divers are.

Make your dives countLog a dive
  • Free to join
  • Works with your dive computer
What happens to one sighting
A mobula ray swimming in open blue water, a remora on its back
Mobula rayMobula sp.15 m · Princess Alice Bank, Azores
  1. You log itWhat you saw, from your dive computer file or by hand.
  2. We check itPinned to the dive site and matched to a scientific name.
  3. Scientists can use itKept with its date, depth and place, in the format the big open species databases like GBIF use.

What scientists need, and how you help

  • More places

    Most ocean records come from a few coasts. Log every dive, even quiet sites.

  • What wasn't there

    Full dive logs show when a species goes missing. Log every animal, not just the highlights.

  • Same reefs, every year

    Change only shows up over years. Keep logging your home reef.

  • Names they can trust

    Lookalike species trip up records. Tag animals and add a photo.