Breakfast Bend
Also known as: Three Trees
A beginner-friendly sloping reef off Similan Island No. 9, the customary first dive of an Andaman liveaboard trip, with a resident barracuda school and garden eels.
Last updated September 2026
The dive
Two mooring buoys mark Breakfast Bend on the east side of Similan Island No. 9, and the customary route starts at a cluster of large granite boulders at the south end. Cracks and small swim-throughs run between them, and whitetip and blacktip reef sharks often rest or patrol here early in the day. From the boulders the sloping hard-coral reef bends north along the shoreline, giving the site its name together with its long-standing role as the breakfast-time first dive of a Similan trip. Where the reef meets open sand, garden eels retreat into their burrows. The dive ends near the northern end, where a dense stand of whip corals marks the change from coral slope to sand. Current usually splits near the middle of the bend, and divemasters route the group along whichever side is calmer that day; where it runs harder, near the southern boulders, the profile turns into a light drift.
What makes it special
Breakfast Bend earns its place in the itinerary by function as much as scenery. Liveaboards from Khao Lak and Phuket moor here at dawn because the early light gives the clearest water of the day and because the reef is an easy way to gauge a group before the trip moves on to Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock. It does that job with more going for it than a warm-up dive needs: leopard sharks rest on the sand, a humphead wrasse works the boulders, and a barracuda school large enough that one operator titles its footage a "tornado" circles the bend. A resident hawksbill turtle, recognisable by a chipped shell, is known to approach the mooring platform. Snorkellers reach much of the same reef from the surface, which keeps day-trip boats coming even without divers aboard.
Know before you go
Currents pick up around the southern boulder field and can turn the return leg into a drift, so stay with your group and carry a surface marker buoy. Titan and Yellow Margin triggerfish nest in the sandy patches and will defend them; keep well clear of a nest rather than push in for a closer look. Dive it in the morning if you have a choice of timing; the light and the visibility both fall away later in the day. One operator describes the reef's southern section as damaged in the 2004 tsunami and now recovered to good condition, though that account is undated and uncorroborated elsewhere.
Why Dive Breakfast Bend
What makes this dive site stand out.
- Resident barracuda school
A large school patrols the reef; the exact species is disputed between operators
- Whip coral garden
A dense stand of whip corals covers the reef's northern end
- First dive of the trip
Liveaboards moor here at dawn to size up divers before harder Similan sites
- Resting reef sharks
Whitetip and blacktip reef sharks use the southern boulder cracks
- Sand-edge garden eels
Colonies retreat into burrows where the reef meets open sand
Depth & Profile
Conditions & difficulty
Coincides with the park's main dive season and the clearest morning light
Rated to the site's fuller 25 m profile. Most groups, including Open Water divers, stay on the shallower part of the reef; the disputed 30-35 m boulder stretch some operators describe would need training beyond Advanced Open Water's recreational ceiling
Summary
Suitable for all levels, including try-dives and snorkelling; current strengthens near the southern boulder field
Safety considerations
What can go wrong here, and what divers do about it. Conditions change - take the briefing from the operator on the day.
- Marine life: Titan and Yellow Margin triggerfish nest in the sandy patches and defend them from approaching diversKeep well clear of a nest and retreat if a fish charges
- Current: Current picks up noticeably around the southern boulder field and can turn the dive into a light driftFollow the divemaster's routed side of the bend and carry a surface marker buoy
Marine Life
Rules and permits
- Conduct: no touching, no feeding, no disturbing wildlife, no damage to the seabed, no litter. (applied by your centre)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Breakfast Bend the same site as Morning Glory?▾
No. Morning Glory sits on the east side of Similan Island No. 5 and runs south to Barracuda Point. Breakfast Bend is a separate reef off Island No. 9, roughly a full island away. Divers still conflate the two, since both promise a barracuda encounter.
Why is Breakfast Bend always the first dive of a Similan liveaboard?▾
Boats sail overnight from Khao Lak or Phuket and reach the Similans around dawn, and this reef's easy, sloping profile gives a divemaster a low-risk way to size up a new group before moving on to harder sites such as Koh Bon or Richelieu Rock. The early light also gives the best visibility of the day. The park closes to general-visitor tourism, including day landings, for roughly five months each year, from around 16 May to 14 or 15 October, with the exact reopening date confirmed annually, and this dawn routine runs the rest of the year. A separate, year-round rule bars unlicensed overnight stays in the park; licensed liveaboard operators are exempted from that overnight-stay rule under a 2018 government gazette, which is what lets them run multi-day trips at all, not an exemption from the seasonal closure itself.
How deep does Breakfast Bend actually go?▾
Most dives stay between 5 and about 25 metres over a sandy slope and boulder reef. A few operators describe a rockier stretch reaching 30-35 metres; that figure appears to describe the site's outer terrain, since every source walking through the actual dive route keeps divers well inside 25 metres.
What species is the barracuda school at Breakfast Bend?▾
It's disputed. One liveaboard operator identifies it as Forster's barracuda; a separate discovery pass describes a chevron barracuda school of over 200 fish. No independently verified, photo-based identification exists for this site, so the school's size is the reliable part and the species name is not.
Do I need Advanced Open Water to dive Breakfast Bend?▾
No minimum is enforced, and it's commonly run as a try-dive or check-dive site on the shallow 5-20 metre band. Only a diver aiming for the deeper 30-metre-plus boulder terrain some operators describe would need training beyond Open Water's recreational limits.
Is Breakfast Bend good for snorkelling as well as diving?▾
Day-trip boats commonly pair the shallow reef top with a snorkelling option, and much of the coral and reef-edge life is visible without a tank.
Is Breakfast Bend the same site as Three Trees?▾
Yes, both names describe the same reef. Three Trees refers to three unusually tall trees standing together on the island's cliff above the site; Breakfast Bend refers to the timing and to the bend the reef traces around the island.
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