THAILAND DIVER

Fish, fish, fish everywhere – his photos tell the story but photographer ALEX TYRRELL also makes the case for this dive-site not only being the best in Thailand but world class by any standard

 Giant trevally and silversides over soft corals.

THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS of how Richelieu Rock got its name. The first is the one preferred and romanticised by scuba-divers, and credits their beloved Jacques Cousteau.

Here’s the gist: When Cousteau visited the Thai region of the Andaman Sea in the late 1980s, he found Richelieu Rock with the help of local fishermen.

Ascending from a dive in the afternoon he was supposedly inspired by the purple, red and pink soft corals illuminated in the strong afternoon sunshine. On surfacing he pronounced: “It looks as if the rock has been draped in a cardinal’s cassock.”

The most likely cardinal to Cousteau, as a Frenchman, would have been the infamous Richelieu – hence the name.

The second version involves Andrea du Plessis de Richelieu, a Danish naval officer and businessman who became the first and only foreign-born commanderin-chief of the Royal Thai Navy at the start of the 20th century.

It’s likely that the rock was named after him, given that Thai naval charts dating back to the 1970s and earlier already had Richelieu Rock clearly marked.

However it was named, Richelieu Rock deserves its ranking among the world’s best dive-sites, and if it isn’t currently on your to-dive list, perhaps it should be.