A largely unexplored area, the Burma Banks  are a series of large underwater flat-topped sea-mounts that lie approximately 180 kilometres (100 nautical miles) Northwest of the Similan Islands. The banks' surrounding waters are more then  300 metres deep and large areas rise to within the depth limits of recreational scuba diving.

A common misconception among divers is that the Corals at the Banks are dynamited, which rest assured is not the case, the Banks always featured only hard corals and bommies, ancient reef structeres showing a lot of storm damage at this open ocean site.

The name derives from the fact that this 1,500 square kilometre area lies within the exclusive economic zone of Burma.

Bottomline: Burma Banks
Close shark encounters are virtually guaranteed here.

The most common diving technique at the banks are large drift dives over the mountain flats. Currents can be quite tricky here - sometimes changing in direction 90¬ to 180¬ very quickly - and very fast. It is common to drift over one kilometre on certain dives - assuming the current is taking you in the directly you originally planned! Diving at the Banks involves strict safety rules. All divers must dive with a 'safety sausage', a whistle or other signaling device, and  either the dingy or the larger vessel will follow the diver's bubbles on the surface. Finally, it is a must that buddy pairs stay together at all times. To become separated from your dive boat this far from land would surely be a disaster. The weather condition can change also very fast. An oily sea, in one hour, will become a rough "3 meter high wave" trip back to the closest land.