I was lucky enough to dive with Big Blue Khao Lak pre covid when they were running speed boats to richelieu rock and had a liveaboard MV Hallelujah. Big Blue dive operations in Thailand have changed a lot post covid and they now have a new boat MV Blue Dolphin. Boots and Takeshi (the owners) have 13+ and 25+ years experience running liveaboards in the Similians and have built up a reputation as running amongst the best boats operating in the area.
I made contact with Steve “Boots” in the summer, whilst the MV Blue Dolphin was still being built and Boots was super helpful and I quickly made the decision to dive with them despite the boat being built and I was the first one to sign up for one of their maiden voyages. Throughout the interim period I was sent photos of the plans and kept me in the loop as to the progress of the build with photos. I was lucky enough to go on the second voyage and as you can imagine the boat was spotless.
Boots and Takeshi have thought about every element of what makes a liveaboard work. They have kept the boat small to a maximum of 16 divers, in a variety of cabins at different price points but all with AC. The cabins are really well thought out comfortable and mixed between the lower deck and upper deck.
The dive deck is fairly open, with more than enough space and again well organised with a great camera table in the centre (including compressed air), there is a nice open plan dining area with real coffee, lovely kombucha and free soft drinks on the upper deck coupled with a great AC lounge area with 58 inch TV
On departure day Big Blue pick you up from hotels in Phuket, the airport and Khao Lak and take you to the boat, ahead of an evening departure. When I got to the boat Andy from Big Blue Tech on Koh Tao had a crew of 3 with him and where already settled in and having a beer after a long journey from Koh Tao and some Japanese customers where busy unpacking. I quickly sorted out my gear and unpacked and joined the guys for a beer and an introduction to the boat, its crew and too establish dive groups, I was paired with Boots and an Aussie guy, the tech group where finishing some deep and rebreather training so they grouped up and there were 2 groups of Japanese photographers. Departure was delayed slightly as a couple of guests flight into Thailand was delayed but this just meant we had dinner on the dock and as soon as they arrived we set sail for the Similians.
Each day starts with a cheery knock on the cabin door at 6:30 am, a quick coffee and banana, dive brefiing and the first dive is at 7am, when you get back on the boat you are always greeted with a tea, juice or smoothie ahead of breakfast, Dive 2 is around 10:30am, Dive 3 after lunch and Dive 4 at twilight.
So lets get onto the diving, we dove the following sites:-
Day1
Dive 1 Hideaway Bay
Dive 2 West of Eden
Dive 3 Three Trees
Dive 4 Turtle Rock
Day2
Dive 5 North Point
Dive 6 Koh Bon West Ridge
Dive 7 & 8 Koh Tachai Pinnacle
Day 3
Dive 9 Surin Island
Dive 10,11 & 12 Richelieu Rock
Day4
Dive 13 Koh Bon West Ridge
Dive 14 Koh Bon South Ridge
All dives were great but all very different, there was quite a bit of current and swell around and whilst visibility was great there was a lot of plankton in the water, which did make the dives on Day 2 in particular interesting. The standout dives for me were dive 7 at Koh Tachai Pinnacle and the three dives at Richelieu Rock, each dive was a mad feeding frenzy and you did not know where to look, as there was activity happening above you, below you and on both sides. The standout sea life was a large shark, sea horses, a peacock mantis shrimp lots of giant trevally and the whale shark I missed on Koh Bon!!
The boat is set up for all divers and coped well with the technical divers and their specific requirements, the photographers and the 2 of us who where just normal rec divers. I feel that we were on the best boat that we saw on that trip and probably had the most component divers and DM’s leading us.
Boots and Takeshi have cherry picked staff they have worked with on other boats and really have a top notch crew, every tank was bang on the fill and with the right gas mix, the food was amazing and all where smiling.
Whilst this is in Japanese this link shows some of the great photo’s that we got from the trip.
Big Blue・今日の海ログ 2022/12/8-12/12 - ビッグブルーダイビング
www.bigbluedivingkhaolak.com
I made contact with Steve “Boots” in the summer, whilst the MV Blue Dolphin was still being built and Boots was super helpful and I quickly made the decision to dive with them despite the boat being built and I was the first one to sign up for one of their maiden voyages. Throughout the interim period I was sent photos of the plans and kept me in the loop as to the progress of the build with photos. I was lucky enough to go on the second voyage and as you can imagine the boat was spotless.
Boots and Takeshi have thought about every element of what makes a liveaboard work. They have kept the boat small to a maximum of 16 divers, in a variety of cabins at different price points but all with AC. The cabins are really well thought out comfortable and mixed between the lower deck and upper deck.
The dive deck is fairly open, with more than enough space and again well organised with a great camera table in the centre (including compressed air), there is a nice open plan dining area with real coffee, lovely kombucha and free soft drinks on the upper deck coupled with a great AC lounge area with 58 inch TV
On departure day Big Blue pick you up from hotels in Phuket, the airport and Khao Lak and take you to the boat, ahead of an evening departure. When I got to the boat Andy from Big Blue Tech on Koh Tao had a crew of 3 with him and where already settled in and having a beer after a long journey from Koh Tao and some Japanese customers where busy unpacking. I quickly sorted out my gear and unpacked and joined the guys for a beer and an introduction to the boat, its crew and too establish dive groups, I was paired with Boots and an Aussie guy, the tech group where finishing some deep and rebreather training so they grouped up and there were 2 groups of Japanese photographers. Departure was delayed slightly as a couple of guests flight into Thailand was delayed but this just meant we had dinner on the dock and as soon as they arrived we set sail for the Similians.
Each day starts with a cheery knock on the cabin door at 6:30 am, a quick coffee and banana, dive brefiing and the first dive is at 7am, when you get back on the boat you are always greeted with a tea, juice or smoothie ahead of breakfast, Dive 2 is around 10:30am, Dive 3 after lunch and Dive 4 at twilight.
So lets get onto the diving, we dove the following sites:-
Day1
Dive 1 Hideaway Bay
Dive 2 West of Eden
Dive 3 Three Trees
Dive 4 Turtle Rock
Day2
Dive 5 North Point
Dive 6 Koh Bon West Ridge
Dive 7 & 8 Koh Tachai Pinnacle
Day 3
Dive 9 Surin Island
Dive 10,11 & 12 Richelieu Rock
Day4
Dive 13 Koh Bon West Ridge
Dive 14 Koh Bon South Ridge
All dives were great but all very different, there was quite a bit of current and swell around and whilst visibility was great there was a lot of plankton in the water, which did make the dives on Day 2 in particular interesting. The standout dives for me were dive 7 at Koh Tachai Pinnacle and the three dives at Richelieu Rock, each dive was a mad feeding frenzy and you did not know where to look, as there was activity happening above you, below you and on both sides. The standout sea life was a large shark, sea horses, a peacock mantis shrimp lots of giant trevally and the whale shark I missed on Koh Bon!!
The boat is set up for all divers and coped well with the technical divers and their specific requirements, the photographers and the 2 of us who where just normal rec divers. I feel that we were on the best boat that we saw on that trip and probably had the most component divers and DM’s leading us.
Boots and Takeshi have cherry picked staff they have worked with on other boats and really have a top notch crew, every tank was bang on the fill and with the right gas mix, the food was amazing and all where smiling.
Whilst this is in Japanese this link shows some of the great photo’s that we got from the trip.
Big Blue・今日の海ログ 2022/12/8-12/12 - ビッグブルーダイビング
Similan Islands Liveaboard: MV Hallelujah
Big Blue are the operators of the MV Hallelujah Similan liveaboard. Book directly for the best deals including early bird discounts & price match guarantee.
www.bigbluedivingkhaolak.com
