Similan Island trip report

[Tidbit]

Hi Hallboy. It was a three day, three night cruise and it was awsome! The ave. water temprature was 84-85 degrees F. Very warm. As for you Bluetraveler, there was not a lot of evidence of the Tsunami in the Similans. Reagan and I talked to the DM we had and he was there at the time. He said that the water went very low (in about 15 minutes) and they could see the reefs out of the water. They thought that was very unusual (they did not know about the tsunami at this point). Then about 15 minutes later, one of the students noticed that the tide had come back in. It went quite high, but did not take out any trees or anything. That is when the DM's thought something strange was going on. They went up to talk to the Captain and found out that there had been a Tsunami at Khao Lak. When you go to the mainland (Khoa Lak, Phuket, ect) you can see the damage to the buildings and trees. There was also a large Police boat that was washed up on the other side of the town near the mountains. They are rebuilding and all the accomodations are new. If you have the chance to go to this area and support the local economy, I would highly recommend it. Everything is less expensive at Khoa Lak as the people are trying to rebuild their way of life and want others to visit. If you go to Koh Tao, or Koh Samui, everyone will tell you not to go to Khoa Lak, as they believe that the area is still destroyed. If you miss out on this area, you will have missed one of the best dive destinations in Thailand.
Tidbit

 

[hallboy]

Thak you Reagan and Tidbid: my cruise is booked with Seadragon ( 4nights/4 days ) to Similan Richelieu; i hope that i will enjoy the place just as much as you. Feel free to give any advice about the cruise or the stay in Khao Lak that you could think about: goo restaurant how to come or retourn to the airport where to sleep, what absolutely not forget on the liveaboard etc etc...

 

[wedivebc]

Travelling from BC to Thailand took about 2 days in all considering layovers and the annoying amount of paperwork we had to do just to change planes in Shanghi (which in fact we ended up on the same plane going there). We were tired and jet lagged when we arrived in Koh Samui. I decided I wanted my backplate and wing with me on this trip (never again) It was rather heavy lugging that around the country. We did get a 10% discount from Sea Dragon for having our own gear but lighter is better if you are travelling.
Our first stop was at Charlies Hut in Samui, Reagan found it pushed her comfort level to the max and although Tidbit and I were willing to give it a go we found it to be a little gamey for our taste by the end of the 3 days we stayed.
Since we were goping to be a few days waiting before the liveaboard we were dying to get in the water so we donned our mask and snorkel and headed to the reef at Chewang beach. On our fist time in the water we found puffers, morays and all sorts of interesting fish that I had never seen before. This led us to another snorkel adventure the next day. Unfortunately Tidbit (Kathy) forgot sunscreen and ended up with a nasty burn. She was brave though and it didn't stop her from diving the reef with us the next day. The dive centre recommended a swim to a buoy where a pair of sea horses had been known to live and we descended into the murk to find them. The reef at this point was nowhere near as clear as where we had been snorkelling so we are not sure why everyone suggested this location.
We packed our essentials and headed for Kaolak on day 4. This trip involved a taxi ride, an overnight ferry ( that was pretty interesting) and a series of shuttles in Surat Thani until we finally boarded the bus to Kaolak. We got off at the Sea Dragon centre and grabbed some food at the restaurant next door. I was getting more adventurous with the Thai food and the spicy green curry hit the spot. Reagan went to the beach, I set up my gear while Wally and Kathy had a beer and relaxed in town. That evening we boarded the boat Mariner 1

 

[wedivebc]

Before boarding the boat we had to leave our footwear on the dock. This was the last shoes we wore for 3 days.
I slept to the drone of the engine all night and awoke in the morning to a nice coffee and some fresh pineapple and banana. Soon the call went out "dive briefing...dive briefing". We all assembled on the upper deck while our dive leader, Roger described our first dive. We were at Sharkfin reef and were to be doing a drift dive here. From the look of the water at the surface I figured we were in for some serious drifting. I hit the water wearing only a T-shirt and shorts for thermal protection. It felt like a swimming pool. Looking down I could see the reef and numerous fish swimming far below us. As we descended I could see the enormity of the reef and myriad of colours.
I also noticed we were being led against the current which didn't please me too much. During the dive I was trying to look in every direction at once. There was so much to see and I tried to drink it all in. Unfortunately for me I got caught in an upwelling while my buddy held on to a rock and we quickly lost sight of each other. I was away from the group and could not see them as I had drifted on the other side of a big rock so I surfaced after only 18 minutes.
Everyone carried a SMB so I deployed mine and was soon back on the boat. Our DM followed shortly afterward. I felt rather sheepish about the whole thing. So much for thinking how much easier this warm water diving would be.
I did voice my concern that our first dive was in such high current.
Once everyone was back on board we sat down to a nice breakfast.

 

[wedivebc]

Of the 9 dives we did in the Similans the one that stands out the most was Elephant Head Rock. There was a surge created by the ground swells rolling in from seaward that brought waves of current. We would move forward in steps as the sea swept us toward a most elaborate maze of swim-throughs. Each diver had to wait for just the right moment to enter the openings and be gently carried through to the other side. The vis, as always was spectacular and there were too many species of fish to even hope to learn half of them. The DMs had shown us different hand signals for the various species but I had trouble remembering most of them. Often they would point at something and there would be so many different shapes and colours that it was hard to tell what I was looking at.
In spite of the fact that the Similans are a protected marine park, there is occasionally evidence of dynamite fishing that still goes on in the area. It is really sad to see a beautiful coral reef suddenly turn into a grey rubble pile because of the short sighted demands of the fishing industry.
The Sea Dragon has a rule that in the event of a computer failure a diver using that computer must stay up for 24hrs. Wally had his computer make some weird beeps which he thought was battery issues but since the DM was planning all profiles using RDP wheel, we were able to keep track of our profiles that way.

 

[Mrscherry]

My Husband and I rented a house in Phuket and arrive in 3 weeks for a month. Vis sounds good. What liveaboards to you recommend to the Similians? Damn I cant wait

 

[Batfish]

Hi MrsCherry,

What standard of boat are you looking for? There are so many in the area ranging from backpacker boats to luxury. Do you need private bathrooms? Want a small group? What is your budget? How many days do you want to dive?

Enjoy Phuket,

Jamie

 

[Cherry]

To follow up on my wifes question The last family dive trip we took was to BVI, a spot I would highly recommend, and we dove with UBS which on day trips our 6 people filled the boat. This time we have a few more along, about 8-10 of us so a bit bigger boat is going to be needed. Comfort is great but good competent friendly dive masters are more important. So far I have found that its really more about the people than the boat. Budget is not a big problem and we will have some folks with us at various times who are snorklers as opposed to divers. I dive with a video Camera so camera rinse etc is important. We are looking at primarily day trips but if I can drug MrsCherry I will one way or another get her on a 2-3 day liveaboard.

 

[bluetraveler]

Ooohhh, I can't wait till January!! Thanks for the report guys!

 

[DiverAndy]

Dear All,

I returned last evening from Phuket, and I think I might have destroyed my diving career by going to the Similans.........I doubt I will ever see such good visibility ever again....where else is there to go now....booohoooo

The Emirates Diving Association had set up a trip to go and assist in the repatriation of Turtles and Giant Clams to the region, as part of an ongoing eco drive as well as Tsunami reconstruction. I had to go!

I am going to post a better report and will give details of the dive boat and the people, but I can suffice to say that although we only had a 2day/2night liveaboard, the accom was excellent, hot water, ac, GREAT food and good people...
We had a combination of local Thai DM's (Toun and Tik)as well as an Austrian (nick) and a Philipino (Chris Cruz). There was Alaskan guy (Gonzalo) doing the video/photography, and you can buy a DVD and stills from him documenting your entire trip, starting from 2000Baht.

We did 6 dives in the time we had, including Breakfast Bay, Turtle Rock, Shark Fin Reef and the Boon Sung Tin Barge Wreck.

Unfortunately we did not see too many big Pelagics, Whale Sharks or Manta's but the Macro life and coral formations made up for any disappointment. I will copy my Mosquito dive notes for details of marine life encountered!

Regards