Diving in Burma/ Myanmar?

[sonar]

Hi all,

If I can get the days off I've decided to visit Birma in June. Been looking a bit online but can't find much about diving there. Only from liveaboards from Thailand..

Anybody some experience with diving there? Heard dynamite fishing is still very common there..

Another option would be to do a liveaboard from myanmar to thailand since we will fly back from KL.. Does that excist?

Any other info about Birma would be appreciated as well

 

[ocdiver1]

You'll likely get more thorough answers this from those more local, but since I did dive Myanmar once a couple of years ago I'll chime in. There should be several operators that do liveaboards out of Khao Lak/Rangon, enter Myanmar and tour the Mergui Archipelago...I can't recall the name of the boat I was on. We crossed the border near Rangon, got our visas, and boarded the boat just over the border. This area is not that far north of the Similan/Surins so it's the same type of diving/type of sites. Having also dove the Similans, I wouldn't say the coral is in any better or worse shape...I will say the area is more remote so there will be far fewer divers. Was the overall experience better or worse than diving the Simlans? Well, there was no one site to compare to Richlieu Rock, which was incredible, but overall I do recall seeing far more sharks in Myanmar than further south. It's definitely worth a look in my opinion. You could just easily fly KL to Phuket, then the area in question is not that far north of Phuket. The LOB I was on just picked me up in Phuket.

 

[web_pucr]

i've been to Myanmar many times and find there's no local dive shop along Myanmar coast so that i have to snorkel rather than dive. snorkel sites are pretty better than i expected while over fishing is a big problem there. you could enjoy your dinner with a string of fishing light and even noise of boat motors a few miles away from front beach of resorts at Ngapali. as Myanmar is still under development, there must be some sites people don't know yet which are pretty better than similan and all we can do is to wait for the openning of local dive shop or take a liveaboard. one of my local friend once mentioned there's one resort provide few tanks and gears at Ngwe Saung. so still need to check it out.

 

[sonar]

Ok thx, figured it would be something like that. Guess it's gonna be a live-a-board then

 

[Batfish]

If you plan to visit Burma in June ... sorry, there won't be any liveaboards. The season is November - April. During the summer, that's the "low season" - weather can be good, can be great, can be sh*tty! And the potential for bad weather means there are no liveboards, you don't want to be hundreds of km from the nearest port. So... maybe you can plan a visit later in the year?

 

[sffrenchman]

I dived in Myanmar a couple of years ago (liveaboard out of Kao Lak thailand) and I was very disappointed. The reefs are totally trashed by overfishing, including dynamite/cyanide fishing. Not much marine life left. The best part of the trip was the few days spent in Surin and Richelieu rock.

 

[web_pucr]

you guys are right! sorry for forgetting to remind you that resorts along Myanmar coast are all closed during monsoon from may untill october. and due to andaman sea is pretty rough at that time, liveaboard may not be a good choice.

 

[sonar]

daymn, thats dissapointing.. Thanks for warning though.. Can't change my schedule de to work
Actually still waiting on my boss to agree with my holiday plans..

Gonna check on Borneo then..

 

[Batfish]

June - try Komodo.

 

[world tour]

yeah, all dive operators visiting burma go from Thailand, Ranong being the most convenient departure because its just at the border. but also its right that season ends in may. I went there in January and loved it, didnt see any damaged parts from dynamite (I was quite affraid by what I read) I really loved the trip.