Diving Phuket End Feb

[ling]

I'm planning a dive trip to Phuket end Feb and want to know the condition and situation of the reefs there.Has anyone dived there recently and helped with the clean up??Would appreciated some info.

 

[scubashooter]

Are you doing a liveaboard or just the local sites? I was on a clean last week in Racha Yai. A big mess of debris in Bungalow bay but a few other sites are relatively unaffected.
The R Rock-Similans route has been modified to avoid damaged areas and still quite fishy. Will be heading to Hin Daeng/Muang this week to check things out there. The viz is a bit questionable from the full moon. Should clear up soon. Some areas will show a little damage though, but overall it's quite ok. The damage to the local psyche is a lot more pronounced.
You'll find lots of deals as it feels more like August than January in terms of human traffic.

 

[ssra30]

Went down south to Hin Daeng/Hin Muang, Bida Nai, Bida Nok area a couple of weeks ago and diving was excellent. Viz was a bit worse than usual due to plankton bloom but the coral reef itself showed very minimal if any damage. If you plan a liveaboard trip, have a couple of backup plans as many boats have to cancel their trips due to large number of cancellations which are unfortunate. Very few boats at each dive site that I visit which was very nice.
Similans was badly damage in certain locations but many of the popular divesites appeard unaffected. All in all, I think this is actually the best time to dive Andaman sea due to much less number of divers than usual. There are plenty of reports of manta and whaleshark sightings which are earlier than usual.

 

[stevenl]

In addition to the information already given: also the sites at the Shark Point area are excellent at the moment. Here the viz has been quite good lately, with lots of fish at King Cruiser, Anemone Reef, Shark Point and Koh Doc Mai. Only King Cruiser seems to have suffered a bit from the tsunami, but I think that makes the site more interesting, it is finally starting to look like a real wreck!

 

[BlueAlf]

Just got back yesterday from my trip to Similans and Koh Bon on a LOB (SSD4). The diving was great. Visibility was easily abt 30m most dives and the marine life was really varied and in abundance.

Did not see the mantas at Koh Bon though... but saw quite a number of leopard sharks, a white tip reef shark (at my novice level most sharks look the same to me though!) and a couple of turtles. Of course, the reef fishes were in abundance! I've not seen so many species, so many colours and in such numbers as on these dives! Really had a great time.

The corals were fine too. THe sites we dived in (11 dives in total), did not show any noticeable damage. HOwever, the DM told us that abt 10% of the sites at Similans were affected by the tsunami.

In short, go dive! I'm glad I made the decision to go - despite objections and discouragement from my other dive buddies! Really enjoyed myself!

Have fun!

 

[moraygirl]

I was on the queen scuba from 2-6 Jan, diving in the similans and richelieu rock. It almost felt like an exploration trip as not many site reports had come back in at that point. The diving was excellent, we had a brilliant trip, some damage was obvious at some of the sites but I think the LOB trips have taken account of this and aren't diving at the (few) worst hit places. We had really good vis, over 30m at some sites and 20-25 at r-rock. Given how soon after the tsunami it was it was good to see that so many sites were undamaged. And I agree with everyone, the fact there are less divers around than usual makes it even better, we had all the dive sites (save one) totally to ourselves - pure bliss! Loads of fishy friends to see too, huge schools of fuseliers, blue-spotted rays and a blotched ray (my first big ray!), turtle, leopard shark, giant morays, barracuda, white tips and wonderful corals, giant gorgonian fans and everything! Have a great trip and happy diving!

 

[thien]

Go diving... There's nothing to worry about! Diving in Phuket is at its best since I before 2000, fantastic conditions, and great services are in abundance. Try it, you'll like it.

Thien

 

[ling]

Great!!!!!Thanks peeps.

 

[aaronkok]

i can't wait to go next week.

i'll be with SSD4 too. This will be my first time on a LOB. is it easy to get sea sick?????

 

[ling]

I am actually looking for a lob there too but not too sure.Shd i go book brfore going or just chk them out when i get there?