Has anyone dived off The JUNK ???

[SCUBAMedic]

Has anyone dived off The Junk liveaboard out of Phuket. I am thinking of diving the tthe junk for my honeymoon and I am just woundering if anyone else has, or can reccomend another liveaboard out of Phuket

Cheers

 

[neilstewart]

Hi,

I have a couple of friends who dived from the junk and recommended it to me. I will be boarding on 24 Dec so will let you know all about it when I return in early Jan.

Neil

 

[Batfish]

I was on the Junk 7 times as a freelance Instructor and every person on every trip had a great experience. I don't really work on liveaboards much now (sob sob), more office and teaching. I have good memories of The Junk trips. The tour leaders are very experienced and are keen on all kinds of marine life. Without the help of Mick and Jerome I would never have seen a frogfish, robust ghost pipefish, ribbon eel... Also, the Junk is one of only a couple of boats that actually dives sites in the Surin Islands.

Be sure to book a double cabin!

Oh and the food is the best I've had on a liveaboard.

Hope this helps!

 

[seamonster]

Sunrise,
What are the dive sites of the Surin Islands?Are they any good compared to the Similans?Thanks.

 

[frogfish]

Hi - I did a trip on the Junk last year and only have good things to say about it: the boat is very comfortable (only bad point is that there are no windows in cabins), the food is excellent, the dive guides professional, helpful and enthusiastic. The diving around Similans and Richelieu is excellent.
With regards to Surin, we did a couple of dives there and saw lots of beautiful hard corals.
Do enjoy your trip, it is an excellent boat !

 

[Batfish]

Re : Dive Sites in Surin Islands.

Given the area covered by the Surin Islands, you would think there would be more diving there. Somebody needs to make some exploratory trips around the islands and find good sites. As for now, with the limited time on a 4 day trip, most boats stick to what they know. On The Junk, we dived 2 dive sites in the South of the Surin Islands : Koh Torinla and Koh Surin Tai (South East Point).

Koh Torinla has in my opinion the best hard coral reef in Thailand. The reef along the NE side slopes down gently to about 20m maximum, and the corals, especially staghorn, are in perfect condition right up to the surface. Also great for snorkeling. On every dive, we saw hawksbill turtles, blacktip sharks and usually some big rays such as jenkins whiprays. Also saw a school of bumphead parrotfish, napoloeon wrasse and curious batfish that follow you along the reef. Other fish life is abundant. Visibility about 30m.

The SE point of Surin Tai is subject to some strong currents, and the visibilty varied from 10-30m. Away from the island is a big jumble of boulders. On my first dive there, we saw a Manta and then a porcupine ray (which I'd never seen before). Along the reef closer to the island, we saw turtles and blacktips.

Many of the dive sites that are known suffer from poor vis and strong currents, making them advanced dive sites. The reef at Koh Torinla on the other hand is just about as easy as you can get.

Last month I introduced the tour leader of Le Mahe to the Surin Islands. We had 2 dives at Koh Torinla. More people should know about it, but we don't want every man and his dog diving there.

 

[neilstewart]

Hi,

Now returned my my fabulous vaccation.

The Junk is a top qualilty liveaboardand the diving was terrific especially if you like big mantas. Lets face it who doesn't.

The boat is very comfortable, cabins large, air con works great and privite bathrooms with a good shower. The draft is big so there is plenty of space on deck. Good stocked library, DVD player and well supplied with recharge points if like me you need that sort of thing. One tiny gripe, sometimes I like to sleep on deck under the stars. Although you can use blankets and towels there are no lounger type matresses to use, so the night I tried was less comfortable.

All the crew on the boat are first class. Mick, Jerome, Kay and Martin (videographer) really know there stuff, are very helpful and want you to have the best dives you can. I made some new friends, in fact I might just be hooking up with Jay and Kay on there own vaccation, an exploratory dive cruise to Pulau when the season ends, as they were kind enough to invite me, if the dates work out. The boat crew are a terrific bunch, helpful, good fun and ensure that everything runs smoothly, tanks fills, kitting up, dinghy etc..

The cook is a genius and I can back up Sunrise, that it is absolutely the best food I've ever had on a liveaboard by some distance.

I think you willl have a terrific time. Take you big fins and enjoy.

I have uploaded a photo album and heres a link

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290811111

I know you have to register but please take the time to have a look, they are in my opinion the best stuff I've ever shot.

Oh, the fledgling sea eagle was pulled out of the sea at Similan No.9 by the dinghy crew on the way back from a dive whislt I was on a second boat, Scubacat. The crew cleaned and dried him off. It took a whole day before the soggy thing was back to his prime. We fed and watered him for another 2 days. He just sat on top of the fridge. The weather was poor so we did not release him whilst I was still on the boat but I heard he got back to the island OK. I did not want anyone thinking he was a "tourist attraction".

Neil

 

[Jonathan]

Hey welcome back Neil! As I know now the boats there don't more up to a jetty or I would have come across - you guys were the other side of the bay!!

Another time
Jonathan