LOB recommendations Similans for Single Female traveller

[Quero]

So glad to hear that you were happy with the choice of boat! What I think is special about the Similans, as compared to other areas you listed (all of which I love for various reasons), is the underwater topography. I've dived extensively throughout the region, and I think our boulder sites are quite special. It's true that some of the hard corals, particularly the staghorn forests, were damaged by the bleaching even a couple of years ago, and that sticks in one's mind at places like Koh Bon, but the coral is coming back, gradually. Some of the deeper sites still have abundant, healthy hard coral, but the sloping reefs on the east sides of the islands tend to be fairly shallow, and therefore suffered more damage than the deeper sites. Richelieu, of course being out in the open ocean with no shallow sloping reef, escaped the worst of the damage. As for anemones, we actually have a site with even more of them than on Richelieu, believe it or not! It's called Anemone Reef, and it's a local dive from Phuket.

It's good to read these first-hand accounts. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[Hutch12]

Your welcome, Hope it helps the OP and other users on here, after all this where I get most of my "next dive destination advice" from!

Yes some of the large boulder sites, if I remember correctly, to the west and north of the islands were very interesting, creating semi swim throughs and also aiding the flow of currents which in turn encourged the palagics.

Again, from memorty with out my logbook in front of me, the site right at the north of Koh Bon with a sloping ridge wsa a grweat site, excellent palagic action and a curious effect on the south side of the ridge where water pouring off the rocks created huge clouds of water turbulance when viewed underwater.

Please correct me if I have the site confused with another.

he site

 

[Quero]

Again, from memorty with out my logbook in front of me, the site right at the north of Koh Bon with a sloping ridge wsa a grweat site, excellent palagic action and a curious effect on the south side of the ridge where water pouring off the rocks created huge clouds of water turbulance when viewed underwater.

Please correct me if I have the site confused with another.

That's the one! The ridge juts out from the west side of the island, effectively separating the southwest side from the north side. The water action is due to a northerly-to-southerly-facing "window" in the ridge that allows the water to crash through back and forth.

And even with the coral rubble, it is, as you say, still a very fishy dive site, so we enjoy it regardless. Of course we'll all be thrilled when the extensive staghorn forest that was once there has regenerated to its former glory!