Trip Report March/April 2025: Andaman Sea, Phuket day boats, The Junk liveaboard, Similan Islands, Richelieu Rock

[Cornbread O'Malley]

My trip report for Phuket, Thailand covering from fourth week of March to second week of April 2025. I did four day boat charters to dive the South Andaman Sea east of Phuket. Also, a cruise on the Andaman Sea on a liveaboard, The Junk, to dive the Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock west of Phuket. Air temperature was highs of about 32C (90F) and lows of about 27.7C (82F). Very high relative humidity, about 90%. Water temperatures for both bodies of water ranged from 28.8 to 30C (84 to 86F).

Contents:

1) Day boat charters from Phuket

2) Day boat diving

3) Liveaboard, The Junk

4) Amenities, The Junk

5) Diving, The Junk

6) Food, The Junk

7) Negative aspects, The Junk

8) Phuket area restaurants

9) Hotels and transportation

10) Impressions

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Day Boat Charters out of Phuket

I booked my day boat charters through No Gravity Dive Center located in the Chalong Pier area of Phuket. This shop had the lowest prices of all the shops in the area. I did most of my coordination via email with the shop’s owner. Upon arrival I used WhatsApp and received timely responses. I was given a meetup location to meet the DM, and off we went to the boat. No Gravity does not own its own boat so coordinates with the other dive shops that do. The first two days I headed into the South Andaman Sea aboard the boat operated by Sirolodive. The last two days I went aboard Aqua Mermaid’s boat.

The charters depart from Chalong Pier about 8AM and return late in the afternoon around 5-6PM depending on how far east the boat goes. I did three dives on each charter with breakfast and lunch served buffet style. Water, sweet drinks, soft drinks, and coffee are included. Snacks provided after the last dive and Leo brand beer offered for 60 baht per can at the end of the day’s diving.

The boats can be best described in scuba colloquialism as “cattleboats” with capacity for 50-70 passengers. But it is not as bad as it seems. Each boat has a separate area for dining and upper deck space for lounging, a dive preparation area, and a dive platform. It can get crowded especially if the boat is close to capacity as it was my first day. But the subsequent days saw fewer divers resulting in more maneuver space on the boat. It really comes down to luck and circumstances whether the boat is crowded or not. Things flowed smoothly even when crowded. Each separate group prepped while another group waited, and every diver entered the water in quite an orderly fashion. The crew’s deckhands provided great assistance in getting divers in and out of the water.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Day boat diving

The dive sites I visited included:

Banana Bay
North Point
Bay 1
Shark Point
Bida Nok
Bida Nai
King Cruiser
Koh Doc Mai
Turtle Bay
Anemone Reef

Overall, the diving was good; very sandy bottom at all the dive sites. Not much in terms of coral, but the schools of fish were amazing. Visibility could be good depending on conditions with about 15 or 20 meters on good days. I encountered a few dives with much particulate matter hanging in the water and visibility about 3-4 meters. The particulate matter made me think of swimming through a huge pot of egg drop soup.

Pic 6: school of bigeye snapper
Pic 7: pink anemone fish
Pic 8: school of two-spot banded snapper

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Liveaboard, The Junk

The Junk accommodates 18 divers, and on this cruise 15 booked. We departed out of Tap Lamu Pier south of Khao Lak and returned to the same pier. Our itinerary was Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock in the Andaman Sea west of southern Thailand. 19 total dives. The boat itself has a rich history in maritime transportation, appeared in several movies, and now converted as a scuba liveaboard.

The Junk

Safety

We all did an evacuation drill shortly after boarding The Junk. Each person put on a life vest and was shown the exits from the cabins. All of the cabins are located below deck with a main staircase, as one looked aft, as the entry and exit point (pic 9). The emergency exit is located towards the bow, and the crew kept the hatch clear of obstructions (pic 10). We were shown the inflatable life rafts stowed on the sun deck and discussed what to do in event of a person overboard.

Absolutely no charging of any devices in the cabins. Charging cradles located beneath the television in the lounge are provided to charge 18650 batteries (pic 11). I think they can accommodate 20650 batteries also. Located on the tables in the lounge are charging stations for other devices (pic 12).

Only five divers opted for nitrox, and all five were grouped together. The procedure with nitrox on each dive was a deck hand analyzed the gas as the diver observed. The mix was recorded on a clipboard, MOD verified, and diver signed. The mix averaged 32% with no large variances with my observations.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

The amenities

The accommodations on the boat can be described as cozy. Options for twin, triple, and quad bunks are offered. I took the triple cabin and only had one other diver share it with me (pic 13). The dive deck was above and located towards the bow. Dive gear was stowed on both starboard and port sides along the gunwales. A large table sat in the middle. Provided was a small bucket to rinse masks, a large square bucket for cameras, and a large round bucket to rinse wetsuits. A rack and hangars available to hang wetsuits. Most people used clips to secure and dry their swimwear along the railings. The crew hung large tarps to provide protection from the sun. The tarps can be seen above the dive deck and the sundeck located towards the stern (pic 14). Two dinghies are used to ferry divers to and from dive sites. The lounge can get crowded especially when all the divers squeeze in for dive briefings (pic 15). But for the most part, people spread out during other activities like dining and lounging. Most people relaxed on the chairs and bean bag chairs on the sundeck. Or they relaxed at the big table on the dive deck.

Blue Water Travel has a site that lays out the details for The Junk quite nicely: The Junk Liveaboard

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

The liveaboard diving

The diving closely followed the schedule indicated in pic 16. We had three groups of divers, and the group assignments did not change. The tour leader did rotate the groups so any one group did not feel rushed putting on gear. Each dive lasted about one hour because the captain had to keep on schedule getting from island to island. The sites visited on the cruise:

Honeymoon Bay, Koh Miang
Stonehenge, Koh Miang
Screaming Rocks, Koh Hin Pusar
Hideaway Bay, Koh Ha & Payu
Deep Six, Koh Hin Pusar
West of Eden Bay, Koh Hin Pusar
Turtle Rock, Koh Similan
Nam Sai Bay, Koh Ba-ngu
West Ridge, Koh Bon
The Pinnacles, Koh Tachai
South Reef, Koh Tachai
Ao Pakkard Bay, Koh Surin
Richelieu Rock
Richelieu Rock
Ao Pakkard Bay
Ao Chong Kad, Koh Surin
The Pinnacle, Koh Torinla
Richelieu Rock
Richelieu Rock

The first few dives did not excite me. But as we ventured north the dives became better. My favorite sites: Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, and Richelieu Rock. Richelieu Rock by far stole the entire show. Large schools of: barracuda, giant trevally, glass fish, teira batfish, etc. The amount of fish running around and non-stop action was just amazing. If I did a day boat from Khao Lak, I would head straight to Richelieu Rock and skip the other dive sites.

Pic 17: a zebra shark (what the Thais call the leopard shark)
Pic 18: ghost pipefish
Pic 19: clownfish

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Food on the liveaboard

The food served on The Junk was super excellent! The two Thai ladies who did all the cooking knew their craft. The food was served buffet style, and most of the food served was Thai with rice. Breakfast had bacon and lunch and dinner usually had french fries. There was a night or two when Western fare was served (like the lasagna in the pics). Sometimes chicken nuggets would be served as snacks. My favorite for breakfast was the rice soup.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

A few downsides about The Junk

There were no showers or hoses available on the dive deck for rinsing. Nobody’s dive gear was rinsed after the dives until the final dive. Only a big bucket of clean water and dipper to rinse oneself.

The heat and humidity can take a toll after a few days for people not acclimatized. The doors and windows to the lounge were kept open the entire trip. Although the fans inside kept air moving and the lounge provided sun protection, the air temperature in the lounge area was quite warm. The cabins are the only area with consistent air conditioning. By the final day of diving, some of the divers were quite exhausted from the activity and the elements.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Restaurants in Phuket area

Restaurant and bar options abound in the Phuket area. Finding a place to eat and drink is no problem. Everything is plentiful and very inexpensive.

I went to Chillva Market with friends one evening to get some food and check out the activity. The place buzzed with activity and had quite a few food stalls to choose from. I walked from stall to stall and sampled a bunch of items. I got a full stomach just doing that alone. Plenty of clothes and trinkets for sale.

The one craft brewery I visited was Beer Right Back. I sampled some of the IPAs and really enjoyed them.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Eats cont’d

Another evening my friends and I went to Rawai Seafood Market located at the southern end of the cape. It’s a fresh seafood market where ordering is placed through a fish monger then the selection is cooked at an adjacent restaurant. That evening we all went to see Muay Thai boxing matches at Rawai Boxing Stadium. Chillva, seafood market, and Muay Thai all activities interesting facets of the local culture.