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

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Other trip aspects

Hotels in the Phuket area are super easy to find with a wide range available. I stayed at the Palm Garden Resort about a 15-minute walk to Chalong Pier. The hotel is owned by the same person who owns Sea Bees Diving Phuket (so I am told by the hotel staff). The hotel is located away from the hustle and bustle of Phuket and is very peaceful.

For transportation, I used the Bolt app. Both Grab and Bolt are available in Phuket, but Bolt is cheaper than Grab for ride hailing. Most of the time I called for a car for my group and found the price regularly 100-200 baht cheaper than Grab.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Overall impressions

Overall, I enjoyed my trip. The people around Phuket are warm and friendly; the dive ops are competent; the culture is unique. The diving east of Phuket was good but did not make me stop and say Wow! The diving in the Similans was very good, but it about 5-6 dives to get to the better dive sites. After the first day in the Similans, my friends and I questioned our decision of coming. Only after the second day did the diving become better and assuaged our initial sentiments. Richelieu Rock I put in the category of mind blowing. If I could do a shorter liveaboard and just dive Richelieu Rock for two consecutive days then I would be very satisfied. Richelieu Rock was that good. It will be a long time before I circle around and go diving in the Andaman Sea again. I made some friends on the liveaboard, and I hope that will lead to more diving in different parts of the world.

 

[Centrals]

"Cattleboat" is very common in Phuket. I had experienced once and never ever again. Imagine 30+ divers on the tiny King Crusier wreck and what did I see? Plenty of bubbles and divers.

1. Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe for your next trip.
2. Stay in Khao Lak and find out if there is fast day trip to dive The Rock available otherwise visit Khao Sok.
3. There is absolutely no reason to dive East of Phuket.
4. Philippines.

 

[JonnieB]

Great report! If you ever return to Phuket, try a south Andaman LOB (Koh Haa, Hins Daeng & Muang, and Koh Lipe/Tarutao marine park. More soft and hard corals and 8 Mile Rock rivals Richelieu Rock as a premier dive site.

 

[Centrals]

LOL.
Koh Lanta is dead cheap and easy to travel to from Phuket, Koh Lipe is just another 3hrs away by speed boat albeit relatively expensive by Thai standard(US$42.00).
LoB to that part of the Kingdom is waste of money. There are so many nice spots to go diving so why limited yourself.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

...for your next trip...
...
4. Philippines.

Where in the Philippines do you suggest to start?

Great report! If you ever return to Phuket, try...8 Mile Rock rivals Richelieu Rock as a premier dive site.

I looked up pictures and see what you are talking about!

 

[Centrals]

@Cornbread O'Malley
Anilao + PG is a good introduction for diving in the country. No domestic flight to catch and the public transport is readily available and dirt cheap. The cost for private transfer is a rip off.

8 Miles rock is down in Koh Lipe and there aren't that many good sites around the area. And the tiny island is usually packed with tourist.
Thailand is good for holiday with a wee bit of diving throwing in unless you are doing the LoB to Similan.
Philippines is great for diving holiday. And if you are feeling adventurous then Visayas has several areas to explore. Visayas is the term to describe the central provinces in the country. There are SIX major islands there.

 

[JonnieB]

Where in the Philippines do you suggest to start?


I looked up pictures and see what you are talking about!

Mobula Ray storm at 8 Mile Rock recently

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[Wobbegong_th]

Thanks for your report. I'm glad you enjoy your time here in my country.

If you come again, I'd highly recommend the "South Andaman" route for LOB. This route will take you through Phiphi, Koh Ha, Tarutao, Hin Dang (Red Rock), Hin Muang (Purple Rock), Lipe and all dive sites around.
8-Miles rock is highly weather-dependent. As it is quite far from every other sites, with no shelter.
However, if you get to dive there, it's amazing. 8-Miles is also frequently visit by Whaleshark. I had one dive where 2 Whalesharks showed up at the same time. Current there could be strong, (to extremely strong) most of the time.

 

[Centrals]

I had visited Koh Lipe twice recently over a period of 14 months (Jan 2024 to Mar 2025). 8 Miles Rock was off limited because of poor weather.
I am returning to Koh Lanta in early Nov this yr and probably will skip Lipe.