North Andaman - MV Moana - March 27-31

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Buadhai

Contributor
Messages
816
Reaction score
281
Location
Korat, Thailand
# of dives
None - Not Certified
This was supposed to be my long awaited South Andaman trip, but it turns out all the other customers wanted to go North where they thought they'd have a better chance of seeing "Big Stuff".

The trip was fine. Visibility ranged from good to poor. There were some nasty thermoclines with the colder water being quite murky. Water temperature at the surface was 30º and 29º below five meters or so. The highest I saw was 31º and the lowest was 27º.

Most dives, including Richelieu, were unexpectedly uncrowded. The busiest spot was Koh Bon.

The Moana (สายใหม่) is a Thai boat. Thai food. Thai briefings. Thai style. No bacon and eggs, no steak night, no early morning diving. Bring your own beer.

The highlight of the trip for me was a night dive at Nam Cha Bay (Similans) where I saw a lovely Spanish Dancer swimming by and a big octopus that was content to let me follow it around for fifteen minutes as it took care of its evening feed.

By the way, we saw one whale shark at Koh Bon and two at Richelieu Rock. We also saw at least six Manta Rays at Koh Bon including three at once. The "Big Stuff" is still around.

whaleshark.jpg


manta.jpg


Both photos are GoPro 7 Black frame grabs.
 
Overall, were you satisfied, value for money? Comfort? Etc?
 
Overall, were you satisfied, value for money? Comfort? Etc?

Absolutely. We paid 27,500 baht (roughly US$850.00) for 15 dives and five nights on the boat. The food was plentiful and excellent. Our cabin, though small, had a huge double bed and a spacious toilet/shower room. The dive guides (whom we've known for several years) are knowledgeable and well organized. The boat crew were superb. This was our second trip on this boat. We'd certainly go again.
 
Thanks for the report. I'm going to be in Phuket the first two weeks of May and don't have a trip sorted yet. Do they have English-speaking guides? All I can find for MV Moana is a FB page. Do they have a website or can they be booked some other way?
 
Thanks for the report. I'm going to be in Phuket the first two weeks of May and don't have a trip sorted yet. Do they have English-speaking guides? All I can find for MV Moana is a FB page. Do they have a website or can they be booked some other way?

The don't have English speaking guides. The booking is generally done through agents who supply the guides. This boat caters to the Thai market, so is not appropriate unless you speak Thai or have a translator. My wife is a Thai diver, so pretty easy for me.

I suggest you check this website: Phuket diving liveaboards, divecourses and daytrips Phuket dash Scuba dot Com, scuba diving Phuket and Similans Thailand

Or send a PM to @stevenl and tell him exactly what you want.
 
The don't have English speaking guides. The booking is generally done through agents who supply the guides. This boat caters to the Thai market, so is not appropriate unless you speak Thai or have a translator. My wife is a Thai diver, so pretty easy for me.

I suggest you check this website: Phuket diving liveaboards, divecourses and daytrips Phuket dash Scuba dot Com, scuba diving Phuket and Similans Thailand

Or send a PM to @stevenl and tell him exactly what you want.

Ah well that's a different situation for me as well. Be that as it may, I'm still glad you had a good time.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. My first draft actually asked if Steven could take care of it :) I got my friend (who I'm taking this trip with) certified by him last year. BTW for anyone reading this who is looking for a recommendation for an instructor in Phuket, I'm happy to endorse Steven.

BTW, I have a picture of the hole from your profile photo (Similans, right?). Except there's no face in it since my non-native-English-speaking insta-buddy apparently misunderstood that part of the briefing and pre-dive discussion :)
 
BTW, I have a picture of the hole from your profile photo (Similans, right?). Except there's no face in it since my non-native-English-speaking insta-buddy apparently misunderstood that part of the briefing and pre-dive discussion :)

Right. It's the famous "window" at Elephant Head Rock.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom