Richelieu Rock
- Thread starter Barmaglot
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Dan
Contributor
Then you need to go to Lembeh or Raja Ampat.
Dan
Contributor
Here’s Raja Ampat Harlequin Shrimps taken with my cheapy camera, Sea & Sea DX2G, Trip Report - Pulau Pef - Little Raja Ampat Trip Report
Tippytoes12
Contributor
Dan
Contributor
In some darker area I used video lights, but most of the time, no video light was used. I used 4K with 120 fps resolution of GoPro 10 with Vibrant color setting and auto white balance and without post processing.
Dan
Contributor
Ouch! Right, Indonesian government don't like Israeli passport.I'd like to, but it's a problem with
my Israeli passport- that last shot was taken at Hin Daeng.
Just came back from eleven dives at Richelieu, plus two each at Ao Pakgaad, Koh Tachai and Koh Bon, plus one blackwater dive.Don't worry, they are still there. I'm just tired to see them all over Similan dive sites and tried to keep the video short (< 3 minutes).
On the downside, four huge Thai boats at Richelieu, 40+ divers in each, dropping everyone in the water at the same time - I'm told they like having crowds underwater; the more the merrier. Fortunately we were able to time our dives to occur, mostly, during their surface intervals. Also on the downside, almost no glassfish. In December, the pinnacle was absolutely covered in them, and in January there still was quite a healthy amount, but now it was just a patch here or there.
On the upside though, no current, no wind, clear weather, water surface almost as smooth as glass, and only occasional intrusions by the Green Monster (a sudden surge of cold, murky, green water), so I got to indulge myself in shooting sunballs.
Also came across an octopus that was as chill as could be, just sitting on top of a rock, slithering around his tentacles.
...and was perfectly content to pose for pictures with divers.
There's also a blue-ring angelfish there that likes to play with divers' bubbles.
Not related to Richelieu, but on the check dive, at Ao Pakgaad (South Surin area), right at the end, I got to shoot some IRL Hentai.
And with weather being so good, for the blackwater dive the boat went out west further than ever before, to the zone where the continental shelf starts to drop off, and we did it over 125m of water, meeting, among other things, a swimming crab.
Blackcrusader
Contributor
Wow lovely photo's. Can you advise what the cost of the dives were? A couple of my regular dive buddies and I want to do some diving later this year and this place looks great. We aren't party animals and just need decent place to stay for a couple of weeks.
This was a liveaboard - Richelieu Rock can be done on day trips by speedboat, but it isn't really recommended, as it's a pretty long trip out and back, and you still miss out on the early morning and sunset dives, when the most fish action happens. For this specific trip on The Smiling Seahorse, I paid 47100 baht - this included a superior cabin (en-suite shower; there are two basic cabins without en-suite that are slightly cheaper), nitrox pack (3600 baht), national park fees (2600 baht), transfers from Rawai to Khao Lak and back (1400 baht each way, shared), blackwater dive surcharge (500 baht), but also a 20% repeat customer discount (9400 baht off the base price of 47000 baht).
Note that the Andaman Sea diving season runs October to May, so if you want to do Richelieu Rock, 'later this year' needs to be either within the next few weeks, or in 6+ months.
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