Similan Island liveaboard experience and after thought

[eelnoraa]

It is my first ever liveaboard and it is also my first dive trip to the tropics. The dive shop is Khaolak Scuba Advanture. The boat is Manta Queen II. Two of my friends were also in the trip. They both have experience in South East Asia diving and I had only dive Monterey at that point.

The dive shop
It is very clean. Shoes must be off before entering the shop. Operation is organized and fair. They made a mistake in my bill. Once I pointed out, they corrected it and refund me the money right away.

The boat
Like ther mentioned, it is a backpacker's boat, indeed. Nothing fancy onboard but it is clean. AC in each room but only on at night time. One electric plug by each bed, so if you need to charge more than one device at a time, bring your own power strip. Room's size/comfort level is like this: 4 bunk bed dorm room > 2 single bed room > 1 double bed room.

The crew
the trip leader is very responsible and organized. Boat crews are friendly and hardworking. They deserve every penny of our tips. Dive crews are friendly and fun to hang out with above water. My dive guide, at least to my standard, is diving very agressively. Many dives, we finished the most dives with less than 20bar (300psi) of air, which made me very uncomfortable.

The dives
I like it in general, saw a lot of colorful creatures that don't exist in Monterey. We also have close encounter with sea turtles, sharks and manta ray. Those were the highlight of the trip. A few things are not how I expected. For one, I didn't get the "unlimted" visibility like I had in Monokini. It is average to about 50-75ft, so about equal to a good day in Monterey. Water is colder than I expected especially when I hit the green monster.

What I have learned
1. Boat space is tight, so pack miminum required things only. I will leave my laptop home next time.
2. GUE fundamental card =< PADI OW. I put down GUE Fundie as my highest cert level and I got grouped with two OW (not even AOW) students at first. I should have put down PADI AOW instead. And they didn't let me dive nitrox.
3. Dive package included a 3mm shorted rental. I upgraded to a 3mm full suit which was proven to be a good choice. It provided more warm and defense against jelly fish
4. Should have bring gloves, not for touch stuffs but for pushing myself against rocks when encount sudden current under water
5. everyone except me has a metal stick, about 1-1.5ft long to poke around stuff. It seemed to be very useful. Where can I get one?
6. I was the only diver with DIR setup and got questions about my gears: long hose, bungee, plate, harness, can light, tables, etc. One of the guides thought I am a tech diver and tried to give me a talk about not to go beyond recreation level. I quickly obeyed him.
7. 21W HID was poven to be extremely useful in day time. It enabled other to know where my group were all the time. In night dives, it was too bright, didn't feel like a night dive anymore. I had to switch to Hollis LED5 so I wouldn't disturb others.
8. No one seemed to register any light signals. Quick movement of light beam couldn't get anyone's attention, but banging my tank with double ender did.
9. buoyance in tropics is much easier than in Monterey. I didn't believe it until I tried it.

Overall, I enjoyed this trip a lot. Now I only wish I can go back to SE asia for more diving.

 

[limbo]

Hi eelnoraa,

Good to see that you enjoyed your trip overall. Point # 5; most dive shops in Thailand or for that matter SE Asia will sell such pointer sticks. Have a look next time or ask about them.

 

[Quero]

hi eelnoraa,

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.

As to the visibility, you have come to the Andaman Sea at the end of our dry season when the plankton is in full reproduction. The visibility decreases at this time of year due to the natural cycle of the rainy and dry seasons. When people tell me they want the best visibility, I never advise that they come in March or April.

I have to admit that I'm puzzled by your perception of a need for gloves. As you have done Fundies training, I'm having some difficulty in understanding why you would need to push yourself away from rocks. Fundies-grads generally have superior control underwater, so it's quite surprising to me that you would have a problem with our currents, which are really very manageable. Care to elaborate?

 

[eelnoraa]

Quero,

I was actaully there in early Feb. To me 50-75ft viz in average is already pretty good. Just I have a vague memory about the "unlimited viz" in Maui, and was expecting more.

As for the current push me onto rocks, it was mostly because I was swiming along big boulders. I found current can be quite strong and random in direction. A few times, I got pushed side way onto the boulders. Swiming further away from them solved the problem because I have enough time to react, but sometime I want to be close to see things.

Oh and in many instances, when I was looking at something on a wall, other divers swam in and tried to stop by holding onto me. So we all hit the wall with me in front. Because they are so nearby, I couldn't back kick without kick them in their faces. I guess I need to refine my back kick more, but this kind of things don't happen often with my fundie team.

 

[Quero]

Thanks for that clarification. So glove use really isn't the answer, given your explanations. You found other, more appropriate, solutions (back kicking, distance unless looking closely at something). I'm pretty much anti-glove unless the diver needs gloves for cold water, wreck penetration, or a medical condition. I cringe when I see divers who wear just one glove because it's more than clear that they are wearing the one glove so that they can grab on to things for stability and not because they're Michael Jackson fans.

 

[aquamarin]

5. everyone except me has a metal stick, about 1-1.5ft long to poke around stuff. It seemed to be very useful. Where can I get one?

I'm glad you had a nice time, thanks for posting this.

Only comment I have is............"poke around stuff". Really??? The metal sticks are great for pointing at stuff (whereas I prefer to use my torch) and for carefully using as a "hook" in strong currents if your buoyancy skills and leg strength aren't good enough - but people who use it for poking shouldn't be allowed to have one. The amount of times I've seen divers poking marine life into a better photo position, or used their pokey stick to swipe coral aside to get a better view...........it really upsets me, and any of my students / divers doing this would get their sticks confiscated for the duration of their course / trip.

In my opinion, sticks and gloves should be banned - as they are in many marine parks worldwide

Have fun dreaming / planning your next SE Asia trip - it's easy to get addicted to that part of the world

Greetings from the beach
Karin

 

[stevenl]

tally agree Karin, that is why I only sell them to people I know and trust in the water.

 

[h90]

I absolute agree. But considering: Just been in the national park at Chumphon, everything full with nets and dead fishes in the nets. Last time I was in Koh Lipe they catched a turtle and sold it most probably to Bangkok. All over Thailand are almost no sharks anymore because they are finned already. In Koh Phayam they told me proudly that they can fin Manta Rays (the tips of the wings) and sell as shark fins.
What is teasing a fish or swipe the coral (without braking it) in compare?
I, the same as you don't like to see it, but in compare to all the other abuse, does it really mater?

 

[aquamarin]

I absolute agree. But considering: Just been in the national park at Chumphon, everything full with nets and dead fishes in the nets. Last time I was in Koh Lipe they catched a turtle and sold it most probably to Bangkok. All over Thailand are almost no sharks anymore because they are finned already. In Koh Phayam they told me proudly that they can fin Manta Rays (the tips of the wings) and sell as shark fins.
What is teasing a fish or swipe the coral (without braking it) in compare?
I, the same as you don't like to see it, but in compare to all the other abuse, does it really mater?

This is completely off topic (I apologize) but I can't resist..............

Does it make a global difference that I always turn off the light when I leave a room? No, but if everybody else on the planet did it, we'd save soooo much energy.

A few years ago a good friend of mine saw that Tesco on Phuket sold shark fins. He emailed all his friends, and within a couple of days we had a campaign going, bombarding Tesco HQ with emails. They entered a dialogue with us, and at the end they promised to remove shark fins from their portfolio in Thailand. Now, did/does that have an impact on the overall shark situation? No, it doesn't - it's a tiny drop in the ocean. Do we still continue the same type of "propaganda"? Yes, we do. Why? Because every tiny bit in the right direction makes us feel better than doing nothing at all. I can't save all the millions of sharks being killed every year, but maybe I have saved 2 sharks.

I can't just watch a diver endangering a seahorse by stressing it without trying to do something about it. I can't save all the seahorses being killed daily, but maybe I can save that 1. And that makes me feel better than ignoring it and letting the seahorse die because of an unskilled (or ignorant) diver. And if all the divers diving that dive site would do the same....

So yes, to me it matters. Otherwise I'd feel that I'm part of the problem - I'd be showing disrespect and lack of understanding of the marine life and eco balance.

Apologies for being off topic - as you may have guessed this is something I'm very passionate about
Karin

 

[limbo]

This is completely off topic (I apologize) but I can't resist..............

Does it make a global difference that I always turn off the light when I leave a room? No, but if everybody else on the planet did it, we'd save soooo much energy.

A few years ago a good friend of mine saw that Tesco on Phuket sold shark fins. He emailed all his friends, and within a couple of days we had a campaign going, bombarding Tesco HQ with emails. They entered a dialogue with us, and at the end they promised to remove shark fins from their portfolio in Thailand. Now, did/does that have an impact on the overall shark situation? No, it doesn't - it's a tiny drop in the ocean. Do we still continue the same type of "propaganda"? Yes, we do. Why? Because every tiny bit in the right direction makes us feel better than doing nothing at all. I can't save all the millions of sharks being killed every year, but maybe I have saved 2 sharks.

I can't just watch a diver endangering a seahorse by stressing it without trying to do something about it. I can't save all the seahorses being killed daily, but maybe I can save that 1. And that makes me feel better than ignoring it and letting the seahorse die because of an unskilled (or ignorant) diver. And if all the divers diving that dive site would do the same....

So yes, to me it matters. Otherwise I'd feel that I'm part of the problem - I'd be showing disrespect and lack of understanding of the marine life and eco balance.

Apologies for being off topic - as you may have guessed this is something I'm very passionate about
Karin

Aquamarin,

I think you posted exactly the right answer, I was pondering how I was going to answer, but you pretty much nailed it. Well said! I don't think this is off topic at all btw!

A better world starts at your own home!