similan liveaboard dive report

[scottfiji]

did a 3 day, 2 night liveaboard on scuba cat; cost 14,000 baht
11 dives
(3 first day, 5 2nd day, 3 last day)
8 or 9 unique dive sites
very good visibility

the thai crew was great; andy was the tour coordinator and he did a good job of accomodating requests and putting divers together. south siam and scuba cat are greared more towards beginner divers. some people on board just got their open water. if you are a beginner diver this is a good boat for you. safety is very important on the dives, and the divemasters are good in this respect. dive times are limited to 45 minutes (35 on the night dive). food was excellent. accomodations were basic but sufficient, A/C was turned on at night. moot was the best DM on the boat. this boat did not go up to koh bon or richelle rock.

i saw a couple turtles, a sea snake, a couple nudibranchs, tuna, trevally, and reef fish. 1 zebra shark. lots of morays. I thought shark point in phuket had much more marine life though.

travel from phuket was 90 minute in a van, then 3 1/2 hours on a boat to the similans.

total capacity of the boat was about 20 divers, it was full, but never seemed too crowded.

let me know if anyone has any questions!
Scott

 

[MoonWrasse]

did a 3 day, 2 night liveaboard on scuba cat; cost 14,000 baht
11 dives
(3 first day, 5 2nd day, 3 last day)
8 or 9 unique dive sites
very good visibility

the thai crew was great; andy was the tour coordinator and he did a good job of accomodating requests and putting divers together. south siam and scuba cat are greared more towards beginner divers. some people on board just got their open water. if you are a beginner diver this is a good boat for you. safety is very important on the dives, and the divemasters are good in this respect. dive times are limited to 45 minutes (35 on the night dive). food was excellent. accomodations were basic but sufficient, A/C was turned on at night. moot was the best DM on the boat. this boat did not go up to koh bon or richelle rock.

i saw a couple turtles, a sea snake, a couple nudibranchs, tuna, trevally, and reef fish. 1 zebra shark. lots of morays. I thought shark point in phuket had much more marine life though.

travel from phuket was 90 minute in a van, then 3 1/2 hours on a boat to the similans.

total capacity of the boat was about 20 divers, it was full, but never seemed too crowded.

let me know if anyone has any questions!
Scott

3 1/2 hours? Must've been by longboat
It took me 1 hour 20 minutes via speedboat to the LAB.

If you're still there, you might try Phi Phi Bida Nok/Nai as they're replete with critters.

 

[Batfish]

3 1/2 hours? Must've been by longboat

Yeh, Scuba Cat transfer with their slow old day trip boat. You went on South Siam which transfers by speedboat. To be honest here - Scuba Cats boats are not as nice, BUT take less divers..Neither are great for experienced divers looking for the best dive sites, as they do tend to cater to new divers, and pick dive sites accordingly. If you have ony 2 or 3 days though, there is no other option. One of these days someone will launch a nice boat that takes small groups for short trips - do not expect it to be cheap!

 

[stevenl]

And the good thing about the Scubacat boat: no daytrip guests, plus the same guests will be on the trip for the entire duration, which IMO is a lot more comfortable than the every day changing guests.

BTW, half of the time they transfer with the old daytrip boat, half of the time by speedboat, wich does make the trip more comfortable considering the travel time involved by slow boat.

 

[Jason Ooi]

Hi Scott,

Sound impressive dived trip.

Did you see Whales Shark and Manta ray?

Jason

did a 3 day, 2 night liveaboard on scuba cat; cost 14,000 baht
11 dives
(3 first day, 5 2nd day, 3 last day)
8 or 9 unique dive sites
very good visibility

the thai crew was great; andy was the tour coordinator and he did a good job of accomodating requests and putting divers together. south siam and scuba cat are greared more towards beginner divers. some people on board just got their open water. if you are a beginner diver this is a good boat for you. safety is very important on the dives, and the divemasters are good in this respect. dive times are limited to 45 minutes (35 on the night dive). food was excellent. accomodations were basic but sufficient, A/C was turned on at night. moot was the best DM on the boat. this boat did not go up to koh bon or richelle rock.

i saw a couple turtles, a sea snake, a couple nudibranchs, tuna, trevally, and reef fish. 1 zebra shark. lots of morays. I thought shark point in phuket had much more marine life though.

travel from phuket was 90 minute in a van, then 3 1/2 hours on a boat to the similans.

total capacity of the boat was about 20 divers, it was full, but never seemed too crowded.

let me know if anyone has any questions!
Scott

 

[scottfiji]

Hi Scott,

Sound impressive dived trip.

Did you see Whales Shark and Manta ray?

Jason

nope

If I did I certainly would have mentioned it. I did not get the impression whale sharks or mantas were seen even occasionally where we were, especially whale sharks. I think they are sometimes seen at koh bon, but scuba cat doesn't go that far north.

 

[scottfiji]

Here are my photos from the liveaboard (easy to view, all on 1 page)

http://www.scubapost.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1789

Enjoy!
Scott

 

[Jason Ooi]

Thanks you for your sharing.
Nice photos.

Here are my photos from the liveaboard (easy to view, all on 1 page)

http://www.scubapost.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1789

Enjoy!
Scott