Trip Report - Smiling Seahorse Similans / Blackwater trip

[Centrals]

Holding a drift line is lot better than holding onto the dinghy. Anyone can just let go the line if feeling uncomfortable but can be dangerous if the diver does not want to meet the prop or other diver.
Dinghy is a very bad idea for diver to climb back no matter what. Someone has to balance the boat when diver climbing back. And the folded ladder!!!! It is not designed for diver with full gear.
I would imagine the operators are learning the tricks since divers are not allowed to jump directly into the sites in Similan.

 

[Barmaglot]

Dinghy is a very bad idea for diver to climb back no matter what. Someone has to balance the boat when diver climbing back. And the folded ladder!!!! It is not designed for diver with full gear.

Obviously you don't climb it in full gear; you take off (and pass to the dinghy driver) your camera, DSMB, weight belt, BCD and fins, and only then hook to the ladder and climb out. Personally I prefer the tow line and the big boat ladder - I hang the camera from the shoulder D-rings, climb out, sit down at my assigned station and then take everything off (I use short stiff fins, so they're easy to walk in; this wouldn't work for the OP as she uses very long freedriver-type fins). I don't think there is any danger of a propeller strike, since the line is deployed from the dinghy's bow, and the dinghy is driven in reverse, stern-first.

 

[Centrals]

Obviously you don't climb it in full gear; you take off (and pass to the dinghy driver) your camera, DSMB, weight belt, BCD and fins, and only then hook to the ladder and climb out. Personally I prefer the tow line and the big boat ladder - I hang the camera from the shoulder D-rings, climb out, sit down at my assigned station and then take everything off (I use short stiff fins, so they're easy to walk in; this wouldn't work for the OP as she uses very long freedriver-type fins). I don't think there is any danger of a propeller strike, since the line is deployed from the dinghy's bow, and the dinghy is driven in reverse, stern-first.

I have done that many times to climb up the ladder in full gear when I was a lot younger and fitter. I hate the folded ladder made from steel tube. Long ladder with steps at inclined angle.
I meant those holding onto the boat not the line and the boat is not on reverse.

 

[jjmochi]

The towing didn't feel dangerous, it was just uncomfortable. The grates in between the 2 ladders on the main boat is what I had trouble with actually, when there's a surge it kept flopping up and hitting my shins when I'm trying to take off my gear and fins. Barmaglot was my diving buddy and usually on the boat with his full gear long before I was able to climb on.
And yes the jellies were the tiny stingy type with long legs. It was particularly awful on just one day then the next day was reduced by >50%.

 

[Bubblesong]

And yes the jellies were the tiny stingy type with long legs. It was particularly awful on just one day then the next day was reduced by >50%.

Were these the box jellies? I got stung on face and it hurt like hell for six hours, vinegar does not stop pain, just stops stinger. The next day it itched until i got hydrocortisone on it.

 

[JonnieB]

Were these the box jellies? I got stung on face and it hurt like hell for six hours, vinegar does not stop pain, just stops stinger. The next day it itched until i got hydrocortisone on it.

No...if it was Chironex flekeri, you'd be in the hospital not rubbing steroidal cream on it!

 

[Centrals]

Were these the box jellies? I got stung on face and it hurt like hell for six hours, vinegar does not stop pain, just stops stinger. The next day it itched until i got hydrocortisone on it.

Not a chance.

Beware of box jellyfish, beach tourists warned

The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has urged tourists to beware of poisonous box jellyfish, which are often found near the beach during the rainy season.

www.nationthailand.com

The magnitude of severe box jellyfish cases on Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan in the Gulf of Thailand - BMC Research Notes

Background Despite recent deaths caused by box jellyfish envenomation occurring on the islands of Samui and Pha-ngan in the Gulf of Thailand, many people do not believe box jellyfish can kill humans and many people dismiss the problem as insignificant. More evidence has been requested from the...

bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com

Water around Koh Phangan and Koh Samui!!

 

[Barmaglot]

Water around Koh Phangan and Koh Samui!!

Israeli boy dies from box jellyfish sting on Koh Phangan

SURAT THANI: A nine-year-old Israeli boy died after being stung by a box jellyfish while playing in the water at a beach on Koh Phangan island on Saturday.

www.bangkokpost.com

 

[Centrals]

"Irukandji" this one could be more deadly and tiny as well.

 

[JonnieB]

Israeli boy dies from box jellyfish sting on Koh Phangan

SURAT THANI: A nine-year-old Israeli boy died after being stung by a box jellyfish while playing in the water at a beach on Koh Phangan island on Saturday.

www.bangkokpost.com

A few every year in the Gulf...usually right off the beaches.