Ironborn
Contributor
Summary
The quality of the underwater environment in Thailand's Surin and Similan National Parks exceeded my expectations and fueled my further interest in diving on pinnacles and in a liveaboard trip to the Mergui Archipelago of neighboring Myanmar. Highlights of this trip included Richelieu Rock, the Boonsung wreck, and the high coral and fish density and distinctive topography of many sites. I nonetheless found the Similan Explorer liveaboard unsatisfactory in many ways, including its facilities and dive operation, but in all fairness they provided a good itinerary and showed us many good things.
Why I Went There
My original interest in Thailand was as a topside vacation destination. I nonetheless decided to add a diving leg to my trip, given the popularity of Thailand as a diving destination and the fact that topside leg of my trip required only one week; coming all the way from New York to Southeast Asia, I need a two-week trip to justify the cost and length of my flights. I decided on an Andaman Sea liveaboard for the diving leg of my trip, given the prevailing view that such trips provide better diving than the Gulf of Thailand and my interest in more and different liveaboard experiences beyond my prior experiences with Aggressor Fleet in the Caribbean. I ruled out terrestrial dive operations on the Andaman coast of Thailand due to the lengthy boat rides and other downsides that they probably would have involved.
My research on Andaman Sea liveaboards yielded two boats that struck me as particularly appealing: the Junk and the Giamani. Unfortunately, their itineraries simply would not fit with my topside itinerary; I waited for over a year for the stars to align and for their dates to fit my potential itineraries, but it just would not work out and I gave up. In retrospect, I wish that I had either modified my topside itinerary to fit those boats or waited for the stars to align at another time. I had read and heard many mixed and downright negative reviews of the local underwater environment, some of which suggested that it was sub-par or mediocre by Indo-Pacific standards. The topside leg of my trip thus remained a higher priority, but I would have changed my priorities if I had known what the diving would be like.
The liveaboards that best fit my itinerary were the Similan Explorer and one of the Manta Queen boats. The Manta Queen fleet did not respond to my inquiry, so I went with the Similan Explorer. I should emphasize that I did not choose them because of their low prices; I would have been comfortable with the medium prices of the Junk and the higher prices of the Giamani. With that said, my previous experiences with Caribbean Aggressors suggested to me that I could do without some of their unnecessary luxuries, such as jacuzzis, alcohol, and big televisions, so I liked the idea of a budget liveaboard as a way to save money by cutting back on frills that I do not need. The Similan Explorer and its sister boat, the Dolphin Queen, seemed to have good reputations among budget liveaboards.
Where We Went
The Similan Explorer had a good itinerary for this 5-day trip that exposed us to a wide range of environments and many of the area's highlights in a relatively short period of time. We spent the first day and did the first dive of the second day in the Surin Islands, which had a fairly typical coral reef environment. It was a good enough place for our check-out dive and to familiarize ourselves with the environment. It was enjoyable, but it was also probably the least remarkable part of the trip.
Richelieu Rock was the highlight of the trip. Indeed, the three dives that we did there were among the best in my diving experience thus far. I knew that Richelieu Rock was popular, but I did not know why until I saw it. I had thought that it might be overrated and the subject of hype, but I would say that it may actually be underrated. This pinnacle had what may have been the richest coral and other reef growth and the highest fish density that I have ever seen, exceeding those of the Sahaung pinnacle off Bankga Island in Indonesia. The reef growth and schools of fish were occasionally so dense that they obstructed views of other things. I had heard of “fish soup” conditions obstructing visibility, but I had not seen it until now. Other places that we visited on this trip also had high fish density, but not as much as Richelieu Rock. Richelieu Rock also had a wide range of other, more noteworthy macro and medium-sized creatures. I had heard and read many unfavorable comments about excessive numbers of divers at this site. We may have been lucky that day, as there were “only” seven other boats there; the presence of other divers did not directly detract from the quality of my experience.
We spent the next day at Koh Tachai and Koh Bon, inside the Similan National Park. Koh Tachai was an interesting introduction to the area's distinctive granite boulder topography, which I appreciated more than I would have expected, even if only for its novelty to me. It also had some very impressive sea fans. Unfortunately, we encountered what the guides described as “the Green Monster” - strong current, low visibility and sharp thermoclines with unexpectedly cold water; the British divers on the boat joked that the conditions reminded them of their home waters. We thus did only one dive there before moving to Koh Bon, which was somewhat less impressive from a topographical perspective but was more comfortable and had a better array of macro and other creatures to see than Koh Tachai.
We only spent one day in the actual nine Similan Islands, which offered an even more impressive example of the area's granite boulder topography. Some of the unfavorable reviews of the Similans that I had read suggested that they were just “a pile of rocks,” but I found the topography quite impressive – and keep in mind that my level of interest in marine topography is usually lower than that of many other divers. The boulders had a striking, austere sort of beauty to them, if that makes any sense. The coral and other reef growth here was sparser than that of the other areas, but in a way that almost made it more striking, as it stood out more clearly. The visibility here was excellent, better than anywhere else that we visited and rivaling that of popular Caribbean destinations. While I appreciated its distinctive merits and its novelty to me, I could see why it might become tedious if one spent more time here, and perhaps that is the source of some of the unfavorable reviews that I had heard and read.
We did the last two dives on the last day at the Boonsung wreck, on the way back to Khao Lak. These were clearly the best two dives of the trip after Richelieu Rock. The original plan had been to do one dive here and another dive at another nearby wreck. The crew nonetheless decided to do the second dive here too because the conditions were unusually good (by the standards of that site – visibility was low compared to other places that we visited) and we had seen so much on the first dive. This broken-up wreck is of interest not so much as a wreck per se but for the abundant marine life that it attracts – more than anywhere else that we visited, other than Richelieu Rock. Indeed, the “fish soup” conditions here impeded visibility to the point that one of the guides temporarily lost his group of divers. Beyond the high fish density, the wreck was also home to a wide array of other, more noteworthy individual creatures, including macro critters and a large population of honeycomb moray eels.
(to be continued in the next post on this thread)
The quality of the underwater environment in Thailand's Surin and Similan National Parks exceeded my expectations and fueled my further interest in diving on pinnacles and in a liveaboard trip to the Mergui Archipelago of neighboring Myanmar. Highlights of this trip included Richelieu Rock, the Boonsung wreck, and the high coral and fish density and distinctive topography of many sites. I nonetheless found the Similan Explorer liveaboard unsatisfactory in many ways, including its facilities and dive operation, but in all fairness they provided a good itinerary and showed us many good things.
Why I Went There
My original interest in Thailand was as a topside vacation destination. I nonetheless decided to add a diving leg to my trip, given the popularity of Thailand as a diving destination and the fact that topside leg of my trip required only one week; coming all the way from New York to Southeast Asia, I need a two-week trip to justify the cost and length of my flights. I decided on an Andaman Sea liveaboard for the diving leg of my trip, given the prevailing view that such trips provide better diving than the Gulf of Thailand and my interest in more and different liveaboard experiences beyond my prior experiences with Aggressor Fleet in the Caribbean. I ruled out terrestrial dive operations on the Andaman coast of Thailand due to the lengthy boat rides and other downsides that they probably would have involved.
My research on Andaman Sea liveaboards yielded two boats that struck me as particularly appealing: the Junk and the Giamani. Unfortunately, their itineraries simply would not fit with my topside itinerary; I waited for over a year for the stars to align and for their dates to fit my potential itineraries, but it just would not work out and I gave up. In retrospect, I wish that I had either modified my topside itinerary to fit those boats or waited for the stars to align at another time. I had read and heard many mixed and downright negative reviews of the local underwater environment, some of which suggested that it was sub-par or mediocre by Indo-Pacific standards. The topside leg of my trip thus remained a higher priority, but I would have changed my priorities if I had known what the diving would be like.
The liveaboards that best fit my itinerary were the Similan Explorer and one of the Manta Queen boats. The Manta Queen fleet did not respond to my inquiry, so I went with the Similan Explorer. I should emphasize that I did not choose them because of their low prices; I would have been comfortable with the medium prices of the Junk and the higher prices of the Giamani. With that said, my previous experiences with Caribbean Aggressors suggested to me that I could do without some of their unnecessary luxuries, such as jacuzzis, alcohol, and big televisions, so I liked the idea of a budget liveaboard as a way to save money by cutting back on frills that I do not need. The Similan Explorer and its sister boat, the Dolphin Queen, seemed to have good reputations among budget liveaboards.
Where We Went
The Similan Explorer had a good itinerary for this 5-day trip that exposed us to a wide range of environments and many of the area's highlights in a relatively short period of time. We spent the first day and did the first dive of the second day in the Surin Islands, which had a fairly typical coral reef environment. It was a good enough place for our check-out dive and to familiarize ourselves with the environment. It was enjoyable, but it was also probably the least remarkable part of the trip.
Richelieu Rock was the highlight of the trip. Indeed, the three dives that we did there were among the best in my diving experience thus far. I knew that Richelieu Rock was popular, but I did not know why until I saw it. I had thought that it might be overrated and the subject of hype, but I would say that it may actually be underrated. This pinnacle had what may have been the richest coral and other reef growth and the highest fish density that I have ever seen, exceeding those of the Sahaung pinnacle off Bankga Island in Indonesia. The reef growth and schools of fish were occasionally so dense that they obstructed views of other things. I had heard of “fish soup” conditions obstructing visibility, but I had not seen it until now. Other places that we visited on this trip also had high fish density, but not as much as Richelieu Rock. Richelieu Rock also had a wide range of other, more noteworthy macro and medium-sized creatures. I had heard and read many unfavorable comments about excessive numbers of divers at this site. We may have been lucky that day, as there were “only” seven other boats there; the presence of other divers did not directly detract from the quality of my experience.
We spent the next day at Koh Tachai and Koh Bon, inside the Similan National Park. Koh Tachai was an interesting introduction to the area's distinctive granite boulder topography, which I appreciated more than I would have expected, even if only for its novelty to me. It also had some very impressive sea fans. Unfortunately, we encountered what the guides described as “the Green Monster” - strong current, low visibility and sharp thermoclines with unexpectedly cold water; the British divers on the boat joked that the conditions reminded them of their home waters. We thus did only one dive there before moving to Koh Bon, which was somewhat less impressive from a topographical perspective but was more comfortable and had a better array of macro and other creatures to see than Koh Tachai.
We only spent one day in the actual nine Similan Islands, which offered an even more impressive example of the area's granite boulder topography. Some of the unfavorable reviews of the Similans that I had read suggested that they were just “a pile of rocks,” but I found the topography quite impressive – and keep in mind that my level of interest in marine topography is usually lower than that of many other divers. The boulders had a striking, austere sort of beauty to them, if that makes any sense. The coral and other reef growth here was sparser than that of the other areas, but in a way that almost made it more striking, as it stood out more clearly. The visibility here was excellent, better than anywhere else that we visited and rivaling that of popular Caribbean destinations. While I appreciated its distinctive merits and its novelty to me, I could see why it might become tedious if one spent more time here, and perhaps that is the source of some of the unfavorable reviews that I had heard and read.
We did the last two dives on the last day at the Boonsung wreck, on the way back to Khao Lak. These were clearly the best two dives of the trip after Richelieu Rock. The original plan had been to do one dive here and another dive at another nearby wreck. The crew nonetheless decided to do the second dive here too because the conditions were unusually good (by the standards of that site – visibility was low compared to other places that we visited) and we had seen so much on the first dive. This broken-up wreck is of interest not so much as a wreck per se but for the abundant marine life that it attracts – more than anywhere else that we visited, other than Richelieu Rock. Indeed, the “fish soup” conditions here impeded visibility to the point that one of the guides temporarily lost his group of divers. Beyond the high fish density, the wreck was also home to a wide array of other, more noteworthy individual creatures, including macro critters and a large population of honeycomb moray eels.
(to be continued in the next post on this thread)