7 Days of Diving in Burma: Sharks, Turtles and Incredible Night Dives

8–14 February 2020

Another week of diving in Myanmar has come to an end, and once again the Mergui Archipelago delivered an incredible variety of marine life and unforgettable underwater encounters.

During this 7-day cruise in Burma, our divers explored a series of remote dive sites surrounded by the wild scenery of the Andaman Sea. The conditions were challenging at times, particularly because the full moon was creating strong currents, but these conditions also brought plenty of life to the reefs.

From sharks and turtles to huge schools of fish, colourful reef creatures and fascinating night dives, it was a fantastic week underwater aboard the MV Smiling Seahorse.

Strong Currents and Plenty of Marine Life

The influence of the full moon made some of the dives particularly exciting. Strong currents required divers to pay close attention to their positioning and surroundings, but the reward was an impressive amount of marine life moving around the reefs.

Among the larger animals encountered during the week were several species of sharks, including nurse sharks, silvertip sharks and whitetip reef sharks. Seeing sharks while diving in the remote waters of Myanmar is always a memorable experience, especially when conditions bring these magnificent predators close to the reef.

The group also encountered turtles during the cruise, along with large schools of barracuda and bigeye trevallies. Encounters with schooling fish are one of the highlights of diving in the Andaman Sea, and watching large groups move through the blue adds a completely different dimension to the reef scenery.

Exploring the Underwater World of Myanmar

One of the reasons we love liveaboard diving in Myanmar is the incredible variety of underwater environments encountered during a cruise. The remote location of the Mergui Archipelago means that many dive sites remain far away from the busy diving areas found elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

During the week, divers were able to look beyond the larger animals and discover plenty of smaller marine life hiding among the reef. Careful observation revealed nudibranchs, crustaceans and other fascinating creatures that can easily be missed during a faster-paced dive.

Night Diving in the Mergui Archipelago

The night dives were another major highlight of this Burma cruise. Once the sun disappeared and the reefs became dark, an entirely different world came to life.

One of the most spectacular experiences was diving with bioluminescent plankton. When divers moved their hands or disturbed the water, tiny points of light appeared in the darkness, creating a magical underwater experience that is difficult to describe until you have experienced it yourself.

Night diving also gave the group the opportunity to find creatures that are rarely seen during daylight dives. Crustaceans became much easier to spot, while frogfish and colourful nudibranchs appeared under the beams of the divers’ torches.

For underwater photographers, night dives can be particularly rewarding. Small subjects that might disappear into the reef during the day become much easier to isolate with a torch or camera light, revealing details and colours that are easy to overlook on a daytime dive.

Small Creatures, Big Discoveries

While sharks, turtles and schooling fish provided some of the week’s biggest encounters, the smaller inhabitants of the reef kept the divers busy between the larger sightings.

Frogfish are always a favourite because their incredible camouflage can make them surprisingly difficult to spot. These masters of disguise can blend almost perfectly into their surroundings, which makes finding one during a dive especially satisfying.

The same is true for nudibranchs. Myanmar’s reefs are home to an impressive variety of these colourful sea slugs, from tiny species that require careful searching to larger and more spectacular individuals that immediately attract a photographer’s attention.

And then there were the seahorses. Finding a seahorse during a dive is always a special moment, particularly when the animal is well camouflaged among the reef or attached to a small piece of structure.

These encounters are a good reminder that a great dive is not necessarily about finding the biggest animal. Sometimes the most memorable discovery is a tiny creature that you would have completely missed without slowing down and looking carefully.

Congratulations to Our Divers

It was also a week of learning and progressing underwater.

Congratulations to Sylvain on completing his Advanced Open Water certification, and to Gus, Cintha and Germa on completing their Nitrox certifications.

There is something particularly rewarding about completing a certification during a liveaboard trip. With several days of diving in a row, divers have plenty of opportunities to put their new knowledge and skills into practice while enjoying the incredible marine environment of the Mergui Archipelago.

Another Week in Burma Comes to an End

After seven days of diving, it was time to say goodbye to Burma once again. The combination of strong currents, sharks, turtles, barracudas, bigeye trevallies, colourful reef creatures and spectacular night dives made this another memorable cruise in Myanmar.

And there was no time to rest for long: the following week, the MV Smiling Seahorse was heading back towards the Andaman Islands for another exclusive diving trip.

Every cruise is different, and that is part of what makes diving in Myanmar so special. The remote reefs, changing conditions and extraordinary marine life mean that you never quite know what will appear on the next dive.