Our 28-30 november Thailand cruise

What a way to kick off the season aboard the MV Smiling Seahorse! Although international travel is still at a standstill and we couldn’t visit our beloved Mergui Archipelago, there is nothing to do but make the most of it! We had a magnificent tour through the Thai Surin and Similan Islands with a multicultural group of local vacationers happy to be on the sea away from the hustle and bustle of life. We have been waiting for this trip since Covid stole our heart and sea in March!

The first day was blessed with a gorgeous sunrise to set us off on our merry way. A bit of cloud cover over the course of the weekend made for very pleasant weather to go along with the up to 30m visibility and fish soup underwater.

We had a beautiful second day at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai where we got swarmed by fish, found gorgeous nudibranchs and harlequin shrimp and one group even sighted the first giant manta ray of the season!

The last day of the trip brought big wind and waves so we headed to Surin Island for a quiet night and first dive. We started the day at Yellow Rock, with a lovely appearance from an octopus and so many sweetlips everywhere. We then moved over to do two marvellous dives at Richelieu Rock featuring cuttlefish, ghost pipefish, giant frogfish, seahorses and all of the beautiful usual suspects.

We ended our cruise night diving in the Surin Islands where we had the chance to encounter a shaded batfish, a little party of pipefish, some nice nudibranchs and cuttlefish!

Special mentions and a HUGE congratulations to Menno and Sanne for becoming Advanced Open Water divers and also to Claire and Eva for completing their Enriched Air Nitrox course while on the trip! Happy future bubbles to you all!

Also wishing Sawittree all the best on her birthday! Thank you so much for choosing to celebrate with us!
Thanks for all the fish, friends. Hope to dive with you again soon!