Thailand Liveaboard Diving: Manta Rays, Blackwater Diving, and the Best of the Andaman Sea
Welcome aboard, fellow underwater explorers!
We had another fantastic cruise this week with a very international crowd onboard! Divers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, America and Switzerland. We were like the United Nations of scuba diving, ready to conquer the Andaman Sea!
Surin National Park and Richelieu Rock
Our journey started in Surin National Park, where we were greeted with crystal-clear water and an underwater playground that would make even Ariel jealous.
We saw schools of colourful fish, and Richelieu Rock felt like we were in our very own Finding Nemo movie. We then navigated overnight towards Koh Tachai and Koh Bon, and boy, were we in for a treat!
Oceanic Manta Rays at Koh Tachai and Koh Bon
We met two oceanic manta rays about 4 meters wide and a big blotched fantail ray about 1.5 meters large!
Koh Tachai, also known as “The Island That Time Forgot”, has been closed to tourists since 2018 to allow the island’s coral reefs to regenerate. Luckily for us, we are still allowed to dive around the corner at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, which was like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
We saw more marine life than we ever could have imagined, and a cute hawksbill turtle came by to say hello! This time, we were even part of a National Geographic documentary 🙂
Koh Bon was our next stop, and it didn’t disappoint. We saw oceanic manta rays, and it was like they were putting on a show just for us. It was like watching ballet, but instead of ballerinas, we had these majestic creatures. The dive site was so beautiful that even the fish were taking selfies 🙂
Koh Bon is one of Thailand’s best-known dive sites for manta ray encounters. The current here can be mild to strong, and this should be taken into account by your guide when selecting the entry and exit point for your dive.
There are two main dive sites around Koh Bon: Koh Bon Pinnacle and the ridge to the west of Koh Bon. The ridge is a well-known cleaning station where manta rays are often spotted gliding slowly in the current.
Blackwater Diving: A Dive Into a Fantasy World
We also did a blackwater dive that night, and it was like we were in a scene from Alice in Wonderland. We saw pelagic snails, day octopus, paper nautiluses and other creatures that we didn’t even know existed. It was like diving into a fantasy world.
Similan Islands and Racha Noi
Our diving adventure then took us to Similan National Park and Racha Noi on our way back to Phuket, and what a dream come true.
We saw everything from Kuhl’s stingrays and huge schools of barracuda to nudibranchs and even whip coral shrimp.
The Similan Islands have become famous for the wealth of their coral reefs, which teem with marine life and usually offer great diving conditions. It is rare to have bad visibility here, and both divers and snorkellers can see a wide variety of marine species and birds. The beach stops aren’t too shabby either!
Thank You to Our International Diving Family
We want to thank our international group for choosing The Smiling Seahorse to explore the Andaman Sea. We hope you had a wonderful trip with us and that you have a safe journey back home.
We can’t wait to see you again because you are now part of our diving family.
Keep calm and dive on!
