7 days 6 nights Burma diving cruise: up to Black Rock
Black Rock in a week: Burma diving liveaboard
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Venture a little further off the beaten path into the Mergui Archipelago. Experience the remote wonders of Black Rock.
Day 1: Before we get started, we would like to invite you to rendezvous at our dive center headquarters between 9:00am and 12:00pm. Here we will take care of rental equipment fitting for those who require it and dot the i’s and cross the t’s before departure. At 2:00pm we will head to the immigration office to get the necessary exit stamps from Thailand and then make our way to board the magnificent MV Smiling Seahorse. Upon crossing the border into Myanmar, immigration officers will board the boat in Kawthaung and do the necessary border crossing screening. Once the boring paperwork is completed, we will head out to sea! At sunset we will hold a ceremony to launch our voyage and introduce the crew. Then it will be time for your first scrumptious meal before being rocked to sleep by the waves. |
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Day 2: KNOCK KNOCK, Dive briefing! Wake up to the friendly call of the ocean (and your eager dive guide) as we start the cruise with a day at South Twin Island. Sitting in the outskirts of the Mergui Archipelago, this dive site is quite scenic with consistent crystal visibility and a topography of huge granite boulders. We have even been lucky enough the start the voyage off in style with a guest appearance from a majestic manta ray. Macro lovers will also be treated to chances of ghost pipefish, seahorses and frogfish! We end the first day of diving with a night dive searching for pygmy squid, candy crabs, cowries and nudibranchs!
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Two manta rays together at Black Rock
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Nurse shark
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Day 4: After a night of crossing, we will reach Black Rock, a small rock out in open sea. Here we are hoping for the big stuff like Sharks and Rays and whatever is passing… This is the place to go for "Manta Festival" with Manta rays coming in dozens from everywhere (no guarantee of course, but they are pretty common). The conditions this far in the open sea are a bit more challenging and currents make it a different style of diving to other areas of Mergui. This is probably the best dive site in Myanmar and is still seldom visited by divers.
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Candy crab
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Longfin comet
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Day 5: Still quite far offshore we will spend the fifth day of the cruise at North Twin for more chances to cross paths with larger pelagic fish and megafauna. We love this dive site for the massive schools of tuna, barracuda and trevally out in the blue, as well as the wealth of tiny critters hiding among the giant sea fans and soft corals. There is also a sand patch where we can sometimes find sleeping zebra sharks!
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Day 6: The sixth day will be spent ion the neighbourhood of Western Rocky. The first two dives of the day will be spent exploring the scenery of Seafan forest. The magnificent corals attract many schools of fish and the shelter of the topography is a favourite pace of ours to search for stonefish. The last two dives of the day will be in around the main island and islets of Western Rocky. Here we will also have a night dive where we can see a vibrant mosaic of yellow soft coral polyps blooming in the darkness. Spanish dancers and all types of crustaceans can be observed here.
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Aerial view of North Twin
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Can you spot the scorpionfish hiding in the coral?
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Day 7: The last dive goes into a volcano where a group of black tip reef sharks likes to hang around… this is also a special site where we can find seahorses and rare tropical fish like the longfin comet, the shaded batfish or the pineapple fish.
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After the last dive we will go back to Kawthoung where there will be opportunity for some souvenir shopping and a refreshing local beer.
Once we get our passports back from the Burmese authorities, we will head back to Thailand where we get a new entry stamp. 30 days for G8 countries passport holders, 14 days for the others getting visa on arrival.
Once we get our passports back from the Burmese authorities, we will head back to Thailand where we get a new entry stamp. 30 days for G8 countries passport holders, 14 days for the others getting visa on arrival.
A little video made by one of our passengers to illustrate what you can expect on this cruise |
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Black Rock, South Twin, Shark Cave, North Twin, Western Rocky, Seafan Forrest...
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7 days/6 nights, 21 dives
Price Diver 2020-2021 from: THB 57,000 (in standard cabin) 
Seafan Forest
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Included:
• Full accommodation and board • All meals (Breakfast, Lunch, afternoon bites, Dinner) • All soft drinks, drinking water, filter coffee & tea • Fresh fruits, yoghurt & snacks • 12 Liter Alum. Cylinders, Weights & Weight Belt • PADI Professional Dive Guide • 25 Dives during the Trip (8Days/7Nights) • Towel, shower gel • Sea kayak and hammock |
Not included:
• Burmese entry and diving Fees: 230 USD / Pers • PERSONAL INSURANCE COMPULSORY • Alcoholic drinks and cigarettes • Equipment rental (600 THB/ day) • Computer (300 THB/day) • PADI Continuing Education Courses • Nitrox (250 THB/tank or 4,100 THB/trip 7D6N) • Transfers to and from Ranong (on demand) |
This itinerary is provided as sample itinerary and can be modified by The Smiling Seahorse based on weather forecast, dive conditions or other unforeseen circumstances.
6 Days Burma:
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8 Days Burma:
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9 Days Burma:
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5D Thailand:
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The Smiling Seahorse diving cruises
Review:
5, based on
135 reviews
"Great food Great diving Great cruise!" by
Martin, written on
January 13, 2020
We had an awesome time on this boat. The crew was funny and helpful with setting up and cleaning gear. The food was amazing. The views were nice. Frank is funny and knowledgeable and also a great photographer and does not charge customers for his excellent photos
