Whale Sharks, Mantas, and a Perfect End to the Andaman Sea Season
It is with great excitement that we started this trip, the last one of the season where we get to dive all the best Andaman Sea dive sites from Koh Lipe to Richelieu Rock.
Our awesome guests came from 11 different countries this week: Germany, England, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria, Singapore and Thailand, which made for a very multicultural experience 🙂
From Phuket to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang
The trip started from Phuket on the 12th of April 2022 in the afternoon, and we sailed to Koh Haa overnight to have our check dive there before heading south to the infamous Hin Daeng and Hin Muang for the other three dives, including the first night dive.
This week was a week of full moon, which brought its share of current and action along! There were so many trevallies hunting on top of Hin Muang, creating a spectacular underwater scene.
The following day we travelled to Koh Lipe, starting with two dives at 8 Mile Rock. In order to have the best experience, we modified our schedule and timed it with the tides.
What a great idea! That allowed us to enjoy the dive sites without having to fight the current. Massive schools of barracuda and jacks in the blue, together with ghost pipefish and seahorses on the reef, provided plenty to please both scenic and macro enthusiasts.
Stonehenge: An Explosion of Colours
Stonehenge and its million colours were also fantastic. Alternating vibrant soft corals with tomato clownfish in their anemones and giant barrel sponges, all in perfect visibility, made this one of the most beautiful coral gardens ever seen!
For the last dive, we had to hide from the strong currents and dived Pattaya Corner, a nice sunset dive to wrap up the day, with the chance to see one of my favourite fish: the comet longfin.
Back to Koh Haa and the Journey North
On our way back west, we stopped again at Hin Daeng and Hin Muang for two dives before going to the Cathedral at Koh Haa, where a nice turtle gave us a show just in front of the caves.
We had only three dives this day because of the long navigation to the south of the Similan Islands the next day.
Exploring the Edge of the Continental Shelf
We had been trying for a while now to have an exploration blue-water dive at the end of the continental shelf, where the bottom drops to several hundred metres. The conditions were perfect and everyone on board was game to try, so we finally had it – and what a fun experience!
We didn’t see the sharks we were hoping for, but we still had a nice wahoo and giant barracudas visiting us, while thousands of surreal jellyfish surrounded us.
The next dive was at Shark Fin Reef, where two turtles and a big school of barracuda came in front of the lens.
West of Eden and Another Blackwater Dive
We carried on our route northward and had the third dive at West of Eden. Even if the site is very scenic, it is also a great place to hunt for the psychedelic batwing sea slug.
For our last dive that day, everyone wanted to try again the end of the continental shelf to see what was there at night, so we headed back west for another blackwater dive.
Blackwater Diving in Deep Water
We jumped above 150 metres of water and drifted in the dark, where we spotted a juvenile flying fish, post-larval pufferfish, a larval ribbon eel, shrimps and squids.
But we also had a squad of juvenile trevallies hunting in our lights, making it very difficult to take photos without exposing the larvae to the predators…
Similan Islands: Elephant Head Rock and Three Trees
The next day started at Elephant Head Rock. The regular fully grown ribbon eels were there, and the swim-through always pleased our guests.
The second dive at Three Trees allowed me to take a few shots of our guests and to try new photo angles on the barrel sponge 😉
Koh Bon: Manta Rays, Whale Sharks and an Eagle Ray
The third and fourth dives were planned at Koh Bon, where we had the pleasure of seeing one manta on the first day and a whale shark the following morning.
This week was particularly busy because of the Songkran holidays (Thai New Year), but by the end of the week all the other boats had gone. And we had it all to ourselves until the end of the cruise!
That’s when the whale shark paid us a visit.
The next two dives were at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, and we marvelled in front of the jacks, batfish and red snappers.
After the sunset dive, it was time for our fun-filled barbecue night. The courtesy cocktails and lamb legs got everyone in the mood for a great party night!
Richelieu Rock: A Perfect Final Dive
We finally made it to Richelieu Rock for our last two dives.
I must say, I rarely saw Richelieu Rock as good as it was on this day! We suppose that the fact that there had been no boat for two days made the fish really friendly. They totally ignored us, passing really close to us!
My highlight on these two dives was finding a robust ghost pipefish. I haven’t seen one here in a while!
All our guests came back with sparkles in their eyes, and the happy chatter lasted until our arrival in Ranong in the late afternoon.
Goodbye everyone, and thanks for sharing this fantastic adventure with us!
One Response
All of you had a great experience. You are so blessed to see how wonderful this world is.