Trip Report: photo & video expedition from 5th to 9th November 2023

Photo and Video Expedition in Thailand: Aboard The Smiling Seahorse

Welcome aboard for a very special photo and video expedition in Thailand!

For this cruise, we welcomed guests from America, Germany, Switzerland, France and Brazil, all sharing the same passion for exploring the underwater world and capturing its beauty.

We were also delighted to have Walter Marti, a talented underwater videographer, joining us on board. Together with Walter, Franck shared his knowledge and experience with our guests, helping everyone improve their underwater photography and videography skills throughout the trip.

And the results were fantastic! Our guests produced some truly beautiful images, and we were super proud of their results. Well done everyone!

Underwater Photography Highlights

The diving in Thailand gave our photographers plenty of opportunities to capture both spectacular wide-angle scenes and fascinating marine life.

Blotched marble ray encountered in Similan National Park — A massive blotched marble ray encountered in Similan National Park. Credit: Robert Vogt.

Sea star on a coral reef — A sea star on the coral reef. Credit: Robert Vogt.

Porcelain crab living among anemone tentacles — A porcelain crab hiding in an anemone. Credit: Robert Vogt.

School of chevron barracudas underwater — Schooling chevron barracudas. Credit: Robert Vogt.

Harlequin shrimp photographed underwater — A beautiful harlequin shrimp. Credit: Robert Vogt.

Diver underwater in the blue — An underwater moment. Credit: Robert Vogt.

Robert captured some of the highlights of the cruise, including a massive blotched stingray in Similan National Park. At Richelieu Rock, the reef was full of life, with schooling barracudas, harlequin shrimps and plenty of fish all around.

Clownfish, Morays and Batfish

Clark's anemonefish portrait — A Clark’s anemonefish portrait. Credit: Merry-Jane Wolborsky.

White-eye moray eel sharing a home with a fibrillated moray eel — A white-eye moray eel sharing a home with a fibrillated moray eel. Credit: Merry-Jane Wolborsky.

Clownfish living in its host anemone — A clownfish at home in its anemone. Credit: Merry-Jane Wolborsky.

Longfin batfish in Similan National Park at night — A longfin batfish in Similan National Park at night. Credit: Linda Blanchard.

Richelieu Rock and Koh Bon

The diving continued with an incredible variety of subjects. We photographed a smalltooth emperor hunting alongside bluefin trevally, two batfish, a school of chevron barracudas and a huge school of trevally swimming through a curtain of glassfish.

Smalltooth emperor underwater — A smalltooth emperor hunting alongside bluefin trevally.

Longfin batfish swimming underwater — A longfin batfish.

Trevally swimming above a curtain of glassfish — A huge school of trevally with a curtain of glassfish.

Redcoat squirrelfish on a colourful coral reef — Colourful reef with redcoat squirrelfish at Richelieu Rock.

Beautiful coral reef at Koh Bon — A beautiful coral reef at Koh Bon.

And our dear friend Julien enjoyed some sidemount diving during the cruise!

Macro Life in the North Andaman

Small colourful nudibranch in the North Andaman — A nice nudibranch in the North Andaman.

Tiger egg cowry underwater — A tiger egg cowry.

Harlequin shrimp at Richelieu Rock — Harlequin shrimps at Richelieu Rock.

Some nice nudibranchs, a tiger egg cowry, harlequin shrimps at Richelieu Rock and a giant seafan at Koh Bon Pinnacle gave our photographers plenty of opportunities to work on their macro photography.

Longnosed emperor passing by a school of chevron barracudas — A longnosed emperor passing by a school of chevron barracuda.

Blackwater Diving

Blackwater diving was epic, with a curious flying fish coming into our lights.

We also encountered a pelagic anemone, a larval moray eel, a baby emperor fish, a sea butterfly and a triggerfish. Getting a sharp photograph of a tiny larval moray eel drifting in the darkness is no easy task!

Pelagic anemone encountered during a Blackwater dive — A pelagic anemone during a Blackwater dive.

Larval moray eel photographed during a Blackwater dive — A larval moray eel — pretty hard to get sharp!

Baby emperor fish photographed during a Blackwater dive — A baby emperor fish during a Blackwater dive.

Marine life photographed during a Blackwater dive — A fascinating Blackwater encounter.

Flying fish photographed during a Blackwater dive — A curious flying fish came into our lights.

Blackwater diving gives us the chance to encounter some of the most unusual creatures in the ocean, often appearing only briefly in the beam of a dive light.

A Big Thank You to Our Guests

Guests and crew aboard The Smiling Seahorse after the photo and video expedition — A big thank you to all our guests for making this trip amazing!

A big thank you to all our guests for making this trip amazing.

Congratulations to Aline for completing her Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certifications, and to Corinne for completing her Nitrox certification!

And a big thank you goes out to Walter for coming over. We look forward to the next photo and video expedition with you next season!