Surin & Similan – 30th April to 7th of May 2025 – Trip Report

Our final voyage of the season began with sunshine and calm seas as we welcomed our lovely guests from France, Austria and Koh Tao aboard the MV Smiling Seahorse. Departing from Phuket’s Marine Charter Pier, our 8-day journey would take us through the heart of Thailand’s most iconic dive destinations–Similan and Surin National Parks.
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These two marine parks are crown jewels of the Andaman Sea. The Similan Islands, renowned for their dramatic granite boulders, swim-throughs, and endless schools of fusiliers, offer breathtaking topography and pelagic action. Further north, Surin National Park is home to colorful coral gardens, rare macro life, and the legendary Richelieu Rock—one of the best dive sites in Southeast Asia.

We began with a check dive at Shark Fin Reef, where thousands of juvenile scissortail and yellowback fusiliers blanketed the water column in glimmering silver. Wrasses and rabbitfish busied themselves around the rocks, while starry dragonets tiptoed across sandy patches. Giant and bluefin trevallies flashed by, and a hawksbill turtle glided over the reef. Batfish and a great barracuda patrolled the boulders below.
At Boulder City, the massive sea fans created a forest beneath the sea. Squat shrimps and Durban dancing shrimps swayed with the current, while giant groupers hid in the crevices. Fusiliers flowed like rivers, and we were treated to a turtle sighting once more.
Statue Bay and Hideaway revealed the wreck and stunning hard coral formations shaped like layered flowers. Schools of yellowback fusiliers swirled around us, and we found a tiny juvenile sweetlips bobbing near the coral—an adorable reminder of reef life’s fragility. A giant moray peeked from his lair while an octopus changed color before our eyes.
We ended the day with a peaceful night dive at West of Eden, where the coral glowed under our lights and crustaceans crept out into the night.

At West of Eden again in the morning light, a hawksbill turtle passed by gently as  a pipehorse and multibar pipefish darted through soft corals. Blue dragons and oriental sweetlips brightened the boulders below, and a curious sea snake slithered through the reef.
Elephant Head Rock gave us both drama and beauty—giant sea fans waved beside the towering swim-throughs. Blacktip sharks cruised the deep, while batfish posed at safety stop depth. Schools of snappers, scissortail fusiliers, and trevallies zipped by. A pregnant pufferfish hovered in the current, accompanied by her always-alert boxfish companions.
The night dive at Donald Duck Bay was full of life: spiny lobsters, scallops pulsing open and shut, and a nail sea star caught mid-feeding.

At North Point, we swam among oriental and harlequin sweetlips, longnose emperors, and more fusiliers than we could count. Giant seafans fanned gently in the current. Then at Three Trees, garden eels wavered in the sand while blue-spotted stingrays zipped by. Barrel sponges lined the seafloor, home to gobies and blennies, while yellowband fusiliers clouded the reef above.
En route to Koh Bon, we were met by a pod of dolphins—an incredible mid-ocean surprise.
At Koh Bon Ridge and Bay, we spotted a baby blacktip shark, potato groupers resting on the reef, and schools of longnose emperors hunting alongside giant sweetlips, redtooth triggerfish, coral groupers, and flocks of masked rabbitfish.
That night, the blackwater dive offered up the strange and wonderful: a blue-ring octopus, baby jacks hiding in salp chains, squid, and translucent larval crabs drifting in the dark.

Koh Bon Pinnacle did not disappoint. Massive schools of fusiliers swirled around us as a great barracuda sat motionless at a cleaning station. Oriental sweetlips mingled with batfish and cleaner shrimps in every nook and cranny. A solitary eagle ray glided silently past us, giving the entire scene a dreamlike touch.
At Koh Tachai, the reef exploded with color. Blacktip sharks circled the pinnacle. Schools of barracuda glimmered beneath the sun’s rays. Bigeye jacks formed a living tornado, while lobsters filled every rocky crevice. Between enormous orange seafans and pink coral towers, we admired juvenile angelfish, bicolor cleaner wrasses, yellowtail wrasses, and tiny jewel fairy basslets fluttering among the purple soft corals. The third pinnacle glowed during our final dive, with batfish forming a stately procession across the reef top.

We reached Rainbow Rock/Yellow Rock and found the colors mesmerizing: soft coral in every hue—yellow, pink, blue, and violet. A resting Jenkins ray sat camouflaged on the sand, and bluefin trevallies darted past schools of silver sweetlips. Hawksbill turtles grazed on sponge, while pipefish and nudibranchs (including a striking purple one) crept along the coral wall.
At Torinla Pinnacle, we found two elegant black ornate ghost pipefish dancing among the gorgonians. A baby white-tip reef shark rested beneath a ledge, and a giant pufferfish lazily floated by with its ever-present remora. Among the coral, a tiny Thecacera—or pikachu nudibranch—entertained macro photographers.

We saved the best for last. Richelieu Rock, a dive site that truly never ceases to amaze, gave us everything. Visibility was perfect. Glassfish, juvenile fusiliers, and baitballs were being chased in every direction by emperors, trevallies, rainbow runners, and snappers. It was chaos in the best possible way. Chevron and yellowtail barracudas swept in and out, and trumpetfish hunted vertically alongside scorpionfish hiding in coral heads.

​In between the drama, macro life was thriving: the smallest harlequin shrimp we’ve ever seen balanced on a sea star, tiger tail seahorses swayed with the current, and ghost pipefish hovered delicately in their shadows. Moray eels—fimbriated, honeycomb, and giant—peered out from coral alcoves. We found butterflyfish, damsels guarding eggs, and even an elusive mimic blenny poking from the rubble.
These last dives were the perfect conclusion to our season—a celebration of life, color, and the unmatched magic of the Andaman Sea.
As we returned to Ranong, the sun dipped behind the mangroves and the MV Smiling Seahorse entered her summer rest. But in our minds, the ocean is still alive with swirling fish, curious sharks, and coral gardens dancing in the current.
Until next season, happy bubbles from all of us aboard!​