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Welcome to our lucky Belgium charter !!!

15/3/2019

Happy faces for this Belgium charter who had the chance to have a fantastic cruise, full of life and manta from day one!!!
Welcome to: Alain, Liliane, Régine, Patrick, Joel, Béa, Jean-Marc, Sabine, Jacques, Magali, Michel, Christiane, Florence, Françoise, Philippe and Annunzio.

Beautiful corals and fishes everywhere!

So many schools of different fishes: snappers, emperor fishes, barracudas, trevallies, batfishes ...

Jacks

Snappers

Batfishes

Barracudas

Golden trevallies

Emperor fishes

Yellow snappers

We wanted big, we had big ... Manta, white tips (unfortunately no pictures!), unbelievable number of Jenkins rays ...

Jenkins ray

We had some camouflage stars but our guides could still find them!

Crocodile fish

Stone fish

In the "small world", there was also plenty to see :)

Bobtail squid

Squat shrimp

Feather star shrimp

Yellow snail

Zanzibar shrimp

Cowrie

Emperor shrimp

Nice nudibranches!

In the juvenile world: frogfish and ghost pipefish!

Frogfish

Ornate ghost pipefish

We had the pleasure to encounter harlequin shrimps in several places ;)

Harlequin shrimp

Manti shrimps ...

Peacock manti shrimp

Spearing manti shrimp

Seahorses and relatives!

Tiger tail seahorse

Orange spotted pipefish

And some more nice ones, we are always happy to meet!

Pinecone fish

Cuttlefish

At the surface, the sceneries were also amazing!

Some outdoor activities :)

On the boat, the atmosphere was over the top, singing and dancing ;)

And the breathtaking sunsets and sunrises!!!

Comments

Thailand at its best!

8/3/2019

Comments

Whale shark

What a wonderful trip we had in Thailand a couple of days ago!
Our customers have been blessed ... not surprised to see their smiles on the group picture on the boat ...

As well as underwater!

From the start in the Surin islands, it has been a festival: turtles, Jenkins rays, Napoleon wrasses, black tips, humphead parrotfishes and so much more!

The corals were beautiful and so many colorful fishes around :)

Surgeonfish

Parrotfish

Surgeonfish

Emperor angelfish

Koh Tachai has been magical as always!
The biggest giant barracudas school we have ever seen ... unbelievable!

Barracudas

Awesome school of bluefin trevallies ...

Emperor fishes :)

Emperor fishes

Giant groupers ...

Lobsters ...

Lobsters

Sponge crabs ...

Sponge crab

The last day in Richelieu has been heaven :)
First, one baby whale shark, hidden behind so many fishes you could only guess the shape !

Whale shark

Second, a bigger one very diver friendly ;)

And as it it was not enough, huge schools of emperor fishes, jacks, barracudas ... Amazing !!!

Emperor fishes

Emperor fishes and jacks

Jacks and barracudas

Jacks

Smaller but as beautiful, a school of soldiers!

Soldier fishes and yellow snappers

And for the amateurs of even smaller, ghost pipefishes and seahorse!

Ghost pipefishes

Happy people :)

It's not only due to the marvelous creatures we met in the water, but also thanks to the best Thaï team ever!
Always happy, available and helpful ...

And at the surface ...

Happy bubbles everybody ;)

And the reviews!

" The team worked like a well oiled machine and it was obvious that the teammates respect each other and enjoy time on the boat together."

"Two fabulous trips ...We loved your beautiful new boat, and we will definitely be back."

"We hope to be back soon for a longer trip this time for the same great service, diving, humour."

"Thanks for the Burmese cruise, thanks for the Thaï cruise, we would go on and on."

Comments

Why we love Burma ? Have a look below !!

3/3/2019

Comments

Whale shark

Why we love Burma ? That's a question many persons are asking us, and the only way to know it's to try !
This week was a blast ! Good Divers, little bit of luck, blue water and we have an awsome trip with so many surprises.

Harlequin Shrimp

We had so many small cutties like the Harlequin Shrimp, Ghost Pipefish, Cuttlefish, Seahorses and so much more !

Oceanic Manta Ray

Look who came to say hello to our divers.

This trip was also a special trip because it was our first exploration trip of the season in the Burma Banks.
Being alone in the middle of nowhere was something special, and meeting few nurse sharks resting was a moment everybody enjoyed !

Our explorators of the week had some pretty nice sunset and landscape to watch between dives.

A big thank you to all the divers who joined us and made this trip amazing ! See you soon !

Some Reviews from this trip :

" What a cruise ! Everything was perfect : the boat, the dives, the staff, the atmosphere, the rest ! "

"From the best team of the whale shark to the best team of the smiling seahorse. Thank you ... Plouf ... Gloup ... Thank you again ! "

Comments

Welcome to the Mantas Parade !!!

22/2/2019

Comments

Manta

Oh what a wonderful surprise on our last trip!
A Manta Parade where we were not expecting them ;)

The lucky spectators of these fantastic moments were over the moon: Ronen from Israel; Jen and Nuno from Canada; Siu Fun from Hong Kong; Jerzy and Aleksandra from Poland; Kostas from Greece; Juan G. and Juan M. from Spain; Raymond and Martina from Germany; Erica, Taylor and Lynn from USA; Mohamed from Belgium and Laurent from France.

Look at those smiles after the first (over three) mantas dive!

Let's share these amazing dives with you guys!

Mantas

Manta

On top of this, the reefs were beautiful!

Coral reef

Soft corals

Giant seafans

There were fishes everywhere, every kind, all around = paradise!

Yellow snappers

Trevallies

Surgeon fishes

Batfishes

Fusiliers

But not only you could see big, you could also see small ... shrimps? Yes, no worries ... Which kind?! ;)

Cleaner shrimp

Marbled shrimp

Boxer shrimp with Durban shrimp

Durban dancing shrimps

Feather star shrimp

Peacock manti shrimp

Spearing manti shrimp

Ghost pipefishes ... which color? :)

Ornate ghost pipefish

Ornate ghost pipefishes

Ornate ghost pipefish

Juvenile ones ... they are so awesome !!!

Baby seahorse

Juvenile emperor angelfish

Baby frogfish

Lobsters ...

Lobster

Slipper lobster

Pipefish ... which kind?

Jan's pipefish

Orange spotted pipefish

Bent stick pipefish

Incredible nudis!

Blue dragon nudibranch

Cowries ...

Cowries

Sometimes, just a combination of gorgeous colors!

Life onboard was also very active!

The usual yummy barbecue night ...

And also a special event: the birthday of two of our customers: Kostas & Laurent!

With its special show !!!

A few pictures of our amazing Thaï crew: the soul of the boat!
Always available, always smiling, always happy!

The usual unforgettable sunset, sunrise ... and also moonrise this time ;)

And last but not least ...
The reviews of this trip:

" Franck and the team run a very organized trip with small groups which makes it a great experience. "

" A very nice boat, good experiences, the best divemasters and the very best team of the staff!!!
Thank you for 5 wonderful days, a lot of fun and a good feeling for my heart! "

Comments

Great atmosphere on board!

15/2/2019

Comments

This trip to Thailand has been a bliss!

Four days in the Surin, Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock, with a bunch of fun people from all over the world.

We were very pleased to welcome on board: Fabrice, Marie, Sophie, Olivier, Jeremie, Thierry and Florence from France; Julien, Kamilla and Peter from Australia; Wolfgang from Germany; Jesper from Denmark and Lynn from the USA.

Lots of laughing and diving would be the best resume for it!
Look at those smiling and charming faces ;)

Underwater, the visibility was amazing and lots of fishes all around!

Batfishes, emperors, barracudas, fulisiers, surgeons, snappers and jacks!

Surgeon fishes

Barracudas

Soldier fishes

Jacks

Batfishes

Beautiful sceneries with amazing colourful corals ...

Barracudas

Great encounters with turtles (unfortunately no picture), and lots of different rays: Jenkins, Kuhl or marbled!

Marbled ray

Marbled ray and cobia

The beautiful clown triggerfish!

Clown triggerfish

Cuttlefishes ...

Cuttlefish

Lobsters ...

Lobster

Crocodile fishes ...

Crocodile fish

Pipefishes ...

Bend stick pipefish

Puffer fishes all around ...

Pufferfish

And the nicest shot of the week: a giant grouper!

Giant grouper

And always our unbelievable sunsets ...

The reviews of this trip are at the image of the general mood:

"Great cruise with great people, both for the staff and guests!"

"We agree it was the nicest cruise of the season ;) see you next year in Burma."

" The top at every level, fantastic atmosphere, see you next year!!!"

Comments

Last reviews :):):)

14/2/2019

Comments

"Great fun ... Caves + tunnels, turtles, sea snakes, eels, seahorses and much more."

"Great staff!! ... Wonderful operation!!"

"After a great trip in Thailand last year, I am back in Burma with you. Another treat!"

"Nice cruise with this new boat ... Very cool and non-stressed staff, very attentive to your needs."

Comments

February 12th, 2019

12/2/2019

Comments

The Year of the Pig started with a very nice cruise in the Burmese waters! We celebrated this event with: Eliane, Michel and Markus from Switzerland, Christian from Germany, Michael from Great Britain, Peter from Australia; and a charter from Singapore with: Rafi, Nizlan, Caelan, Denis, Anthony, Nico, Windy, Simon and Marcel.

What will remain in our memories from this trip was the amazing huge schools of fishes everywhere ...
From bannerfishes ... to big eye trevallies, through barracudas, fusiliers, batfishes, snappers ...

Even if we don't have any picture, some of us had the pleasure to meet a whale shark under water, some others an eagle ray or a huge marbled ray!

In the meantime, we were spoiled with tiny smaller stuff!
Beautiful nudis and flat worms first ...

Ghost pipefishes of every color!

With a lot of juvenile ones!

We had the pleasure to encounter lots of babies!

In the macro field ...

Shrimps of every kind!

And the gobies, we don't notice them that much, but they are so cute!

In the middle of it all, our favorite ones were still there ;)

An awesome portrait ...

Splendid corals!

It's not only about diving ...
Look at these local life scenes :)

And the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets!

And as a consequence to all of this ... look at the smiles!

Comments

2019 first reviews ... on the starting blocks ;)

10/2/2019

Comments

"If there was a way to take a photo of this journey it would be very colorful and lively, but mostly stunningly beautiful."

"My first liveaboard experience, and I guess I am spoiled: the boat is beautiful,cabins and showers very comfortable, the food ... OMG delicious and so diverse!"

"A wonderful week ... thanks everybody."

"What a trip! The entire staff especially the extraordinary Thaï staff, Sophie, Tom and Franck made those 7 days, one trip of a lifetime."

"A trip that does you good, far away from everything, perfect to recharge batteries, a comfortable boat with enough space to share very nice moments of friendliness and more quiet ones."

"A cruise far away from everything, disconnected from the world , you just rest and recharge the batteries."

Comments

Burmese reefs so alive :)

20/1/2019

Comments

This last trip as been a non-stop fish soup all around the Mergui Archipelago!
Schools of fishes worthy of world class diving ;)

Lucky ones on board: Emilie, Alexandre, Annick and Jean-Luc from France; Wouter and Aart from Netherlands; Janel and Oliver from the USA; Alex from the Philippines; and Bernhard and Martina from Austria.

Life on the reefs was unbelievable, you didn't know where to look at!

Incredible schools of jacks! Thousands ... hundreds ... who can tell?!

Barracudas ...

Rainbow runners, snappers, batfishes ...

Beautiful corals of all types ...

It has been macro photo week ;)
A bunch of photographers with huge cameras, happy with our great room just for them!

Spending hours exchanging tips, advices, infos, pictures ... and so much more!

Their objective = everything smaller than 1 centimeter!
Here are some of them!

And a little bit bigger ;)

Some awesome new creatures found this week!
A giant frogfish :)

And a pinecone one !!!

And among all these, our sweet sweet juveniles trying to hide!

Our favorite psychedelic nudis and flat worms ...

Manti shrimps with their crazy eyes!

The ones who are never never happy to see us!

And some other very nice encounters ...

Nurse shark again in our secret spot!

Spanish dancers ...

Seahorses and ghost pipefishes ...

A turtle ...

A gigantic lobster ... and so much more !!!

So much beauty in every little thing down there!

And also above the surface ...

All of this explains the smiles on everybody's face!

And let's finish with the wonders of Mother Nature ...

Comments

New Year's reviews :)))

8/1/2019

Comments

" Dive ... Eat ... Sleep: the best way! "

" What a good trip! Thank you so much to all the team ... "

" It was my second trip, but my first with the new boat. All was perfect .... "

" A really nice cruise on a great boat, with an amazing staff, and a very original New Year's Eve! "

" Great Celebration and fireworks at New Year's night & day. We will definitely comeback ... "

" ... many, many thanks to you for the wonderful week of diving in Burma. It went out so good and safe for us just because of you! "

" I can't say anything else than it's worth every penny and we need to come back. "

Comments

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Authors

Sophie has been part of the Smiling Seahorse family since 2016.
Living in Thailand for nearly ten years now, she fell in love with the Burmese underwater sceneries and aquatic life.
Her hobbies: traveling and diving of course!
Instructor and dive guide on board, she creates a new blogpost after every trip, to share the magical moments and encounters they enjoyed.

Camille and Franck are the owners of the Smiling Seahorse since 2012.
Camille has been working all around the globe during seven years before creating this company.
Now mother of two little ones, she works at the office and she's the one who will answer all of your questions.
Her hobbies: horse riding, diving and traveling!

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Welcome to our lucky Belgium charter !!!

Thailand at its best!

Why we love Burma ? Have a look below !!

Welcome to the Mantas Parade !!!

Great atmosphere on board!

Last reviews :):):)

February 12th, 2019

2019 first reviews ... on the starting blocks ;)

Burmese reefs so alive :)

New Year's reviews :)))

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