Our diving adventure took us to Similan National park and Racha Noi next one our way back to Phuket and what a dream come true. We saw everything from Kuhl's stingray, big schools of barracuda, nudibranch, and even wipe coral shrimp. 

The Similan Islands have been made famous for the wealth of their coral reefs teeming with wildlife and usually great diving conditions it is rare to have bad visibility here and both divers and snorkelers can see a number of marine species and brids more diverse than anywhere else. The beach stop are not to shabby either!

Ahoy there, fellow adventurers! We've just returned from an epic liveaboard dive trip in the North Andaman of Thailand, and boy oh boy, was it a blast!

The first couple days, we were at Surin National Park and after an easy check out dive around surin islands, we headed straight out to swarms of fishes at Richelieu Rock. A giant grouper is staying around the rock this month, it is HUGE!!! We had 3 dives to explore the dive site from all sides and saw it on every dive. What a treat! About 100 kilograms and so chill, really makes you feel like a prehistoric creature!
Groups of long nose mixed with trevally were hunting all over the rock and a big school of barracudas could be seen hanging out in the bay. Unfortunately we dont have many photos this week but we have a video and its worth a thousand words!

​Last but not least, we offered two amazing blackwater dives during this cruise, a great experience to see these pelagic and deep sea creatures we would never otherwise see. We saw a paper nautilus, flouders, juvenile squirelfish, floutemouth, moray eels, Salps and jellyfish in all shapes, and so much more! 

Our guests this week came from France, Austria, Germany and switzerland to dive with us, and we had a blast!

First day of diving, we were at Surin National Park and it was incredible! We saw some reef sharks and a lot of school of fishes.
​The Surin Islands (Thai: หมู่เกาะสุรินทร์, Thai pronunciation: [mùː kɔ̀ʔ sùrin]) is an archipelago of five islands in the Andaman Sea, 60 km from the Thai mainland. Administratively, the islands are part of Tambon Ko Phra Thong, Khura Buri District, in Phang Nga Province, Thailand.

The following days we were at Similan National Park. The visibility was good about 20 meters +.
The Similan Islands (Thai: หมู่เกาะสิมิลัน, RTGS: Mu Ko Similan, Thai pronunciation: [mùː kɔ̀ʔ si.mi.lan]) is an archipelago in the Andaman Sea off the coast of, and part of, Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. It was established as Mu Ko Similan National Park in 1982 by the forestry department.

​We saw a group of long nose emperors, group of blue fin trevally, big eye trevally, fusiliers, glass fish everywhere, a group of banner fish, and much more.

For the first dive and the sunset dive, there always have a lot of action. It's the time that all the fishes come out and feed themselves and the dive will always make you think that you are in the heaven (surrounded by tons of fish).

This trip was amazing, the diving itself, the food, and we’re trying our best to take an excellent service to make our guests have the most wonderful vacation with us… MV The Smiling Seahorse.

Thank you for choosing us.

Hope you all had a good one.

Cheers!!

Some people want to see All of the Andaman Sea in a week on our 8d/7n North And South Andaman, other prefer to take there time and explore more dive sites in the same area. On this 7 days/6 night cruise we really have time to explore many sites in Surin and Similan islands and dive places we oversee on our more fast pace expeditions.
Our guests this week came from Germany, France, England, America and Israel to dive with us and we had a blast! Thanks again for choosing us. Also, congratulations to Aveline for her Advanced Open Water certification and a happy birthday to Ken!

It was nice to start this cruise from Ranong, our main port since 2012 and one we dont get to see much since COVID which gave some of our guests the chance to board from the paradisiac little island of Koh Phayam. We spent the first day in the Surin National Park where a Juvenile shaded batfish greeted us at Yellow Rock, such a graceful angel of the sea. A big blotched stingray was also sleeping under a rock on the same divesite and Pikachu nudibranch were in their usual location next to Torinla but we also really enjoyed the big school of sweetlips forming a ball on the satellite finger reef.

We embarked on a southward cruise to reach the Similan National Park, where we indulged in three unforgettable days of diving, completing a total of twelve dives. The water was crystal clear, teeming with a diverse array of marine life. Our underwater explorations yielded sightings of fascinating creatures like sharks, rays, and the adorable nudibranchs with their eggs.
We were fortunate to observe a large and striking spearer mantis shrimp, as well as a few ribbon eels, both the in black and yellow, as well as blue and yellow (did you know their colors tell their sex? more in the blogpost) . Additionally, we came across some multibar pipefish, carrying their eggs on their bellies.
Our experience at Tachai was particularly remarkable, with excellent conditions that allowed us to witness an immense school of barracuda, black tip reef sharks, and various species of trevallies hunting above the pinnacle. It was truly a remarkable adventure that we'll cherish for a lifetime.

One of the highlights of our trip was discovering a bright juvenile clown triggerfish nestled in the crevices of Koh Bon Pinnacle. However, the night and blackwater dives proved to be even more remarkable, as we encountered an abundance of fascinating marine life. We were thrilled to spot numerous nudibranchs and crustaceans, including the elusive slipper lobster and spider crabs, amongst the vibrant and diverse reef ecosystem.

What really captivated our attention were the peculiar creatures in their larval stage, which were drawn towards the bright lights of our bright pumpkin. It was an awe-inspiring sight that truly made the night and blackwater dives unforgettable experiences.

Our last day and a half was spent diving in the Surin National Park, exploring the world-renowned dive site of Richelieu Rock. As expected, the breathtaking underwater world left us in awe. The diversity of fish species was astounding, with schools of emperors, trevallies, and rainbow runners growing bigger and bigger by the day.
We were mesmerized by the stunning soft corals that adorned the reef in shades of pink, orange, purple, and blue, providing shelter to countless glassfish and shrimps. It was a truly spectacular sight that will stay with us for a long time to come.

On behalf of The Smiling Seahorse, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our very special guests for choosing us as your dive partner in the Andaman Sea. It was an absolute pleasure having all of you on board, and sharing this fantastic trip with us.

We would like to give a special shout-out to our returning guests Boris, Nicolas, and Philippe. It is always a joy to have familiar faces on board and to dive with passionate divers like you. We hope to see you again soon for more exciting underwater adventures.

Big moments this weeke  were a big jenkins whipray chilling on the sand, nudibranch all over the place, harlequin shrimps eating their seastars, tons of bluespotted stingray cruising over the garden eels, and the amazing special appearance of an eagle ray at night on Richelieu Rock.

The Similans also didn't disappoint with Hawksbill turtles, banded sea kraits, maldives sponge snails and great barracudas spotted at Koh Bon. Octopus mating on Tachai Pinnacle, giant lobsters resting under the rocks, one carrying its eggs on its belly. Pipefish, nudibranchs, cowries and lots of fusilliers and trevallies.

While critically endangered, The Hawksbill Turtles are the most frequently encountered turtles on our cruises, today let's learn about hawk-billed turtle or Eretmochelys imbricata...

We also celebrated a birthday on this trip, happy birthday Sergey!

And a big congratulation to

• Lucas for your Advanced Open Water certification!
• Miles and Christine for your Adventure Deep Dive!

Unfortunately Franck is out of the water due to an ear injury so not many underwater photos this month!

Full boat cruising in the North Andaman sea from Tap Lamu to Ranong with a full boat from French, America, Canada, Germany and Australia.

Congratulations to Britanny for your Advanced Open Water certification and to Olivier, Emmanuel, Luc and Carole for your Enriched Air Nitrox certifications.

Diving in the Similan National Park for the first days, starting with Shark Fin Reef, West of Eden and Elephant Head Rock to finish the day with a night dive in Turtle Head Rock. Many crustaceans, beautiful fish, some nudibranch, ribbon eel, and the reef full of fish...

Apart from their gorgeous colouring and their many shapes and sizes, nudibranchs have some special tricks up their sleeves that really sets them apart.    
Although they are small, they have developed some very industrious techniques to protect themselves. Many nudibranchs display bright colours for a multitude of reasons. Some practice what’s called aposematism which is colouration to suggest to predators that they aren’t tasty or can be toxic. This is a technique used by the Phylidiidae family that we often see in the Indo-Pacific.

Cruising north to explore the north side of the island number 9 with its beautiful Three Trees, North Point and Christmas Point. 4 white tip reef sharks, turtle, lots of bluespotted stingray, school of barracuda and some garden eel...

Do you know garden eels? They are strange tropical fishes with snake shaped bodies and puffy faces with big eyes making them, overall … super cute.
They live in large colonies oscillating like whip coral in the currents and disappear like a mirage when you approach.
Take a look at this garden eel FAQ...

Next day around the two islands of Bon and Tachai was incredible. 6 octopus matings, turtles swimming around the pinnacle. A pregnant lobster was still carrying its eggs. Huge groupers hiding between the rocks and lot of action during the sunset dive on Tachai Pinnacle.

To finish this trip we were lucky to dive on the famous Richelieu Rock. Pregnant ghost pipefish, seahorse, peacock mantis shrimp, an amazing amount of glassfish. The huge school of trevallies, emperors, rainbow runner were hunting around the rock.
Thank you for choosing us and looking forward to diving again together.