Diving liveaboard in Thailand and Myanmar
  • When & Where
    • Schedule and Prices
    • Destinations >
      • North Andaman Thailand >
        • Similan Islands
        • Surin Islands >
          • Richelieu rock
        • The essential Underwater photo Guide to diving Thailand
      • South Andaman Thailand
      • Mergui Archipelago >
        • Marine life in the Andaman Sea
        • Burma's best dive sites
        • The Ultimate Underwater photo Guide to diving Burma
  • ABOUT
    • Our Boat >
      • DELICIOUS FOOD
    • Guest Book
    • Diving in Thailand in 2022-2023 >
      • Ranong Departures >
        • 3D Thailand: Surin National Park
        • 4D3N North Andaman Ranong-Khao Lak
        • 5D Thailand: Surin and Similan
        • 5D North Andaman Ranong-Khao Lak
        • 6D Thailand: Surin and Similan end to Ranong
        • 7D Thailand: All of Surin and Similan
        • 8D Thailand: North & South
        • Alternative itineraries for full charter >
          • 4D4N Evening to morning - Surin Similan
      • Khao Lak Departures >
        • 5D North Andaman from Khao Lak to Phuket
        • 5D North Andaman: All of Surin and Similan
        • 5D North Andaman Khaolak - Ranong
        • 6D North Andaman: All of Surin and Similan
        • 6D North Andaman: From Khao Lak to Ranong
        • 7D North Andaman: All of Surin and Similan
        • 7D North Khao Lak to Khao Lak
        • 8D North & South Andaman Thailand
      • Phuket departures >
        • 5D North Andaman from Phuket
        • 5D South Andaman: Lanta and Tarutao National Parks
        • 6D North Andaman: Phuket to Khao Lak
        • 8D Thailand: South & North
        • 8D Andaman South & North Phuket-Ranong
    • Blackwater diving in Thailand
    • Marine life in Thailand's Andaman Sea
    • Diving in Myanmar | Burma dive cruises >
      • 6D Burma : South Mergui Archipelago
      • 7D Burma: dive Black Rock
      • 8D Burma: Undiscovered Mergui
      • 9D Burma: Exploration trip
    • Dive Courses >
      • Learn to Dive
      • Continue diving education
      • Rescue diver
      • Professional Dive Courses
      • Hone your dive skills with a PADI specialty course
      • Photo coaching in Thailand on the Smiling Seahorse
    • FAQ
  • Plan your trip
    • Our hotels recommendations
    • Khao Sok National Park
    • Taxi services >
      • Taxi services to and from Ranong
      • Taxi services to and from Phuket
      • Taxi services to Tap Lamu and Khao Lak
    • 10 things to do around Ranong
    • Covid-19 news & infos >
      • COVID-19 update travel to Thailand
      • Covid-19 protection on-board
  • PROMO
    • HOT DEALS
    • Manta rays expedition - 19 Mar 2023
    • Ultimate Underwater photo combo expeditions
    • Blackwater expedition 23 Jan 2024
    • UW Photo clinic North Andaman 31 Jan 2024
    • Special Marine Biology - 18 Feb 2024
    • Whale Shark Special - 19 Mar 2024 - North and South
    • Manta rays expedition - 20 April 2024
  • gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
    • Most popular posts
Blog about diving in Burma and Thailand

23rd Mars 2022:  Manta by day and Paper nautilus by night

29/3/2022

0 Comments

 

Female paper nautilus all over this week on the blackwater and 2 Manta visits!

23rd Mars 2022 trip, beautiful Andaman Sea and Manta show!
We started this fantastic cruise in Tap Lamu pier with a lovely mix of international divers from Austria, Germany, France and England and what a treat this week was!
Divers
Chris, one of our regular and talented underwater photographer
James hovering in the light
couple of diver
Day 1: woke to an amazing sunrise in the Surin islands. With our check-out dive at Koh Chi followed by Torinla Rocks, had lunch and during our surface interval we were greeted by a large male green sea turtle. Our next dives were at Yellow rock and we finished up the day with a night dive at Ao Pragaad.
Amongst others, we had the chance to see big schools of Fusilier, Trevallies, Batfish as well as lobsters and colourful nudibranch.
blue fin trevallis
blue fin trevallis
School of yellow back fusilier
School of yellow back fusilier
Richelieu Rock was our spot for the whole of the second day, with a calm sea to enjoy 4 these beautiful dives; and there was so much to see! Between the Ghost Pipe Fish, Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Longnose Emperor and trevallis hunting together, it was a lovely show for all, even for the most experimented divers diving Richelieu Rock throughout the season.
4 ghostpipefish together
not 1 ghost pipefish but 4!
reef landscape with tomato grouper and bannerfish
reef landscape with tomato grouper and bannerfish
silver sweetlips
silver sweetlips
The chef and his son prepared us a wonderful barbecue to end this perfect day! and to accompany this superb dinner, Franck prepared us a rhum based cocktail.
Music, good atmosphere, and fun discussions made this superb evening one we will remember.
Beautiful ghost pipefish
Enjoying a cocktail before the bbq
Barbecue and good vibes
Barbecue and good vibes

A big "surprise" 3rd day! 

We started the third day with 2 dives at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, large granite boulder formations on the south side and a beautiful coral garden to the north with many school of different Reef fish to keep us entertained. 

Our third dive for the day was at Koh Bon, diving the West Ridge where we spent the whole dive with a  majestic Oceanic Manta Ray and a Spotted Eagle Ray swimming a ballet around all the divers from the boat. Wow! Everyone came back on the boat with stars in their eyes, excited to share the moment and photos with the other guests.
Wonderful lionfish
Lionfish
Giant oceanic Manta ray
Hello again manta!
Star of the cruise: the Manta ray
Perfect belly shot for Thailand's Manta ray database
Lobsters on coral reef
Lobsters on coral reef
While the plan was to do only one dive at Koh Bon, we decided to stay and meet the manta again!​But that day was also the day we planned the blackwater dive and many people found it hard to choose between a manta dive and a blackwater dive so we decided to do both!
After dinner, we head offshore to the end fo the continental plateau for a perfect blackwater dive, what a great experience to see these pelagic and deep sea creatures we would never otherwise see. We saw the sea butterfly, paper nautilus, turnicates, jellyfish, a pelagic sea snake and so much more. 


​It was a first for most of the divers and everyone loved it! What a funny feeling to float motionless in this dark, but far from empty space!
Pelagic snake
Pelagic snake
Paper nautilus riding a jellyfish
Paper nautilus riding a jellyfish
Day 4: for our ur last diving day we decided to go back to Koh Bon Pinnacle and Koh Bon West Ridge and guess who decided to greet us again? If you are thinking Manta! You'd be correct, a friendly Manta Ray spent more than 20 minutes swimming gracefully around us! Second dive at West Ridge, our hopes were high to see again Mrs Flappy but no luck this time. 
A big thank you to mother nature for these two magnificent dives with these gentle giants!
Manta visit us again
Manta visit us again
Time to head back, but with a quick stop and dive on our way at Boonsung Wreck. There we saw Honeycomb Moray Eels, White Eyed Morays, Nudibranch with weird shapes and patterns, a school of Yellow Tail Barracuda, massive schools of rainbow runners and snappers and all the Porcupine fish you can imagine. The dive on the wreck was fantastic and concluded the this perfect week so well!

To top it all off, Franck gave us an amazing photo presentation documenting the trip and all the amazing things we have witnessed while we ate yummy burgers as we made our smooth journey back to the pier to say our goodbyes.  

Congratulation to Adrian, Laura, Jean Louis and Noelle for completing their Nitrox certifications and well done Xavier for your fantastic improvement with Franck's photographer's coaching. 
Sunset on Similan
Sunset on Similan
Divers and beautiful seafan in Thailand
Divers and beautiful seafan
Upside down underwater...
Divers have fun underwater
Diner time
Diner time
READ MORE BLOGPOST ABOUT DIVING IN THAILAND...


Subscribe for monthly email
Schedule and Prices
More about diving in Burma

Picture

Camille Fogarolo 

Camille has been traveling the world since her mid twenties and dived many seas before finally settling down in Thailand in 2012. With her husband Franck, they opened The Smiling Seahorse liveaboard to offer cruises in the most unexplored area of South East Asia and became quite the experts when it comes to diving in Myanmar! Proud mother of two she still travels as much as she can and usually joins a dive trip to Mergui Archipelago every month.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    The Smiling Seahorse Diving Blog

    A blog about our diving adventures in Burma and Thailand. Diving trip reports, guest reviews, fishy stories, wildlife fun facts and much more...
    Picture
    Search on this blog:

    Picture

    Authors

    ​The Smiling Seahorse has been running dive cruises from Ranong since 2012.
    Our team of instructors are reporting with a short blogpost after every trip.
    Camille, Franck and some guest writers also contribute during the off season writing on various topics.
    Keep tuned for more fishy stories :)
    Picture
    Want to receive the next articles via email?
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Diving Burma/Myanmar
    Diving In Thailand
    Diving News
    Diving Security
    Environment Protection
    Fun Facts
    In The Press
    Marine Life Fish ID
    Mergui Archipelago
    Most Popular
    Nitrox Dive
    North Andaman
    Reviews
    Richelieu Rock
    Scuba Diving Various
    Similan Islands
    South Andaman
    Surin Islands
    Trip Reports

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    March 2014
    September 2013
    May 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    July 2012
    April 2012

    RSS Feed

    See also...

    - About Myanmar liveaboards
    ​- Best Burma dive sites
    ​- Marine life in Andaman Sea
    ​- The Mergui Archipelago
    ​
    - Best dive site in Thailand

Our dive cruises

Our schedule and prices
​Dive in Thailand
​Dive in Myanmar
​Discover our boat
Our blog
​
GCS
Picture
Picture

More information

Our pictures
Our videos
​
In the press
Our guest book
Privacy policies
​Partners

The Smiling Seahorse

170 Ruangrat Rd, Tambon khao nivet, Mueang Ranong District, Ranong 85000​
Phone: +66860110614​
​Mail: info@thesmilingseahorse.com

www.thesmilingseahorse.com/
​

TripAdvisor

Picture
Responsible Manta Tourism Operator
TAT Licence number : 31/00935
© COPYRIGHT 2018-2020. The Smiling Seahorse ​
  • When & Where
    • Schedule and Prices
    • Destinations >
      • North Andaman Thailand >
        • Similan Islands
        • Surin Islands >
          • Richelieu rock
        • The essential Underwater photo Guide to diving Thailand
      • South Andaman Thailand
      • Mergui Archipelago >
        • Marine life in the Andaman Sea
        • Burma's best dive sites
        • The Ultimate Underwater photo Guide to diving Burma
  • ABOUT
    • Our Boat >
      • DELICIOUS FOOD
    • Guest Book
    • Diving in Thailand in 2022-2023 >
      • Ranong Departures >
        • 3D Thailand: Surin National Park
        • 4D3N North Andaman Ranong-Khao Lak
        • 5D Thailand: Surin and Similan
        • 5D North Andaman Ranong-Khao Lak
        • 6D Thailand: Surin and Similan end to Ranong
        • 7D Thailand: All of Surin and Similan
        • 8D Thailand: North & South
        • Alternative itineraries for full charter >
          • 4D4N Evening to morning - Surin Similan
      • Khao Lak Departures >
        • 5D North Andaman from Khao Lak to Phuket
        • 5D North Andaman: All of Surin and Similan
        • 5D North Andaman Khaolak - Ranong
        • 6D North Andaman: All of Surin and Similan
        • 6D North Andaman: From Khao Lak to Ranong
        • 7D North Andaman: All of Surin and Similan
        • 7D North Khao Lak to Khao Lak
        • 8D North & South Andaman Thailand
      • Phuket departures >
        • 5D North Andaman from Phuket
        • 5D South Andaman: Lanta and Tarutao National Parks
        • 6D North Andaman: Phuket to Khao Lak
        • 8D Thailand: South & North
        • 8D Andaman South & North Phuket-Ranong
    • Blackwater diving in Thailand
    • Marine life in Thailand's Andaman Sea
    • Diving in Myanmar | Burma dive cruises >
      • 6D Burma : South Mergui Archipelago
      • 7D Burma: dive Black Rock
      • 8D Burma: Undiscovered Mergui
      • 9D Burma: Exploration trip
    • Dive Courses >
      • Learn to Dive
      • Continue diving education
      • Rescue diver
      • Professional Dive Courses
      • Hone your dive skills with a PADI specialty course
      • Photo coaching in Thailand on the Smiling Seahorse
    • FAQ
  • Plan your trip
    • Our hotels recommendations
    • Khao Sok National Park
    • Taxi services >
      • Taxi services to and from Ranong
      • Taxi services to and from Phuket
      • Taxi services to Tap Lamu and Khao Lak
    • 10 things to do around Ranong
    • Covid-19 news & infos >
      • COVID-19 update travel to Thailand
      • Covid-19 protection on-board
  • PROMO
    • HOT DEALS
    • Manta rays expedition - 19 Mar 2023
    • Ultimate Underwater photo combo expeditions
    • Blackwater expedition 23 Jan 2024
    • UW Photo clinic North Andaman 31 Jan 2024
    • Special Marine Biology - 18 Feb 2024
    • Whale Shark Special - 19 Mar 2024 - North and South
    • Manta rays expedition - 20 April 2024
  • gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
    • Most popular posts