Richelieu Rock was fantastic but so busy!
We had the pleasure to welcome once more a bunch of lovely british expats from Bangkok and Hua Hin onboard MV Smiling Seahorse. The 26th of February was Makha Bucha, a public holidays and the second most important Buddhist festival, celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month in Thailand. Because of this it seems like all divers in Thailand congregated to Surin and Similan National Park to celebrate together! And we found ourself in the middle of 12 liveaboard in Richelieu Rock.
This didn't stop us from having a fantastic time and conditions where stunning with a sea as flat as a lake, visibility of 30 meters and an abundance of sealife!
This didn't stop us from having a fantastic time and conditions where stunning with a sea as flat as a lake, visibility of 30 meters and an abundance of sealife!
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We started in the North of Surin islands National park at Koh chi where we saw again a guitar shark on the sandy bottom. Once more it passed in front of mesmerised divers but away from the cameras! We also spotted a sleeping white tip and all of this only on the very first dive... great way to get back into diving!
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We started the second day on Koh Bon pinnacle at slack time with no current and Franck spotted there 3 of the biggest giant barracudas he has ever seen. They came towards him and opened their giant mouth full of needle like teeth. A bit scary, but also thrilling! (once more no camera, damn!)
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This week was also a full moon week so we had some current when the tide was going up and down, which attracted so much life closer to the reef for a giant hunt!
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Koh Tachai pinnacle in the afternoon was even more fishy with a tornado of trevallis: blue fins, giant, golden and bigeye trevalli swirling in front of us in deep blue water! Wow!
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The friendly Batfish were still here and came to say hello and we found a red reef rose: the eggs of a Spanish dancer nudibranch which lay hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs all stuck together in a soft, gelatinous material in circular rows giving it the appearance of rose petals. If you look close you can see each small eggs!
 school of batfish Thailand |  Reef rose in Thailand, Spanish dancer eggs |
To continue, in the sea slug family, we saw many false-cowries this week: Ovulids are a type of seashells with colourful ornamental patterns on mantles they can stretch over their shells to cover it in incredible colours, some of them really look like aliens!
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We did 4 dives at Richelieu Rock and didn't get bored of it! 4 harlequin shrimps, 2 ghost pipe fish, a tornado of trevallis and more schooling baracudas kept us entertained!
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The sea was so flat that we slept and partied on top of Richelieu Rock with no one remaining to enjoy our music!
Thanks to all participants for the awesome time we had with you and we hope to see you again very soon!
A big congratulation to 3 new Nitrox divers: Sam, Christine and Gregor!
Keep tuned for more fishy stories and join us to be a part of one of them!
If you are looking for a special cruise, we are running Thailand's first Manta and Whale Shark expedition in collaboration with 2 local marine biologists specialized in these gentle giants!
Book now!
Thanks to all participants for the awesome time we had with you and we hope to see you again very soon!
A big congratulation to 3 new Nitrox divers: Sam, Christine and Gregor!
Keep tuned for more fishy stories and join us to be a part of one of them!
If you are looking for a special cruise, we are running Thailand's first Manta and Whale Shark expedition in collaboration with 2 local marine biologists specialized in these gentle giants!
Book now!
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Thank you so much for your lovely reviews!
 Review by Jess |  Review by Claire |  Review by Charlotte |
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