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Blog about diving in Burma and Thailand

A wonderfull Christmas 2020 cruise to Surin and Similan!

28/12/2020

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Christmas 2020 cruise, a festive and exciting week of diving in Thailand

Christmas 2020 cruise, a festive and exciting week of diving in Thailand
​We just returned from a festive and exciting week of diving in Thailand. After our departure from Ranong, we picked up Gary and Lisa from Ko Phayam and had our diving group ready for an adventure into the Similan and Surin Islands!
​
Our first day was spent exploring Surin National Park where we were delighted to be greeted by friendly turtles and roaming napoleon wrasses. We looked a bit closer to search out iridescent peacock mantis shrimp, ghost pipefish, and loads of vibrant nudibranchs, including the cutest little Pikatchu nudibranch. The divers were especially excited when we sited a tiger shark! As calm and cute as a teddy bear.
the cutest little Pikachu nudibranch
Cutest little Pikachu nudibranch
​The following day we cruised south to Ko Tachai and Ko Bon in Similan National Park. As we hopped into a calm sea, we were in luck and found awesome visibility. We descended into swarming schools of fishes such as batfish, goatfish, cobias and trevallies. As we peaked through corals to find colorful juvenile angelfish, groupers and parrotfish, we also spotted an eagle ray!
We descended into swarming schools of cobia
The reef was covered in glassfish
Batfishes
Batfishes
​Even though we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the schooling fish, we had an exciting moment of finding a rare psychedelic batwing slug. What a trip!
rare psychedelic batwing slug
Rare psychedelic batwing slug
​In between dives, a friendly green turtle swam up for some air right next to our boat! We grabbed some snorkels and hopped in to say hello. It was so friendly that he stayed with us for some time to have a close look at us as well. 
A marine turtle very friendly
A marine turtle very friendly
​After a comfortable night’s rest we traveled to our southernmost destinations. Beneath the famous submerged boulders, we spotted two juvenile white tipped reef sharks at Anita Reef and Shark Fin Reef.

​Our sunset dive at Elephant Head Rock was filled with exhilarating swim throughs and lots of fish nibbling on their evening meals. The most beautiful ribbon eels in all three colours came out of their rocks to watch us swim by: yellow, blue and black, what a treat!
we spotted two juvenile white tipped reef sharks at Anita Reef and Shark Fin Reef
we spotted two juvenile white tipped reef sharks in the southern Similans
Night dive in Thailand
Night dive in Thailand
Our night dive at Elephant Head Rock was filled with exhilarating swim throughs
Our night dive at Elephant Head Rock was filled with exhilarating swim throughs
During this cruise we also partnered with the Similan National Park Rangers for a clean-up dive. We met the Rangers on the island and learned more about maintaining the natural beauty of these marine parks and were rewarded with awesome t-shirts to remember our time and work together in preserving the majestic homes of our underwater friends...
We met the Rangers on the island and learned more about maintaining the natural beauty of these parks and were rewarded with awesome t-shirts
Look at this bunch of awesome trash heros!
​We were also rewarded with phenomenal visibility on our next dives as we descended into a tornado of shiny barracudas!

​The clear visibility allowed us to spot a massive titan triggerfish nursery. There must have been 20-30 nests in the sand, all filled with mothers snuggled close to their babies and fathers swimming close by to ward off any predators. We made sure they felt safe as we kept our safe distance from this natural wonder.
Underwater garden in Thailand
Underwater garden in Thailand
​The clear visibility allowed us to spot a massive titan triggerfish nursery
Awesome titan triggerfish nursery
Barracudas school
a massive school of Barracudas in Similans
​Our night dive at Ko Bon was full of excitement and oddities. A funky frogfish was hanging out with a Spanish dancer nudibranch in the rocks, and we spotted eerie sea snakes and ornate ghost pipefish. 
ornate ghost pipefish
ornate ghost pipefish
​We returned to Ko Bon the following day to continue exploring one of the best sites on our trip. Franck decided to stay back on the sunset dive to grill up an epic Christmas Eve barbecue. The whole boat was rocking as we ate, drank and danced the night away! It was definitely a Christmas party that nobody will forget. 
Christmas 2020 on the Smiling Seahorse
time for celebrate Christmas eve in style!
Christmas buffet on the Smiling Seahorse
Christmas 2020 in the Andaman
Christmas party on the Smiling Seahorse
we danced the night away and had so much fun!
On Christmas morning we received the gift of Richelieu Rock! This was the highlight of our trip as we donned our Santa hats and dived through mind-blowing schools of chevron and pick handle barracuda, huge red snappers, and flashy rainbow runners.
Hello! Can you see me?
Hello! Can you see me?
Frogfish
Mr frogfish

​We saw lionfish, frogfish, and scorpionfish as we cruised around the craggy site, and could not hold back our excitement at seeing a guitar shark join the party. After we passed some mating cuttlefish, we found a magnificent seahorse. A perfect ending to our holiday trip. 
Our festive cruise had come to an end so we headed home, dropping Wendi off at Ko Phayam.

Thank you to all the divers who made it so memorable! And a big congratulations to Gabriella for her junior advanced open water diver certification, to Sylvia and Ben for their advanced open water diver certification, and to Nici for her advanced open water diver and nitrox certifications!
​
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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.

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  • 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 >
        • Phuket & Koh Phi Phi National Parks
        • Koh Lanta National Park
        • Koh Lipe and Tarutao National Park
      • Mergui Archipelago >
        • Liveaboard diving holiday in Myanmar
        • Burma's best dive sites
        • The Ultimate Underwater photo Guide to diving Burma
  • ABOUT
    • Our Boat >
      • DELICIOUS FOOD
    • Diving in Thailand in 2024-2025
    • Diving in Myanmar/Burma in 2024-2025
    • Blackwater diving in Thailand and Myannmar
    • Marine life in Thailand's Andaman Sea
    • Marine life in Mergui Archipelago
    • Dive Courses >
      • Learn to Dive
      • Continue diving education
      • Rescue diver
      • Professional Dive Courses
      • Hone your dive skills with a specialty course
      • Photo coaching in Thailand on the Smiling Seahorse
    • Guest Book
    • 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
  • PROMO
    • HOT DEALS
    • Special Expeditions >
      • 8D Special Marine Bio with Piers Baillie - 10 Nov 2025
      • 8D Whale shark expedition - 20 March 2026 - North and South
  • gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
    • Most popular posts