Koh Tachai ... unforgettable, that's what you are!

26/3/2017

Thailand sea discovery dive cruise

Beautiful cruise again in Thailand!

We were very pleased to welcome on board: Justyna and Piotr from Poland; Serge and Nicolas from Belgium; Jean-Luc, Audrey, Thierry, Raymonde, Gilles, Christian, Jean and Didier from France.

It was a "welcome back" for Jean-Luc, Audrey, Thierry, Raymonde, Piotr and Justyna who had been on the last cruise in Burma; and also to Serge and Gilles who were coming back for the third time :)

Koh Bon Pinnacle was fantastic and full of life!

And we had the best encounter at Koh Bon Ridge ... An amazing leopard shark!

Koh Tachai was beyond description as you can see ... Breathtaking corals, hundreds of barracudas all around ... no words to describe ... pictures will help ;)
Huge ones...

Chasing the divers !

And Richelieu Rock, well ... that's Richelieu Rock!
It was sparkling !!! Glassfish everywhere!

Plenty of fishes: trevallies, barracudas, snapers, fusiliers, rainbow runners ...
And also a very nice surprise with a napoleon !

Unbelievable surroundings with a great visibility and colourful corals !

Fishes, fishes, fishes!!!

Nudibranches ...

Shrimps ...

A ghost pipefish ...

Nice surprises on the way! And less welcoming ones!

New activities on board!

Words game on the Smiling Seahorse cruise

And as always ...

Thanks to Serge, Thierry and Audrey for their pictures !

And let's continue with Gilles, Nicolas and Serge, for the next one in Burma !

Best of Thailand Dive Cruise: Surin and Similan National parks5Days/4 Nights, 11 dives: Surin Islands, Richelieu Rock, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, North Similans

Thailand still counts some of the best dive sites in the world and this trip offers just the best Thailand has to offer!

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Harlequin shrimps are back!

21/3/2017

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Amazing cruise to Myanmar

With so many photographers and experienced divers on this trip, there was no other way than macro, macro, macro !!!
Thanks to an international team one more time: Jeff and Alice from Hong Kong; Julie and Fredrik from Sweden; Piotr and Justyna from Poland; David from Great Britain; Enmarie from South Africa; and Audrey, Jean-Luc, Thierry and Raymonde from France.

Before getting further, here they are ... the highlight of the week that Julien had been chasing for 5 monthes ... finally, harlequin shrimps are back :)

Beautiful aren't they?
But let's start from the beginning!

Beautiful scenaries as always outside ...

And inside the water ...

Plenty of colours everywhere ...

And fishes all around ...

Ready for a portrait session ?

Our regulars were here also ;)

Octopusses ...

Cuttlefishes ...

Moray eels ...

Frogfishes ...

Manti shrimps ...

Seahorses ...

Ghost pipefishes ... can you find them all ?

All kinds of shrimps ...

All kind of crabs ...

Most of all, it has been a nudibranches festival ! Check it out ...

Let's not forget beautiful shells !

Besides diving, several transports are available to discover new islands ...

New people ...

And have fun with them :)

And let's not forget the splendid sunsets ...

Thanks everyone for these great moments!
Especially to Audrey and Alice for sharing their pictures with us.
Congratulations to Julie who started with only 9 dives and finished with a lot more confidence and fun!
And let's continue for the another adventure with the french and polish teams who follow with the thai trip !

Mergui Archipelago: the Jewel of Burma...
Discover the best dive spots around Mergui Archiplago...

The Mergui Archipelago
Scattered like pearls on a blue velvet bed sheet are a bunch of 800 islands scattered over the Andaman sea just off the eastern coast of Myanmar. This is Burma's tropical paradise of Mergui Archipelago. The British colonial name of "Mergui" still remains as opposed to the Burmese "Myeik".
Myanmar has got turquoise waters, palm-fringed white sand beaches, amazing dive sites, rich wildlife, mangrove forest, but despite the fact that there are only a few islands in Thailand, comparatively, Mergui Archipelago, is far less famous than its Andaman Sea neighbor, the surin and similan islands.
In fact, Myeik Archipelago is one of the world’s best-kept secrets due to the fact that it was only opened to tourism in 1997 and is still under quite a strict regulation.

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Once upon a time in the Mergui Archipelago...

12/3/2017

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Once upon a time in the Mergui Archipelago...

Once upon a time, there was a group of 7 friends who wanted to discover the beautiful clear waters of the Mergui Archipelago ...
They boarded on an amazing boat called the MV Thai Sea with 5 other travel companions for a new adventure!
We were very happy to welcome on board: Barbara, Gaston, Nicole, Ludo, Agnès, Jean-Luc, Marc et Didier from France; and the two Isabelle, Geoffrey and Yves from Belgium.

The sky was blue ...

The weather was hot, the water was flat and the landscapes were breathtaking ...

Underwater, we had the feeling to be in an aquarium sometimes, Submarine was unbelievable!

It was a nudibranch festival again...

Beautiful ghost pipefish...

Cuttlefish all around...

And other awesome creatures ...

It's not only about diving, it's also about discovering the surroundings ...

Deserted islands ...

Meeting the locals ...

Incredible sunsets ...

On the boat, the atmosphere was very friendly ! And funny...

Great and funny times with The Smiling Seahorse

And of course glamourous ;)

We had a great time together! The crew was happy!

The divers were happy too!

Hope to see you for a new adventure next year!

Oh yeah, and I was going to forget the most important news of the trip... Uncle Tom got a new haircut!

Diving in Myanmar: the ultimate guide to this off the beaten trail destination...
Written by the specialists of scuba diving cruises to the Mergui Archipelago and the Burma banks
CLICK HERE!

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Manta Festival in Black Rock

5/3/2017

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Another amazing trip in the Mergui Archipelgo where we got the chance to meet some oceanic manta rays ! What an amazing feeling to spend 3 dives in Black Rock with at least 5 different curious specimen dancing around us during the whole time underwater !

First exploration trip for this season, cruising around Tower Rock to discover some new dive sites was an exciting experience ! The landscape in the north of the archipelago was stunning. The group of divers from the north of france, Marcq Plongée, were impressed by the diversity of the underwater life. Some turtles, different kind of sharks, nurse, white tip and bamboo, few marbled and bluespotted stingrays were the big animals encountered.

We've got also some beautiful macro critters, stone fish, octopuses and cuttlefishes, many different kind of shrimps like the almost invisible skeleton shrimp, some cute and tiny frogfish hiding in the sea fan and barrel sponges. Finally the ghost pipe fishes are back and we could count 14 individuals and their friends misters sea horses were still there, not less than 13 different !

We are looking forward for the end of the month and go back in the north of the archipelago to explore other virgin islands. Don't forget to visit our facebook page for more pictures.

7 days 6 nights Burma diving cruise: up to Black Rock...
Black Rock in a week: Burma diving liveaboard...
To respond to the demand to go to black rock more often has mantas festival is becoming quite regular there!
SEE THE CRUISE ITINERARY, CLICK HERE

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Koh Tachai ... unforgettable, that's what you are!

Thailand sea discovery dive cruise

Harlequin shrimps are back!

Amazing cruise to Myanmar

Once upon a time in the Mergui Archipelago...

Manta Festival in Black Rock

The Smiling Seahorse Diving Blog

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