Blog Archives

Epic cruise to end the season!

29/4/2018

Let's say, it didn't start the right way due to tough conditions on the first days which made us change the itinerary.
But finally, it ended in a fantastic one! Big, small, very big and very small!!! There was everything ;)

Lucky folks on board: Brad from USA, Eric from France, Iryna from Ukraine, Steve and Rachael from England, Magdalena from Germany, Jess from Australia and Marcello from Brazil.

Let's start with the BIG!
It has been incredible to spot a manta, where we had never seen them before!

Same for the whale shark!

Every kind of rays were here to say bye bye: Kuhl's, marbled, manta, eagle ...

Same for our beloved nudibranches, starting with the fatty spanish dancer!

And all the other colourful ones!

Frogfishes!

And from the seahorse family ...

Nice series of portraits ...

Lots of fun with a great bunch of people!

Thanks Mergui Archipelago for this unbelievable season ...

Congratulations to Jess for her Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certifications! It hasn't been easy conditions but now, you have the "surge" specialty ;)

Has been a pleasure to dive again in this beautiful place, meeting amazing persons!
It's time for us now to rest and enjoy our holidays!

And also it's time to say goodbye to our fantastic boat: the MV Thaï Sea ... It has been a pleasure sailing with you all these years, we will miss you a lot ...

0 Comments

Shark Madness for our last Thailand trip!

19/4/2018

0 Comments

Right after celebrating Songkran, the Thaï New Year, we headed to the the Surin and Similan islands for our last trip in Thailand of the season.

On board, we welcomed very soon to be "spoiled customers" ;)
Starting with Mélanie, Max, Geoffrey and Isabelle from Belgium; Christophe, Bénédicte, Mathis and Christelle from France; JP and Henriikka from Finland.

The conditions were great, amazing visibility, low current and lots of life all around.
From day one in Surin, we have been lucky enough to spot black tips, lots of Kuhl's rays, ghost pipefishes, turtles ... and so much more!

Day two, in the morning, we went to Koh Bon, where the serious stuff started ;)
Beginning with nice sceneries and big schools of fishes ...

... to a guitar and a leopard shark ... Unfortunately, we don't have any picture of the first one.
But enjoy the second one ;)

A Jenkins and eagle ray!

And then, it was time for Koh Tachai and its beautiful corals!
On the way, we met a group of dolphins at the surface.

Look at this splendid colors!

Happy divers!

Back to the boat, it was barbecue night!

And a box game, we will remember!

Third day, cherry on the top: Richelieu Rock!

And last but not least ... the biggies, everyone was expecting to see!!!

0 Comments

New reviews!

15/4/2018

0 Comments

" The diving was at all times safe, professional and designed to maximise the diving experience... the dive sites were spectacular: bright corals, diverse marine life and exclusive access in small dive groups. "

" Première croisière plongée pour nous, un régal ... une super semaine. On attend le nouveau bateau et on revient! "

" First liveaboard for us, a delight ... a great week. We wait for the new the boat and we come back! "

" ... des beaux sites de plongée, des chips à volonté, beaucoup de serpents, de la bonne cuisine ... Léandre qui a perdu sa dent le premier jour dans l'eau (première plongée)! "

" ... beautiful dive sites, all you can eat chips, lots of snakes, good food ... Léandre who lost his tooth on the first day in the water (first dive)! "

" What an amazing week ... The diving was awesome and the amount of different species blew me away. I loved every minute of the trip. "

" It's truly been an amazing week out here with you. Everyone's been so accommodating and lovely. "

" Super nice trip, amazing dives, fun team, good food. Couldn't ask for more ;) "

" My seahorse adventure was a delight! An accommodating staff always willing to assist and make sure its guests are happy and enjoying themselves. Wonderful diving in remote areas ... "

" We are definitely smiling, from the guests to the crew ... remembering our disco night, our BBQ, our laughs, a fantastic holiday. "

" Trop heureux d'être revenu! L'équipe est toujours formidable ... Merci pour votre bienveillance et votre bonne humeur ! "

" So happy to be back! The team is always fantastic ... Thanks for your caring and good mood ! "

" Thank you very much for an amazing week! All crew were great, very helpful and sweet "

" Great super wonderful crew. It's nice to dive in dive sites without crowds. "

" Merci pour cette magnifique croisière ... toujours autant de plaisir à plonger avec l'équipe du Smiling Seahorse. C'était génial!! "

" Thanks for this amazing cruise ... always so much pleasure to dive with the Smiling Seahorse team. It was great!! "

" Dive, eat, sleep, dive ... what else? Manta rays !!!!! "

" Merci de nous avoir fait partager votre passion. Vous nous avez accueilli comme des hôtes et non des clients. Spots splendides, nous étions seuls au monde! "

" Thanks for sharing your passion with us. We have been welcomed as hosts, not guests. Splendid dive sites, we were the only ones in the world! "

" C'était super trop bien = Mantas Madness! Equipe formidable! Merci! "

" It was over the top = Mantas Madness! Terrific team! Thanks! "

0 Comments

Sairee Cottage Pirates sailing on the Mergui seas...

14/4/2018

0 Comments

Coming straight from the island of Koh Tao, we were very happy to welcome on board Sairee Cottage Diving Team for a wonderful trip in the Mergui Archipelago, starting with: Trevor, Bear, Barry, Farrell, Emma, Lionel, Gary, Martin, Natalie, Nicholas, Paddy and Sameer.

We had the chance to see mantas again, first at Black Rock; and second, we spotted some on Western Rocky from the surface. Unfortunately no picture ... so you'll have to take my word ;)

Fantastic conditions with no current and an amazing visibility

Beautiful corals and fishes everywhere! Jacks, barracudas, fusiliers, snappers, emperors ...

Lucky enough to meet big and small underwater. Beginning with sharks: bamboos and white tips ...

Huge marbled rays ...

Octopuses and cuttlefishes ...

Giant morays ...

Stone fishes ...

Frogfishes ...

Millions of shrimps, all kinds ...

Crabs ...

Seahorses and relatives ...

Pineapple fish ...

Nudis ...

It has been a great ambiance on the boat too ... Never running dry like real pirates do ;)

Hoping to see you again next year for some new overseas adventures !!!

0 Comments

Another great trip in Mergui Archipelago

10/4/2018

0 Comments

Pascal, Patricia and Bertrand from France, Qiao and Mingkun from China, James from Canada, Thomas and Andreas from the US, Engin from Turkey and Joachim from Germany were on board for this cruise. Everybody had a good time on board and some great dives.

We were back in the Mergui Archipelago for a 6 days trip and decided to change our itinerary and offer the chance to dive in the famous "Black Rock" !
Thank you for our captain who did a lot of navigation and let us have an amazing day of diving there ! Manta, Eagle Rays, Stone Fish, huge school of trevally, beautiful nudibranch and so many different species of shrimps and crabs during the night dive !

It's always a pleasure to see those amazing creatures swimming in the blue like they are flying, so graceful and beautiful Manta's.

Thanks everybody for reading this post and stay connected for the next trip, three more and it's the end of the season.

0 Comments

More and more reviews from our dear customers!

2/4/2018

0 Comments

" ... endroits magiques et magnifiques ... Super équipe..."

" ... magical and fantastic places ... Great team ..."

" Croisière au top! On a vu l'ananas!!! "

" Top cruise! We saw the pineapple fish!!! "

" Le professionalisme + le dévouement + la sympathie et la cuisine = croisière à la perfection. "

" Professionalism + dedication + sympathy and the food = perfect cruise. "

" Merci à tous pour votre gentillesse, pour cette splendide croisière. "

" Thank you all for your kindness, for this splendid cruise. "

" A big thank you to Franck and his dedicated crew for making this week so incredible! You have exceeded all my expectations. Cheers for the laughs ... "

" Excellent service and very friendly staff ... Delicious food and magical night dive!!! "

" The best crew and the best night dive I could imagine. "

" Vous avez tous été toujours sur le pont pour nous aider, nous faire plaisir et nous régaler et nous émerveiller. "

" You have all always been on the deck to help us, please and entertain and amaze us. "

" Expérience enrichissante, équipe au top, cuisine d'exception, plongées de rêve. Un seul regret: c'est le dernier jour. "

" Rewarding experience, top team, exceptional food, dream dives. Just one regret: that's the last day. "

" Que dire sinon que tout était génial! "

" I can only tell you that everything was great! "

" Première croisière plongée. Tout était parfait. A recommander. "

First liveaboard. Everything was perfect. To recommend. "

" Super trip, top équipe, top compagnons ... "

" Great trip, top team, top buddies ... "

" Super trip, bonne équipe & ambiance, super service et plongées waouh! "

" Great trip, nice team & atmosphere, great service and dives wow! "

" Super voyage, bonne équipe, bonne ambiance, personnel très attentif et serviable. "

" Great trip, nice team and atmosphere, very careful and helpful staff. "

" Many firsts on this amazing holiday! First seahorses, mantas! I've had a superb time and hope to return again soon. "

" ... this trip was so much better than expected. 70 minutes diving with mantas - fantastic ... we have been on more than 10 thaï liveaboards & the food on MV Thai Sea is better than all of them. Thanks ... "

0 Comments

Back to Black Rock!

1/4/2018

0 Comments

Fantastic team on this trip 4 from the 13th to the 20th of march! We were so happy to welcome on board: Sanne and Lieske from Netherlands; the crazy Israeli connection with Mandy, Pablo and Lior; Max, Ashley and Rick from USA; Delphine and Bertrand from France; Jim from Australia; and our beginner divemaster Kostas from Greece!

Same issues as on the previous trip but still your devoted blogger found a nice video that you can find by clicking on this link:

www.facebook.com/UncleTomOnTour/videos/1507017602730305/

So enjoy and everything will be back to normal on the next one ;)

0 Comments