Baby Eagle Ray, Giant Manta ray, Whale shark, turtles... : a cruise full of good surprises
It is with great excitement that we started this trip, the last one of the season where we get to dive all the best Andaman Sea dive sites from Koh Lipe to Richelieu rock.
Our awesome guests came from 11 different countries this week: Germany, England, France, Belgium, Denmark, Nederland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria, Singapore and Thailand, which made for a very multicultural experience :)
Our awesome guests came from 11 different countries this week: Germany, England, France, Belgium, Denmark, Nederland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria, Singapore and Thailand, which made for a very multicultural experience :)
| The trip started from Phuket on the 12th of April 2022 in the afternoon and we sailed to koh haa overnight to have our check dive there before heading South to the infamous hin Daeng and hin Muang for the other 3 dives, including the first night dive.  |  This week was a week of Full moon, which brought its share of current and action along! So many trevallis hunting on top of Hun Muang! |
The following day we traveled to Koh Lipe, starting with 2 dives at 8 mile rock. In order to have the best experience we modified our schedule and timed it with the tides…
What a great idea! That allowed us to enjoy the dive sites without having to fight the current.
Massive schools of barracudas and jacks in the blue and ghost pipe fish and seahorses in the reef, enough to please both scenic and macro enthusiasts.
What a great idea! That allowed us to enjoy the dive sites without having to fight the current.
Massive schools of barracudas and jacks in the blue and ghost pipe fish and seahorses in the reef, enough to please both scenic and macro enthusiasts.
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Stonehenge and its million colours was also fantastic: Alternating vibrant solft coral with tomato clownfish in their anemone and giant barrel sponges in perfect visibility made the most beautiful coral garden ever seen!
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| For the last dive we had to hide from the strong currents and dived Pattaya corner, a nice sunset dive to wrap up the day with the chance to see one of my favorite fish: the Comet longfin. |  Comet Longfins |
On our way back to West, we stopped again at Hin Daeng, Hin Muang for 2 dives before going to the cathedral at koh Haa where a nice turtle gave us a show just in front of the caves…
We had only 3 dives this day because of the long navigation to the south of Similan the next day…
We had only 3 dives this day because of the long navigation to the south of Similan the next day…
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We have been trying for a while now to have an exploration blue water dive at the end of the continental shelf, where the bottom drops to several hundred meters… The conditions were perfect and everyone on board was game to try, so we finally had it and what a fun experience!
We didn’t see the sharks we were hoping for but we still had a nice Wahoo and giant barracudas visiting us and were surrounded by thousands of surreal jellyfish!
Next dive was at shark fin reef, where 2 turtles and a big school of barracuda came un front of the lense.
We didn’t see the sharks we were hoping for but we still had a nice Wahoo and giant barracudas visiting us and were surrounded by thousands of surreal jellyfish!
Next dive was at shark fin reef, where 2 turtles and a big school of barracuda came un front of the lense.
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| We carry on our route northward and had the 3rd dive at West of Eden. Even if the site is very scenic, it is a great place to hunt for the Psychedelic batwing sea slug… For our last dive that day, everyone wanted to try again the end of the continental shelf to see what's there at night so we headed back West for our Blackwater dive… |  Psychedelic batwing sea slugs |
Blackwater | We jumped above 150m of waters and drifted in dark water where we spotted a juvenile flying fish, post larvae pufferfish, larvae ribbon eel, shrimps and squids but we had a squad of juvenile trevallies hunting in our lights making it very difficult to take photos without exposing the larvaes to the predators…
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The next day started at elephant head rock, the regular fully grown up ribbon eels where there and the swim through always pleased our guests.
The 2nd dive at 3 trees, allowed me to take few shots of our guests and to try new photo angles on the barrel sponge ;)
The 2nd dive at 3 trees, allowed me to take few shots of our guests and to try new photo angles on the barrel sponge ;)
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3rd and 4th dive are planned to be at Koh Bon where we had the pleasure to see 1 manta on the first day and a whale shark the following morning.
 As well as this exquisite baby Eagle Ray! don't you just love this cute smile? |  |
This week was particularly busy because of Songkran holidays (Thai New year) but with the end of the week, went all the other boats! And we had it all to ourselves until the end of the cruise! That's when the whale shark paid us a visit!
The next 2 dives were at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, and we marvelled in front of the jacks, batfish and red snappers!
After the sunset dive was time for our fun-filled barbecue night! The courtesy cocktails and lamb legs got everyone in the mood for a great party night!
The next 2 dives were at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, and we marvelled in front of the jacks, batfish and red snappers!
After the sunset dive was time for our fun-filled barbecue night! The courtesy cocktails and lamb legs got everyone in the mood for a great party night!
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We finally made it to Richelieu rock for our last 2 dives… I must say, I rarely saw Richelieu rock as good as this day! We suppose that the fact that there was no boat for 2 days made the fish really friendly! They totally ignored us passing really close to us!
| My highlight on this 2 dives was the finding of a robust ghost pipe fish! I haven’t seen one here in a while!  |  |
All our guests came back with sparkles in the eyes and the happy chatters lasted until our arrival in Ranong in the late afternoon. Good bye everyone and thanks for sharing this fantastic adventures with us!
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