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The exclusivity of Surin Islands for this VVIP trip

25/11/2021

A very intimate atmosphere for this last cruise in the Surin Islands: indeed, we welcomed 4 guests who had the chance to enjoy the boat and the crew to themselves! And since we were the only boat on a cruise this week, we also got to enjoy being the only divers underwater, from the first to the last day.
The sea was lovely and calm, life under the water buzzing and amazing.

The Smiling Seahorse now offers blackwater dives on every cruise and this week, our blackwater dives were a success: We were able to observe many species at the larval and pelagic stage: flounder, jellyfish, pineapple fish, nudibranch, squids, shrimps, trigger fish, barracudas, worms ...

Larvae flounder

Jellyfish

Barracuda

Undefined worm

Scribble Filefish running after a jellyfish

Pelagic nudibranch

Sea butterfly larvae

Squid

Pineapple fish

Baby trigger fish

Shrimp

Pelagic sea snake

We also twitched our itinerary slightly this week, in order to be able to do a twilight dive at Richelieu Rock: a magical moment! The colors under and on the water were fabulous, to the delight of all our photographers on board.

Jellyfish have many enemies but I love them equally!

Spanish dancer eggs ribbon, a wonder to see underwater. New spot for blackwater diving?

Scorpion fish

All photographers onboard used our dedicated photo room and we shared some editing moments to share our shots and tips to improve our underwater and blackwater photography.

Trying out the blurry effect. What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.

Another very nice group with whom we really enjoyed diving and living on the boat. Thank you to this team from all over the world for these few days.

If you would like more information about our itineraries, our boat or our various training courses, do not hesitate to contact us.

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Clear blue sky and dolphins dream for our second trip of the season on the Andaman Sea!

2/11/2021

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Rain was falling on Ranong when we reached the boat, but the sky cleared as soon as we got away from main land...

Clear blue sky and dolphins dream for our second trip of the season on the Andaman Sea!

Rain was falling on Ranong when we reached the boat, but the sky cleared as soon as we got away from main land and apart from 1 or 2 short rain showers, we had a clear blue sky and bright sun the whole trip!

This was a special dolphin trip as we got two pods of dolphins giving us a show. On the first sunset, dolphins appeared in the distance right under a rainbow, a truly magical moment and we were surprised to get to experience an even more incredible moment when 40 dolphins accompanied the boat for a good 30 minutes on our way to Koh Tachai. We saw babies close to their mums playing in the wake of the boat and visibility was so clear we could see them right under the surface as if we were part of the same world!!!

This was the second trip of the season and it was a blast underwater as well as above water with a bunch of awesome guests that really made the difference!
A few return guests as well as teachers on holidays, that’s all it takes to create good vibes ;)
Congrats to Petra, Maurice, Julien and Dominic who completed their Enriched Air Nitrox certification, to Alek who completed the Adventure deep and night dive and to Erin (10 years old) and (Tintin, 12 years old) who enjoyed the cruise like pros and learned new technics to dive in current when needed with minimal efforts.

Our cutest guest ever! 10 and 12 years...

The underwater adventure started really well on Surin islands on our first day the highlight for one group being a Hawksbill turtle, a bunch of Thecacera Sp AKA Pikachu, some huge Jenkin wipe ray and a very nice school of sweetlips…!
Another group got lucky spotting napoleon fish, hump head parrot fish and a guitarfish at night.

Thecacera Nudibranch

Beautiful green turtle and coral reef

Sweetlips in formation for the show

Second day was split between Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, with beautiful conditions, mild current and good visibility, we were delighted to be alone on their premier dive sites…

The reef was absolutely stunning, teeming with life from the millions of glassfish and the squads of predator darting at them, making it look like a wave constantly moving!
Jacks, barracuda and this very friendly Titan triggerfish ;)

reef teeming with life

Titan triggerfish at Koh Tachai

Giant seafan at Koh Bon

Marine landscape in Koh Tachai

Scorpion fish at Koh Bon

We headed south west of Koh Tachai until we found enough depth (about 80m) for the Blackwater dive, (a new service on offer on every single trip this season).
We were very pleased with the water quality, so clear with almost no particles ! Baby ribbon eels were everywhere! Absolutely mind blowing !
We also spotted some surgeon fish larvae, shinny little crabs, minuscule krill and this baby needle fish at the end of the dive posing for me below the surface…

Baby ribbon eel on black water dive

Needlefish on black water dive

Baby surgeonfish on black water dive

Cool tiny crab on black water dive

Baby pufferfish on black water dive

Last but not least, our last 4 dives were spend enjoying the riches of Richelieu Rock, once more alone on the dive site!
Myriads of glassfish carpeted the entire reef!
The concentration of marine life is exceptional, from the tiniest tiger egg cowrie to the biggest school of giant trevallies constantly circling the rock crossing path with barracudas, longnose emperor fish and jacks.

Trevallies hunting glassfish at Richelieu Rock

Red grouper on a beautiful barrel sponge

Red groupers, glassfish and soft coral

Cowrie at Richelieu Rock

Longnose Emperor hunting

Beside the incredible dives we all enjoyed, atmosphere onboard was excellent. Some fun board games in between dives got very popular and everyone loved our barbecue feast and dancing the night away after the last dive.

I can’t wait to get wet again! For those out of Thailand, have you heard that Thailand has finally reopened to international travelers? Only 1 test, 1 night and you’re free to enjoy this yourself. What are you waiting for? ;)

Do you know black water dive?

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The exclusivity of Surin Islands for this VVIP trip

Clear blue sky and dolphins dream for our second trip of the season on the Andaman Sea!

Rain was falling on Ranong when we reached the boat, but the sky cleared as soon as we got away from main land...

Do you know black water dive?

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