Diving liveaboard in Thailand and Myanmar
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      • Video & photo expedition North Andaman 05 Nov 2023
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      • Special Marine Biology - 18 Feb 2024
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Christmas trip in the North Andaman: 19th to 25th of December 2022

27/12/2022

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Trip Report North Andaman Christmas trip from 19th to 25th of December 2022
Merry Christmas to all, we had a really amazing Christmas trip and hope you also enjoyed the festive season with your loved ones. We had 15 fantastic guests coming all the way from France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, and Sweden to visit the best spots of the North Andaman Sea of Thailand: Similan National Park and Surin National Park for a 7 day- cruise. What a blast!

Unfortunately Franck took the week off to enjoy Christmas at home with the kids, which was a treat for our family but means no underwater photos this week! Thanksfully our dream team took over with lovely photos onboard and it looks like everyone had a fantastic trip without us (Camille and Franck).
Merry Christmas on The MV Smiling Seahorse!
Santa Clauss is the captain for today!
Chrismas guests on the MV Smiling seahorse
On the MV Smiling Seahorse we have the cutest diving instructors!
A coconut for Christmas? Sharky?
Merry Christmas Cap'tain!
Great dives were had with lots of schooling fishes, cute nudibranch, octopus, and black tip reef shark. Torinla Rocks, In surin islands, were amazing this week, with Pikachu in their trees (hydroids) and kuhl's stingray flying over a bunch of garden eels.

Richelieu was incredible, we saw a seahorse, few ghost pipefishes, ribbon eel, zebra moray and a huge amount of fishes dancing over the rock, trevallies, barracudas, fusiliers, rabbit fishes, batfishes.

In the Similans, Three trees had strong current, but the school of barracudas were hovering over the reef which gave us a magical show!
Thank you everyone for this Christmas trip !
Fun was had onboard, especially during Christmas eve as we enjoyed a wonderful Banrbecued Lamb shank and a few drinks! Thank you to our lovely guests for joining us this Christmas ! A

​ll the Smiling Seahorse team wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !
3 little monkeys, tell me what's under The MV Smiling Seahorse Christmas three?...
3 little monkeys, tell me what's under The MV Smiling Seahorse Christmas three?...
Christmas three...
Christmas three...
Christmas sunset...
Christmas sunset...
Do you know how the Christmas Trees tradition started?

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness...

Looks like our tree brought us luck this week and kept bad spirit away :)

How was your Christmas? Did you take a holidays?  Did you go diving somewhere cool?
Or did you stay home?
Did you get fun scuba-diver gifts under the tree?
Tell us all in the comment section!
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Trip report: South& North Andaman sea from 10th to 17th of December 2022

19/12/2022

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school of jackfish in North Andaman, Thailand
A small group for a big trip, this week MV Smiling Sea Horse had 7 lucky guests, coming from United States, France, Singapore and Israel. Franck, our co-owner and onboard photographer wasn't onboard this time so a big thank you to Boris Mekler for illustrating this blogpost with fantastic photos. Thanks a lot for coming back with us for the sixth trip in a year! It is always a pleasure diving with you! 
On Koh Haa Lagoon
On Koh Haa Lagoon
On Hin Muang
On Hin Muang
On Hin Daeng
On Hin Daeng
We start the trip cruising south from Lanta National Park, Hin Daeng and Hin Muang to Tarutao National Park. Harlequin shrimps were present for our first night dive in Hin Daeng, a big school of barracuda and some nice nudibranch. A Mobula rays few by us on 8 miles, next to koh lipe and a we also found a sneeky frogfish hiding in plain sight!
Arlequin shrimp
Barracudas school
Mobula Ray
Mobula Ray
Cool nudibranch
Cool nudibranch
Beautiful seafan
Beautiful seafan
sneeky frogfish
sneeky frogfish
Blackwater this week was fantastic so most guests asked to make a second black water dives this trip. We saw so many cool and weird creatures. The first blackwater dive was loaded with baby puffer fish blowing up in front of our masks as well as a baby stargazer! The second BW dive was full of baby Moray eels with long transparent bodies and sharp/tinny tooth! All the energetic babies were quite fast moving and so hard to photograph so we can't show you unfortunately this time, you'll have to come see for yourself! 
But we can still show you flying guenard, anemone, baby squids and octopus and a sea elephant.
Picture
Baby moray
Baby moray
Baby squid
Baby squid
Picture
Baby octopus
Baby octopus
Baby stargazer
Baby stargazer
After the crossing overnight from south Andaman to North Andaman contouring Phuket, we spent the second part of the trip between the Similan and Surin National parks. Visibilty was great, especially around Koh Bon and koh Tachai. 
On Koh Bon
On Koh Bon
On Koh Tachai
On Koh Tachai
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish
On Koh Tachai
On Koh Tachai
On Koh Bon
On Koh Bon
On Koh Tachai
On Koh Tachai
In Surin National parks, we started around Torinla and ended in Richelieu Rock and its abundance of fishes. This pretty juvenile shaded batfish was the highlight of my dives in Surin, they are just so graceful! 
Red more about this emblematic baby :
all about the shaded batfish.

I love this photo of garden eels and it is always a pleasure meeting the plasma worthy Mr cuttlefish!

We found another pair of harlequin shrimps in Richelieu Rock but the rock was so so so fishy it was hard to take a look on the reef!

Gazillion of trevalli were surrounding us and crossing path with big schools of hunting emperors, barracuda all going for the thick glassfish cloud!
Thank you again Boris for sharing your pictures with us and the world and thanks to all our fantastic guests for choosing us and sharing this great time with us. We look forward to welcome you back for more fishy stories!
shaded batfish
shaded batfish
Garden eels
Garden eels
great athmosphere onboard mv smiling seahorse
fun time onboard!
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Trip report : North to South Andaman trip from 1st to 8th of December 2022

10/12/2022

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trip report onboard mv smiling seahorse december 2022
Great trip starting from Khao Lak with 13 guests coming from US, Belgium, Canada, England, and French. The first place we dive was in Koh Chi in Surin National Park were the wonderful pikachus welcomed is in colours and after that, we went to Richelieu Rock for 3 more dives that first day!
piccachu nudibranch thailand
Pikachu nudibranch
jack fish school
ghostpipe fish thailand
Then we moved south towards Similan National Park for a day split between Koh Tachai and Koh Bon. We saw a nice school of pickhandle barracudas in the blue and on the reef found Maldives sponge snails, the eggs of Spanish dancer (aka the reef rose) and a beautiful green turtle.
Picture of a green turtle on the colorful reef
green turtle hanging out
The 3rd day, we were at three trees, elephant head, and west of eden for some great dives. We saw a curious octopus, a couple of blue ribbon eels sharing the same hole, and loads of beautiful nudibranch. I still wonder why two blue ribbon eels shared the same house as color usually determine the sex of these drag queens...  if you know or wanna guess, let us know in the comment section!
2 ribbon eels sharing a hole
Miamira colorful nudibranch
Similan delivered some fantastic dives but so did Lanta National Park! We got lucky to see our first manta ray of the season but unfortunately no photo this time! sad...
​Then we made an exploration dive around Koh Rok before going south to Tarutao National Park. 
Full day around Koh Lipe to dive 8 Miles, Stonehenge, Koh Yang East and Sawang. 8 Miles dive site was amazing with huge school of trevallies (some were huge!!!), barracudas and for the two frogfishs hiding in the middle of it all!
Congratulations to Timothy and Emmanuelle for your Advanced Open Water certification, to Le and Stewart for your Enriched Air Nitrox certification and to Michelle for both !
That night was black water night and was really good, Franck managed to catch a picture for the first time a Tonguefish.
Last day, first dive in Bida Nok and second in Shark point. We saw some black tip reef sharks, cuttlefish and beautiful tiny squat shrimps.
blacktip reefshark thailand
Thank you Timothy and Emmanuelle for choosing us to celebrate your honeymoon! wishing you many happy dives together!
honeymoon divers
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Trip report : Citizen science research trip in North Andaman from 23rd to 29th of November 2022

1/12/2022

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Picture
Special trip for special guests coming from Israel, Malaysia, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Thailand. Diving with us and conduct some research on the reef, to understand more about the cleaning stations and the different coral species interactions.
Reef survey
Settled down some cameras
Reef survey
Reef survey
Teira batfish
Teira batfish
One of the main goal of this trip was to locate a cleaning station, we settled down some cameras where we found loads of cleaner wrasse, and leave them during our surface interval, hoping to capture some pelagic images when no divers are diving on the site.
Moray eel
Giant Moray
sea fan
Beautiful Sea fan garden
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish
Amazing day in Richelieu, dive site is always full of life and specials encounters.
Franck managed to capture on a picture the egg of the clown fish around the anemone, Ghostpipefish, seahorse and the most wanted harlequin shrimps.
Clownfish protecting the eggs on the anemone
Clownfish protecting the eggs on the anemone
Diving in the Similan National Park for the next 4 days, Koh Tachai, Koh Bon and the Similan islands number 7 to 9 were our research field. While the divers examine the reef, we were lucky to see some sharks and rays in the blue and some beautiful Nudibranchia on the reef.
Picture
Snappers
Psychedelic batwing slug nudibranchia
Psychedelic batwing slug
Sea anemones
Sea anemones
Miamira sinuata and Netted Miamira nudibranchia
Miamira sinuata and Netted Miamira nudibranchia
crown of thorns starfish
Crown of Thorns starfish
Halgerda tessellata nudibranchia
Halgerda tessellata
It has been a fascinating trip, the surface interval was busy with some presentation on the different species of coral, their threats and some ecological solution to save our reef !
Happy guests onboard The Smiling Seahorse
Happy guests onboard The Smiling Seahorse
Dedication for the special shrimp we found and were so happy to discover for the first time in the archipelago..... the..... hairy..... shrimp ! Well done Camille !
Hairy Shrimp -Pphycocaris Simulan
Hairy Shrimp -Pphycocaris Simulan
Thanks to all of you for being part of the cruise, hope you enjoyed your time with us and wish to see you again soon on board of the MV Smiling Sea Horse.
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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 >
        • Marine life in the Andaman Sea
        • Burma's best dive sites
        • The Ultimate Underwater photo Guide to diving Burma
  • ABOUT
    • Our Boat >
      • DELICIOUS FOOD
    • Diving in Thailand
    • Diving in Myanmar/Burma
    • Itineraries
    • Blackwater diving in Thailand
    • Marine life in Thailand's Andaman Sea
    • Dive Courses >
      • Learn to Dive
      • Continue diving education
      • Rescue diver
      • Professional Dive Courses
      • Hone your dive skills with a PADI 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 >
      • Ultimate Underwater photo combo expeditions
      • Video & photo expedition North Andaman 05 Nov 2023
      • Blackwater expedition 23 Jan 2024
      • UW Photo clinic North Andaman 31 Jan 2024
      • Special Marine Biology - 18 Feb 2024
      • Whale Shark Special - 19 Mar 2024 - North and South
      • Manta rays expedition - 20 April 2024
  • gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
    • Most popular posts