​Our second day was filled with some of our favorite locations in Similan as we explored Ko Tachai, Ko Bon, West of Eden and Deep Six. The bright soft fan corals and giant foam corals painted a beautiful underwater landscape as we floated through massive schools of fish in excellent visibility. Nudibranchs were everywhere, including some of our favorite slugs: psychedelic batwing slug (sagaminopteron psychedelicum) and piccachu (Thecacera pacifica)! 

​ The most exciting sighting of our trip happened at Shark Fin Reef : Not only did we see some white tip reef sharks sleeping under coral heads, but we also had a tiger shark saying hello at the safety stop!! Safety stops can really get thrilling with such a special guest visitor! Again no photo of this special guest who tend to show up only in front of divers when they don't have their camera!

Tuna Wreck at Anita’s Reef sent us into our deepest dive as we descended to catch a glipse of the unique ship tipped on its side at the bottom of the sea at around 30 meters.

​We also experienced a fun filled dive at Elephant Head Rock, which led us through underwater boulders and swim throughs. We found more white tips reef sharks swimming and the trip of black, yellow, and blue ribbon eels poking out to say hello. Between dives we made a stop at Donald Duck Bay to enjoy the iconic rock formations and pristine white sand beach. 

​The journey back north toward Surin National Park held four more days of amazing sea life. We found bright tiger cowries latched on to fan corals, crabs nestled around their eggs, and nudibranchs galore! 

​Ko Tachai was so fishy this week and we spent most of a dive in a swirling school of thousands of chevron barracuda covering the reff between 10-20 meters deep. The big fish kept coming through in massive schools of giant trevallies, bluefins trevallies, jackfish as well as 10 huge tunas passing on top of us! Wow!

​We glided through schools of batfish, surgeon fish, rabbitfish and jackfish at Richelieu Rock. We found two giant frog fish this week, a bent stick pipe fish, seahorse and some ghost pipe fish. But what I loved most was an eagle ray passing less than a meter away on our night dive there!

​We celebrated not only these beautiful sites but also a new year’s arrival! As we were moored in the Bay of Ko Bon, we enjoyed our infamous barbecue night and were gifted with the lovely voice of one of our passenger: an opera singer to start the year in beauty. It made the new year truly special for everyone and after a bit of dancing, singing and laughing we made it to bed awaiting for our dives on the 1st!

Our new year began with another amazing trip through our favorite Thai islands, and we are so grateful for our new and returning friends who joined us.

Thanks to Andrew for sharing your photos of the trip! And a special congratulations goes out to Martina and Fabian for completing their Nitrox certification course!

What a way to kick off the season aboard the MV Smiling Seahorse! Although international travel is still at a standstill and we couldn't visit our beloved Mergui Archipelago there is nothing to do but make the most of it! We had a magnificent tour through the Thai Surin and Similan Islands with a multicultural group of local vacationers happy to be on the sea away from the hustle and bustle of life. We have been waiting for this trip since Covid stole our heart and sea in March!

The first day was blessed with a gorgeous sunrise to set us off on our merry way. A bit of cloud cover over the course of the weekend made for very pleasant weather to go along with the up to 30m visibility and fish soup underwater. 

We had a beautiful second day at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai where we got swarmed by fish, found gorgeous Nudibranchs and harlequin shrimp and one group even sighted the first Giant Manta ray of the season! 

The last day of the trip brought big wind and waves so we headed to Surin island for a quiet night and first dive. We started the day at Yellow rock, with a lovely appearance from an Octopus and so many sweetlips everywhere. We then moved over to do two marvelous dives at Richelieu Rock featuring cuttlefish, ghost pipefish, giant frogfish, seahorses and all of the beautiful usual suspects. 

We ended our cruise night diving in the Surin islands where we had the chance to encounter a shaded batfish, a little party of pipefish, some nice nudibranchs and cuttlefish! 

Special mentions and a HUGE congratulations to Menno and Sanne for becoming Advanced Open Water divers and also to Claire and Eva for completing their Enriched Air Nitrox course while on the trip! Happy future bubbles to you all! 

Also wishing Sawittree all the best on her birthday! Thank you so much for choosing to celebrate with us!
Thanks for all the fish, friends. Hope to dive with you again soon!

A first time for Darren King and his buddies who has been diving in Thailand since 2005. 
"We dropped usual place in Elephant Head Rock, Similan: southern side of the main rock, before the channel and the tiger shark came up from the deeper water to check us out. It came very close and there was no doubting it. "
Unfortunately this time the divers didn't have a camera to capture the moment but what a thrill!!!
​Tiger sharks are very rarely sighted by divers as they usually prefer to live in deeper/ colder waters.

Such sightings of Tiger sharks in Similan, Thailand sure give us hope for the future of Shark population in Asia. Thailand still has a bountiful Marine life to explore!

Want to know more about these wonderful creatures? Check out our blog answering all the questions you may have about Tiger sharks.

And if you want to try your luck, come dive with us to Surin and Similan islands!
We still go room on these 3 trips in December 2020 with a 20% Discount!

Here are a few ways for you to take care of your carbon footprint during your holidays, and then try to take those good habits home with you! 
 
BEFORE LEAVING, SAVE ENERGY
Turn off all the electrical appliances and devices that you won’t use while you're gone. Unplug everything you can and try to keep running appliances at a minimum. If you are leaving for an extended period of time, take this opportunity to clean out your fridge and freezer to dispose of the unwanted items. If you are really motivated, you can even empty it entirely and leave it off while you're gone. Donate the items to a friend in need or a community center for those less fortunate than you. Waste not, want not. 

CARPOOL
​
If you cannot avoid driving, try and fill all the spaces in your car that you can. All over the world you can find apps, facebook pages and websites that connect people traveling in the same directions for ride shares. This reduces your carbon emissions and can even save you a little money on gas with friends to share the bill! 

PRINT AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE
 
Don’t bother printing your booking tickets. You probably wont need them and find them transformed into a sweaty lump in your money belt weeks later.  Nowadays just showing your passport or ID card is enough for the hostess to find you in the database at the airline check-in counter. You can also show the QR code from the company on your mobile.
Take photos on your phone or save a copy of your important documents on your cloud so you can access it at anytime if needed.
 

DON’T WRAP YOUR LUGGAGE IN PLASTIC
 
Use protective luggage covers or just a secured clip instead of the wasteful shrink wrap machine. There are many options for keeping your luggage clean and firmly shut. 
 
USE An ECO FRIENDLY SUNSCREEN
 
Did you know that conventional sunscreen contains a chemical that destroys coral reefs and marine ecosystems? Its name is oxybenzone, and many sunscreens contain it. According to experts, approximately 14,000 tons of sunscreen end up in the oceans every year.
Search online or at your local dive center for reef safe options. They are now becoming increasingly affordable and easy to find. 

​SAY NO TO STRAWS
When you order your cocktail at the beach bar, don’t forget to say “no straw”. Single use plastic straws have been the target of successful global campaigns raising awareness of how they can impact our oceans. 
If you don't like to sip your drink from the edge of the cup consider a reusable option like metal or bamboo. You can even buy collapsible straws that are easily stored in a small case connected to a keychain. 

BRING YOUR CUP
 
Do you need the comfort of caffeine in the morning? Do you hate drinking your sunset mojito from disposable plastic cups? 
Where many people will think to bring a reusable water bottle, most don't think to bring other reusable beverage receptacles. An insulated thermos for your morning coffee is a great way to reduce waste and keep the drink piping hot until you're ready for your fix. Beach bars are notorious for going through hundreds of plastic cups in a night. You can do your part by having your own party tumbler which will keep your drink cold and covered from sand or other undesirable additions.
There's even an added bonus that some places will offer you a discount for bringing your own cup!
 
…. AND YOUR CUP!
 
Ladies, we all know that week when the bathroom’s trash bin is particularly full. Have you ever tried the cup?
This revolutionary feminine hygiene product helps to reduce the rubbish you can produce during that special time of the month. You can wear it day or nights, for much longer than a tampon. It's also very comfortable and rarely leaks. 
Trying is adopting it! Even for diving, it is tested and approved.

MV Smiling Seahorse, our brand new steel boat is being built in the mangrove forest, near Ranong for the last 6 months or so. It is taking shape nicely and nearly ready for the coming season! While it is not yet all done, we wanted to send you a little update!
​Let me introduce her to you...

From the front, the 2 massives windows on the main deck are the master cabins, so you can have a great seaview while cruising...  :)

Wow! a new word guiness record in diving today!
Ahmed Gabr went to 332 metres in Egypt today! crazy!!!!
Congratulation courageous man!

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Woww! I haven't written a blog post since January!!! Incredible how fast the season went. I must say we have been quite busy lately. It is now low season, the boat is parked, equipment stored or sent for servicing and we are getting a much deserved break!
Don't be mistaken we already miss diving and look forward to the new season.
In the mean time, I though about a little project, something I have wanted to do during the high season but really didn't have time to do...
I've decided to post our log book on this blog so you guys can see what we see on a regular basis on our dive cruises.
Sadly I don't have pictures of every creature we see but I'll try to post what I have and use some pictures taken by others.
I hope this will inspire you and that we'll see you soon!
Check out our calendar for next season's liveaboard schedule and book now!