So much fun on board of the MV Smiling Seahorse for this Full Moon trip with some great divers from Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the US.

Once more a group of very international guests is ready to join the MV Smiling Seahorse for a week of diving and celebration. Bring it on 2020!

Could we possibly wish a better end to 2019 ?
On the first day of the cruise around South Twin, we had the pleasure to dive 3 times with plenty of Oceanic Mantas!
On the 2nd day we spotted 8 different Seahorses around Shark Cave, Square Rock and Submarine dive sites!
It was also time to say goodbye to 2019 and we celebrated the New Year with a firework and enthusiastic divers ready to party! What a great night we had!!! Dancing the night away in the middle of the Mergui Arquipelago was a night to remember.

We started 2020 with a new adventure. We decided to navigate West to the Burma Banks, some huge flat sandy seamounts in the middle of nowhere! These underwater hills are covered by hard corals, some thousands of years old and so so massive!
Because the floor goes very deep around the banks, it is a great spot to meet with sharks, many sharks and many different sharks.
This time we were in awe to observe a Silvertip Reef Shark, swimming into the blue, and plenty of nurse sharks, chilling on the bottom, hiding below a rock, or cruising around. With a 30m visibility and a cristal blue water, we couldn't have started the year better than that!

We finished this incredible journey around the South West of Mergui Archipelago, we started with Seafan Forest, which was absolutely gorgeous, full of life, from Stone fish to school of Barracudas, Golden trevallies, yellow fin snappers etc...

During the dive we found a big ghost fishing net covering the East part of the reef. The 4 instructors onboard decided to go for an extra dive in between 2 dives and take it off! Ghost nets are not only ugly, they continue to kill fish which will never end in a plate and will just be wasted at the bottom of the ocean. 
Seafan forest is one of our favourite dive sites, we just cannot leave this net there. It was a 20 minutes work for our team of 4, but we managed to remove it all, and to set free a beautiful stone fish caught in the net! It was a great satisfaction for all of us. 

Congratulations to David, Liz, Tav and Schezo for becoming Nitrox divers, and thank you Jeff for coming back, year after year, for now 8 seasons!! 
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Happy New Year to all of you !

​During this special 7 days trip, we navigated to South twin where we spotted marbled rays, schools of trevallys, hawkbill turtle and lots of cuttle fishes!

​The next day we travelled to Black Rock where we expericenced strong currents. They brought us massives schools of big-eye trevallys, rainbow runners, barracudas and long-nose emperors.

ps: Franck, our regular cruise director and photographer was not onboard this week so I'm illustrating this post with underwater photos as well as the Whale video from previous cruises :)

Thailand still counts some of the best dive sites in the world...
North Andaman:

- Surin Islands
The Mu Koh Surin National  Park (Khura Buri) is a shining example of natural beauty hosting plethora of rare flora and fauna both on the land and at sea.
Well protected by their status of Thai national park (and by a UNESCO environmental program), the Mu Koh Surin Islands are comprised of two small islands, Koh Surin Nuea, and Koh Surin Tai. Surin NP's waters are home to one of the world’s most diverse of marine life: colourful tropical fishes are quite common, while butterfly fishes, morays, sharks and sea turtles can often be spotted by divers and snorkelers but the most famous visitor is surely the whale shark.

Our favorite dive sites in Surin islands National parks: 
* Richelieu Rock, in the East of Surin islands is for sure our favorite dive site in the National park and we have a whole webpage to talk about this infamous dive site: Richelieu Rock. Richelieu Rock, is always listed in the top 10 dive sites in the world! It can be described as a big aquarium with more or less everything from the whale shark to the seahorses...
* Koh Khai (Koh Torinla) in the south of Surin islands offer a nice drift dive and a lovely pinnacle.
* Koh Chi, in the the north of the Surin Islands is a perfect spot for a check dive with easy condition and shallow diving.
* Hin Rap, north of Surin Nua, is one of Surin's deepest dive sites. Boulders on the East side drop off to 25m!

- Similan Islands
The Similan archipelago consists of eleven islands, All the Islands are located in the Mu Koh Similan National Park, which covers over 140 square kilometers. This beautiful and vast marine national park is known to divers from all over the world. Lying 70km offshore from Phang-Nga Province, it has smooth granite islands that are as impressive above and below the turquoise Thai waters. The islands, topped with rainforest, are edged with blindingly white beaches and fringed by coral reefs.

Our favorite dive sites in Similan National parks: 
* Koh Bon, Koh bon is a well known cleaning site for Manta Rays and the site most frequented by them in Thailand. There is also a very good chance to spot a Zebra Shark on the pinnacle.
* Koh Tachai, Koh Bon (also known as Koh Talu) and Koh Tachai where added a little later to Similan NP and are today some of the best dive sites in the similans!
* West of Eden, West of Eden is northwest of Koh Hua Kalok (Island No. 7), next to another renowned Similan dive site named Deep Six. Open your eyes for the shy mantis shrimps, moray eels, yellow spotted pipefish and crowds of Durban shrimps.
* Elephant Head Rock, this dive site looks like the head of a giant elephant swimming towards you, this pinnacle is situated between Koh Hua Kalok and Koh Similan Similan (Islands #7 and #8) and you will see underwater a maze of granite boulders, channels and swim-throughs at depths between 12 to 30 m.

Malaysia has a rich and diverse marine biodiversity that makes it one of the most popular destinations in Asia for a diving trip. Off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia, you will have the choice between : 
* Tioman Island, you can find Tioman Island on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, South China Sea. It's a nature reserve, ringed by beaches. There, you can find fabulous dive sites, corals, sea fans and sea sponges, as well as shipwrecks...
Used as a navigation point and source of fresh water for weary fisherman, Tioman Island was used as a beacon for nautical exploration. Trading ships once used it as a port and it was even host to Japanese and British navies in WWII. In fact, you can even dive off the coast to see the remains of the HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales...
* The Perhentian Islands renowned for their magnificent dive spots. The Perhentian Islands are a small group of wonderful, coral-fringed islands off the coast of northeastern Malaysia in the state of Terengganu, near the Thai border. All this area belong to a protected marine park, which means that fishing, collecting coral and littering are strictly prohibited.

In eastern Malaysia, off Borneo, on the famous * Coral golden triangle, the diving sites are called Sipadan, Layang Layang, Mabul and Kapalai. The Coral Triangle (CT) is a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each region!

​The best spot is probably * Sipadan, a protected marine sanctuary for many species of sea turtles, sharks and schooling fish. Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 meters from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Sipadan has appealed as one of the top dive sites in the world. It has been highly sought after by divers for its array of possible sightings.​
Our advice : other destinations offer world-class diving spots and it's up to you to explore them.

True paradise on Earth, Indonesia has more than one hundred pretty awesome dive spots such as :   

* Raja Ampat, Raja Ampat is made up of four main islands, Waigeo in the north, Batanta and Salawati in the middle, Misool in the south. within the Coral Triangle, Raja Ampat is very rich environment for scuba diving. Healthy reefs grow strong and dense, home for an abundance of reef fish and large pelagic species. October to May is considered the best diving season for Raja Ampat when you'll find less rain, calmer seas, and better visibility. 
* The Komodo Islands, Its surrounding waters of seagrass beds, mangrove shrublands and coral reefs are famous dive sites... Located between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores in the East Nusatenggara province,  sits the vast and wonderful Komodo National Park... The marine environment in the Komodo National Park is one of the world’s richest in flora and fauna and is still relatively undiscovered.

​Divers, you should put them on you bucket list ! Especially if you love macro-fauna and big pelagic alike. Not to mention the magnificent landscapes of the Sonde archipelago and the encounter with the famous Komodo dragons when stepping foot on land. Subject to very strong currents that converge in all directions, this area is sometimes dangerous, so diving is only for experienced divers. 

What we think : Good mix between big and small critters but often quite hard to reach.

While (...and also probably because) Burma is not yet on the map for most divers, we think it truly is the best dive spot in Asia. A diver's paradise still very little known and explored there are 800 Islands in Mergui Archipelago and countless pinnacles to explore! Best visited from a liveaboard, it is a perfect playground for divers wishing to get off the beaten track. The beauty both above and below water makes every cruise here exhilarating. Several dives in Burma pass under the Islands offering a unique underwater panorama. 
Myanmar is a dream come true for Macro life lover with seahorses, harlequin shrimp, spanish dancers, frogfish, plenty of nudis and shrimps in every cracks! 
It is not uncommon to also spot pelagic with mantas rays and whale sharks roaming around.
What we like most? No need to share! In Burma, you are usually alone on every dive site! 

Our favorite dive sites in Burma: 
* Mergui archipelago, If you want the most unique Myanmar diving experience on the planet, then the Mergui Archipelago is the place for you. This off-the-beaten-path diving destination is made mostly from limestone (ensuring there are plenty of caves and tunnels) and a few granite pinnacles circled by a wide diversity of coral of every imaginable colour!
* Black Rock, the islet of Black Rock is a small rock in the middle of Myanmar's ocean. It provides a steep wall drop to over 100 meters, characterized by rugged boulder formations and fine soft coral. Its crystal clear waters offer 35-meter visibility, providing breath-taking views past the rock walls to the on-going procession of barracuda, tuna, mackerel, rays, reef sharks, whale sharks and eagle rays.
* Burma Banks, Sitting roughly 100 nautical miles (180km) west of Kawthaung, The Burma banks are enormous... When you reach the Burma Banks there won't be another boat or piece of land as far as the eye can see. The fact that it's so far off and exposed does make it so currents are often much stronger here but this creates the perfect conditions for encounters with massive pelagic animals and schools of thousands of fish. This is also quite a hot spot for nurse sharks and other rarer kinds of sharks and rays coming up from the depths.
Check here for more informations about all the exceptional Burma's dive sites​