At first sight,  we could think that yoga and diving are two completely different activities with nothing in common.
But if we look further ... while diving, the deeper we go, the more we disconnect from our everyday life, from the  world, from space and time, from problems, from bad energy in general ... isn't it the same with yoga?
From this perspective, we can see that combining their practice has a beneficial impact on both.

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​

Here are a few reason why you should avoid drinking alcohol and scuba dive


1. You're risking Decompression sickness

You get more nitrogen in your system: Through an increase in peripheral circulation

Because alcohol increase blood flow, you could be absorbing 

You get rid of it slower: Through dehydration
How funny that while being in water, dehydration is probably the number one risk factor for DCS and is already a problem for divers who did not consume alcohol: the pressure, the cold and the tight suit make you want to pee all the time! -> you’re losing liquid= dehydration
Alcohol has diuretic properties (makes you urinate even more) 
Haven’t you wondered why pub’s toilets are always packed?
Hence you pee twice more and get dehydrated twice more.
Your blood is thicker, its circulation slower and the elimination of nitrogen bubbles altered.
That’s also why you should not drink too much alcohol even after dives as you are in the process of getting the nitrogen out of your system.

What should you do to stay hydrated?

When you go diving: before and after a dive, especially when you are on a liveaboard trip and do several days of diving, Drink plenty of water before feeling thirsty.
Attention: Drinking coffee, tea or sodas (or beer!) are not as good as drinking water.
It has been said that ideally we should drink one liter of water after every dive.
Eating yogourts, fruits and vegtables rich in water helps you fight dehydration as well as food rich in potassium such as bananas.
It is recommended to stop drinking alcohol (moderately) at least 8 hours before your next dive.
Avoid doing sport or sun bathing after the dives as they also make you more dehydrated.

2. you get cold faster

For a diver, body heat loss is of significant concern. This is because in water, the body loses heat 25 times faster than in air. Alcohol is known to be a peripheral vasodilator; it makes blood vessels to widen more than usual.  As blood flows into the dilated vessels, it withdraws heat from the core to surface of the body; although this may bring about a flush of warm feeling, it is short-lived and predisposes the body to hypothermia. Research conducted recently out of Canada indicate that nitrogen narcosis is responsible for delay in shiver response, an important indicator of a considerable heat loss from the body, alcohol is also known to depress the response; complicating the heat loss problem further.

3. Drunken effect of alcohol and depth combine: you're losing it

The danger imposed here is that, a diver may be unable to deal with an emergency, something which may land the diver into an accident.
Have you heard of the “martini’s law”? It states that every 15 meters a diver descends is equivalent in effect to drinking a glass of Martini. And of course both alcohol and nitrogen narcosis combine.

More Safety advice for divers?

Apparently 1 person out of 300 Million get attacked by a shark, wow! I made some further research and apparently, you have more odds to become president of the United States (1/10 million) or to win an Olympic medal (1/655,000). Girls and guys might feel relieved to read that your odds are a lot more favorable to marry a millionaire (1/220) or even date a super model (88,200 to 1).

You actually are a lot more likely to die from an asteroid falling on your house (20,000 to 1), from some parts falling out of a plane (1/10 millions) and there are 15 times more causalities by falling coconuts than by sharks.

About 400 people per year get struck by lightning and 900 deaths a year involves either a hippo, a deer, a dog, an elephant or ants as opposed to 5 deaths from shark jaws. Furthermore, most shark attacks are at the surface as the sharks might take a swimmer, surfer, kayaker and the like, for a more usual and tastier prey.  So diving underwater with them is even less risky than going to the beach. Furthermore, since shark attacked are recorder (1820) there has not been ONE diver attacked by a shark in Thailand nor Burma!!! Click this link for more statistics.

Environment protection:
Sharks are extremely important for the equilibrium of our oceans, they have roamed our oceans since before the time of dinosaurs, but their long reign at the top of the ocean food chain may be ending. Up to 73 million sharks are killed every year to primarily support the global shark fin industry, valued for the Asian delicacy shark fin soup. If you want to help Shark preservation, in addition to boycotting fin soups, visit PEW or Project Aware.

Hope you feel safer in the Oceans... See you soon!