Manta
Fantastic encounter with one of our favourite creature during the last trip!
We were alone with them in Koh Bon pinnacle, and then they joined us again in Koh Tachai :)
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Fantastic encounter with one of our favourite creature during the last trip! We were alone with them in Koh Bon pinnacle, and then they joined us again in Koh Tachai :)  Whale shark What a wonderful trip we had in Thailand a couple of days ago! Our customers have been blessed ... not surprised to see their smiles on the group picture on the boat ...  This trip to Thailand has been a bliss! Four days in the Surin, Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock, with a bunch of fun people from all over the world. We were very pleased to welcome on board: Fabrice, Marie, Sophie, Olivier, Jeremie, Thierry and Florence from France; Julien, Kamilla and Peter from Australia; Wolfgang from Germany; Jesper from Denmark and Lynn from the USA. Lots of laughing and diving would be the best resume for it! Look at those smiling and charming faces ;) " Where to start? Top team! Top organization! Top boat! Top food! And of course top dives!"  "Thank you for two fantastic and fun trips. Taking my whale shark, eagle ray, manta ray and harlequin shrimp virginity was nice ;)" 
The Andaman see is home to many cephalopods such as octopus, squid and cuttlefish... If you come dive with us it's pretty much a guaranteed sighting!
Big reef octopus, (Octopus cyanea) a diurne specie with an amazing camouflage ability.
Theses 2 pictures were taken only few seconds apart. The Octopus can change not only it's color but also it's skin texture in the blink of an eye!
During the mating season you can have a chance to see more than one at a time, otherwise it's a rather solitary specie.
Mating season for cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) is from November to January, and it's very frequent to witness some kinky business while diving :)
Often seen in pairs, they are actually 3 or even 4 when mating...
While their best way to defend themselves is to blend in, they can also spray a cloud of ink to surprise it's predator and escape...
Solitary male when not mating... 
The pygmy squid, (Idiosepius paradoxus) hard to see due to its micro size (about 5mm) lives on coral reef and are to be seen at night, hanging on corals or floating away with the current.
The pelagic kind of squid , hanging in mid water. They can team up in order to hunt cooperatively, using active communication!
Always in group from small to big schools, they are an easy catch for the local fishermen, still using the lamparo that attract them close to the surface...
" 2 croisières incroyables avec the Smiling Seahorse! Tout est parfait ... plongées inoubliables en Birmanie et en Thaïlande!!! Mantas, requins baleines, requin léopard, requin guitare ... le TOP!! " " 2 incredible cruises with the Smiling Seahorse! Everything is perfect ... unforgettable dives in Burma and Thailand!!! Mantas, whale sharks, leopard shark, guitar shark ... the TOP!! "  " Croisière de 3 jours géniale! Equipe extraordinaire, repas excellents ... Et beaucoup de poissons: raie, requins baleine, requins pointe noire ... N'hésitez pas, c'est vraiment exceptionnel! " " Amazing 3 days cruise! Great team, excellent food ... And a lot of fishes: ray, whale sharks, black tip sharks ... Don't hesitate, that's really exceptional! "  " Tout était parfait: les sites de plongée, les guides, l'ambiance, la nourriture, le comfort ... Et la cerise sur le gateau: le requin baleine à Richelieu !!! " " Everything was perfect: the dive sites, the guides, the atmosphere, the food, the comfort ... And the cherry on the top: the whale shark at Richelieu !!! "   " Not fluent in Finnish ... sorry! But looks good, NO?!!! "   Right after celebrating Songkran, the Thaï New Year, we headed to the the Surin and Similan islands for our last trip in Thailand of the season. On board, we welcomed very soon to be "spoiled customers" ;) Starting with Mélanie, Max, Geoffrey and Isabelle from Belgium; Christophe, Bénédicte, Mathis and Christelle from France; JP and Henriikka from Finland. The conditions were great, amazing visibility, low current and lots of life all around. From day one in Surin, we have been lucky enough to spot black tips, lots of Kuhl's rays, ghost pipefishes, turtles ... and so much more!    Day two, in the morning, we went to Koh Bon, where the serious stuff started ;) Beginning with nice sceneries and big schools of fishes ...     ... to a guitar and a leopard shark ... Unfortunately, we don't have any picture of the first one. But enjoy the second one ;)   Paragraph. Cliquer ici pour modifier.  And then, it was time for Koh Tachai and its beautiful corals! On the way, we met a group of dolphins at the surface.  Look at this splendid colors!      Happy divers!   Back to the boat, it was barbecue night!  And a box game, we will remember! Third day, cherry on the top: Richelieu Rock!     And last but not least ... the biggies, everyone was expecting to see!!!          It has been a great start of a season in Thailand. A fantastic group of French, Chinese and Italian people. The weather was great, the water crystal clear and the atmosphere on the boat was explosive ... all conditions were combined to make this trip unforgettable! Surin and Similan Islands, Richelieu Rock ... Marbled rays, white and black tip sharks, leopard shark, turtles, massive napoleon wrasses, octopuses, mantis shrimps, seasnakes, massive schools of barracudas and trevallies ... We couldn't stop looking everywhere! At the end of each dive, big smiles in everybody's face :) Thanks to Shen, Hao, Yiwen, Philippe, Gwen, Ben and Patrizia to have shared this first trip with us, the first one is always special! Congratulations to Hao and Yiwen for achieving their adventure deep dive, "Team China" left the trip with such a great level! Congratulations also to Ben and Patrizia for their Nitrox certification! Ben and Gwen are continuing the adventure with us on the next trip to Burma. We hope to see you again soon ... And don't forget: "Are you ready?"!!!!! Say cheese!!! |
The Smiling Seahorse Blog
AuthorsThe Smiling Seahorse has been running dive cruises from Ranong since 2012.
Our team of instructors: Elween, Julien and Simon are reporting with a short blogpost after every trip. Keep tuned for more fishy stories :) Want to receive the next articles via email?
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