Yep, you read it right!

We saw a beautiful guitar fish in Surin Island on our last trip 1: Best of Thailand cruise.

It was a night dive and it passed on top of one dive group and next to the second one. We are so lucky!!!

Guitare fish in the Rhinobatis Genus, are a rare sight nowadays.

​Interesting facts about the Giant guitarfish:

In Latin, "Rhine" means "Shark" and "Batis" means "Ray",

Like Sharks:
- They have an elongated shark-shape and can reach 3 meters in lenght
- They swim with their shark-looking-dorsal-fin and tail rather than flipping their pectoral fins as most rays do.

Like Rays:
- they have Ray-like-wings and actually belong to the ray family.
- they are ovoviviparous (the embryo matures inside an egg inside the mother until it is ready to hatch and swim away).
- Their mouth is placed under their head and they feed on the seabed
- They like to burry themselves in the sand/ mud for camouflage

Unfortunately we couldn't get a good shot of this beauty so I'm sharing here a photo from the web, thank you Brian.

" A wonderful trip to the fantastic underwater world and dream beaches. "

" I highly recommend the Smiling Seahorse as well for the organisation, the quality of the benefits and the equipment; as for the kindness and the good mood of the staff, and the magic that will remain as the souvenir of this cruise. " 

Non fluent in Italian , sorry ;) But I understand " See you soon! "

" Thank you so much for taking such good care of me. The diving was great and the crew fantastic. "

" An incredible experience ... The fantastic staff, always attentive ... The dive guides are pros and great teachers. "

" What a disconnection!!! Alone in the world, far away from everything,  on dive sites full of life... Thanks for this much desired change of scenery. We won't be able to forget you anymore. "

" The dive sites were fabulous. The atmosphere on board great, amazing staff, no need to speak about the meals (hoping that I didn't gain too much weight ...) "

The MV Smiling Seahorse was back to the Burma on this last trip.
It was full moon but still the water was flat, and current made some dives fun and challenging ;)
On board, we were happy to welcome: Krista from USA; Marie, Ben, Florian, Yannick, Jean-Philippe, Julien, Evelyne and  Gérard from France; Claus from Germany; Claudio from Argentina; and Fausto and Alessandro from Italy. A good mix from all around the world who created a warm and happy atmosphere.

​Back to our favorite places, the landscapes were incredible ...

And the emerald waters, it looked like post cards scenes !

Underwater, the same pleasure for the eyes!

And an interesting topography ...

​So much life all around ;)

 
The first mantas were spotted on Black Rock but no picture for this time :(

Don't be disappointed, instead I have a pufferfish saga ;) 
​Aren't they the cutest things?

So many crabs ...

​Cowries of all colors and shapes ...

​Rainbow nudis and flat worms ...

​There was always this grumpy one  not happy to see us ;)

​In the seahorse and relatives family, we had some nice encouters ... Can you find the baby seahorse?

An awesome picture from a Zanzibar shrimp!

And the best one ... the pygmy squid!

Between the dives, some were visiting unexplored islands ...

​Kayaking ...

​Refreshing ...

​Having nice walks on endless white sand beaches ...

​Chasing the drone ...

​Reading ...

​Enjoying the view with Sharky ...

As you may have seen, the huge sofa is the master piece of the boat, great for chilling or looking at the incredible sunsets :)

Or simply enjoying a drink all together ...

And to finish, here are some great pictures of the moon !

" What is there to say? Nothing except everything is great! "

Our first review in Burmese, hope it's a good one ;)

" Will come back to enjoy more of the delicious food, hospitality and more amazing dive sites - next time in Burma! "

" I expect nothing ... and at least I got everything. I had the feeling and the comfort of a five-star-cruise with individual support, incredible food, and funny staff. "

​Still not fluent in German but the last one I understand it: " Thanks you for all! l come back for the Burma diving trip... "

" Franck, Camille and the whole crew of Smiling Seahorse welcome you with open arms and make sure you fell comfortable from the moment you step on the boat. "

" Amazing! What a delight to be lucky enough to join the new, beautiful Smiling Seahorse boat on its maiden voyage. "

" It goes too fast, I will be pleased to see you again for a next cruise! "

​Unfortunalety, I am not fluent in German anymore ... ;)

" Kidding aside, you've got a real gem here. The boat really feels like a labour of love, and the crew feels like a family, and that's special! "

" Super great voyage! We loved everything... We can't even think of anything we would change or add. "

For our first official trip of the season, we have been very lucky!
Our amazing boat sailed as an expert in the Burmese seas, the journey went smooth, the conditions were good and the weather was just fine ;)

On board, we welcomed: Jean-Paul, Remy and Sylvie from France; Hans and Pia from Germany; Dena and Yak from USA; Anne Kathrine, Benjamin, Mathias and Kristian from Denmark.

As our professional photographer is still on holidays ;) , I won't have any underwater pictures ...
But luckily, I have some great ones from our boat! So misters and misses, I am pleased to present you the fantastic MV Smiling Seahorse! 
Some outside shots:

From the inside, let's start with the Captain's cabin ...

And just to seduce you, here are some appealing snapshots of our Master Cabins, queen size bed, private bathroom and windows all around ...

The sundeck, the best place to chill during the day and look at the stars at night.

Book your hammock because they are already busy with the staff ;)

​Talking about the staff ... Let me introduce you to the team!
Let's start with the one without whom there wouldn't be any bookings at all.
Camille is one of the owners of the Smiling Seahorse, in charge of the office, she is French and mother of two babies.

Franck is "the Boss" on the boat, second owner of the company. He is Camille's husband and father of the two smallies. He is also an amazing underwater photographer.

Then, the soul of the boat, the Thaï staff. Starting with the one without whom we wouldn't be able to go anywhere ... the Captain! He has been with us for the two last years, he is the man who never sleeps.

​​Then the one who has been with Franck and Camille forever ... the one customers come back for and several times ... Chewy the cook!

It is a hard job to please the taste buds of everybody, with eighteen customers on board and different diets ... he needed an helper, so Youb joined us two years ago.

The second hand of "the Boss", he can do everything with nothing, he is the engineer, the dinghy driver, to sum up the handyman! His name is May and he has been with us for four years already.

Because May is in charge of a lot of things, he needed a helper also. Last year, Toho came by. He is also a welder, useful on a steel boat ;)

He has been the mascot of the Smiling Seahorse for several years, he cannot stop smiling! In charge of preparing the cabins, keeping the boat clean, helping the people to exit the water, filling the tanks ... His name is Pouy!

Because Pouy has a lot of tasks, he also needed help. He is the last one joining the team, but he already has a strong experience in liveaboards. His name is Pam!

For the guides, let's introduce the only non-french one, he comes from Denmark and has been diving in the Mergui waters with us for a few years ... he is Tom!

The only woman on board, it is her third season with us ... Living and working in Thailand for four years, her name is Sofi!

And the newcomer in our team, coming from the other side of Thailand, he has a lot of experience with beginners, his name is Matthieu!

Another newcomer, our new Mascot ... Sharky! He is getting familiar with the boat and everybody loves him already ;)

All focused on our guests satisfaction! And we have been pretty good until now ;) Look at those faces!

​Hoping to welcome you on board soon!

We had to try our new boat, so we decided to do a "test cruise" in the Surin islands and Richelieu Rock...
We were so happy to welcome our first customers on board: Marco, Rico, Jialan, Justin, Patrick, Marc and Meredith.

The boat was all shiny, with huge spaces ;)
A gigantic sofa to chill and look at the sunsets ...

A fantastic sundeck with hammocks, good for the afternoon naps ;)

A dive deck so large that you could loose your buddy ;)

Underwater, our famous photographer was not on duty, still we borrowed a few pictures from our customers;
The visibility was great and the schools of fishes everywhere ...
​Jacks, emperors, barracudas ...

Smaller size but as impressive!

Cuttlefishes were mating, what an amazing show!​

And some other nice encounters ...

We had our famous barbecue night with a bunch of happy people! Followed by a little party on our new dance floor ;)

Hope to see you soon ;)

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...  :)

From the side, you can see the wooden cabin doors with on the main deck 4 Deluxe cabins and 2 master cabins, and up the stairs, the standard cabins and Dive master cabins. All our cabins will be air conditioned with large windows and doors toward the ocean. Deluxe and Master cabins also have their own ensuite bathrooms :)

The shading area on the roof-top (sun deck) still under construction

A huge sundeck with plenty of shade (and sun), hamac and mattresses. What a spot to enjoy the view!

A large and confortable dinning/chilling area, with power sockets all around, fans, sound system a lovely couch area at the back, 2 bars (bar stool still not installed) 

And seen fromt he other side, you can see the buffet area and the stairs going up to the rooftop sundeck and on both sides, corridors to the standard cabins.

Deluxe and Standard cabin have a smart convertible bed system: it can either be set up as a queen size double bed or single bunk beds, you can see the tile of the bathroom on the bottom right corner (this is the ensuite bathrooms in the Deluxe cabins).
​The bathrooms are not finished yet, so no pictures so far...

Because diving is what we do, we designed a large and functional diving area, and a spacious dive platform. Everyone will have storage area for their personal gear big and small with an additional room for the photographers!

A big improvement with this room special dedicated to photographers! my fav ;)
​... still a little tidying up to do but mostly done :) 

We will have 16,000L of fresh water, which is 4 times more than on our beloved MV ThaiSea. Now we will be able to extend our trips by a few days! :)

And in the engine room: 2 super engines and 2 generators we give us a cruising speed of 10knots and the power to run 2 compressors and all A/C units at the same time...

The Captain cabin: modern and spacious with two berth for our dear Captain and Mechanic

I'm sure you can recognize May! ;)

The Dive Masters cabin, more spacious and confortable than our legendary chicken cabins... lol and downstairs a large staff quarter with 3 cabins for the rest of our dream team.

We are looking forward to have you back onboard for some new underwater adventures!

Wanna come back soon?
We offer 10% discount on the first cruise of the season: be one of the first on MV Smiling Seahorse: trip 3 from 26th to 31st of October! Get in touch!

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...