|
|
The Similans & Koh Tarutao Liveabaords, Thailand, April 2006 (a short summary from Hebrew) to Koh Tarutao  It defiantly was a great trip, three weeks in Thailand that were mainly dedicated to diving.Between dives I had a chance to have a short visit to Bangkok, to spend a relaxed week in Coral Island (Koh Hey) and to spend a couple of days in Koh Samui.  The view from my room @ Coral Island, south of Phuket The Similans' Liveabaord I was aiming to get to the Similans in April to have better chances of seeing a whale shark and mantas, but luck sometimes doesn't work that well.. But still, a great liveaboard trip on a great boat, the Mermaid1. Mermaid 1 This boat is a real spoil.. 28 meters long, big and spacious cabins, large dining room, a huge sun deck and spacious diving platform, and one of the most important features: a coffee machine with coffee beans freshly grinded for each cup.. This boat has quite an expensive price tag: an average of $US 1000 for a four days trip. You do the math, but I loved it, though you could get a great liveaboard trip to the Similans in half of the price on a less luxurious boat. The boat's route for the Similans leaves either from Phuket to Ranong or vice versa. We embarked in Phuket and made our way north to Ranong, on the border of Burma. After that the boat was heading to its Burma trip.  The Similans' liveaboard route The Dive Sites of the Similans The good thing was that the 2005 tsunami didn't leave much destruction, at least to the sites that we dived in. The bad thing is, though it was "the best time of the year to see whale sharks and mantas", there where none, except for one majestic manta in Koh Bon. Altogether the Similans offer very nice dives, especially if the timing is good and you're lucky to see big pelagic animals, but don't set your expectations high: it's not as wild as one could imagine. Enjoy the dives for what they worth (and they do worth), enjoy the under water and the above water scenery: it's quite special and out of the ordinary, at least for me. There's a lot of info on the internet about the dive sites, so I will only recommend the most great dives that I had during this trip: Anita's Reef A shallow site for our check dive with huge granite boulders. Light currents and water temperature of 30° (throughout the trip).  Anita's Reef Elephant Head Rock Beautiful dive between huge boulders, lots of soft corals and big fans, big schools of glass fish and lots of anemones.  A turtle that has been fed with bananas by the staff Breakfast Bend Beautiful reef dive with lots of hard corals.  Koh Bon Well, the only site where we saw a manta.. it took a while but after 30 minutes in the water, she came..  Manta Ray at Koh Bon Richelieu Rock As most people would tell you: the best site to encounter whale sharks in Thailand. We were not as lucky as we hoped we would be, but still amazing two dives! Lots of macro creatures (sea horses, ghost pipe fish, crabs), huge amount of soft corals, sea stars, schools of barracudas, anemones everywhere! Simply a great site, to my opinion the best in this trip.  Reefscape at Richelieu Rock Between dives there is time to go to some islands in the Similans marine park. The view is great, like a snapshot of a post card.  The view above water in the Similans Useful Links: The Mermaid 1  topKoh Tarutao's Liveabaord to The Similans ...While I was planning my trip to the Similans, Adam Preston, a scuba diving instructor from Samui, has offered me to go with him on a 'rustic' live aboard to the Koh Tarutao marine park in the south of Thailand, near the border of Malaysia... It has been a long journey from Samui to Satun, a sea side town in the south of Thailand. Eventually we arrived there after 12 hours and embarked the boat. It was a dark night, without a moon light, so little did we know of how 'rustic' this boat is.. While on the boat, we realized that the boat is too small for 6 guests and 5 crew members. It wasn't really small, it was tiny. There was one sleeping cabin that was full with the dive masters' junk, small toilets w/o running water, shower on the diving deck, and a small dive platform, in a nutshell: a diver's prison cell. We managed to sleep on the upper deck (which is also the dining deck) with only thin mattress that the crew gave us, and tried to get some sleep..  Map of Koh Tarutao's trip The dawn of day 1... Tropical rain wakes us up to realize that this boat is not suitable for us. Luckily, most of the dive sites are only one hour away from Koh Lipe.  Koh Lipe's beautiful beach In the early morning of day one, we've found ourselves wondering around on Koh Lipe's beautiful beach to find an available guesthouse. This solution was good for us: Using the boat as a daily boat, while spending the evenings and nights on shore. At noon we had our first plunged in the water. Time was very valuable to me: out of 4 days of this live aboard, I had only 3 days of diving, on the 4th day I had my flight back to Israel. The boat we were on was managed by Kevin who works for Reefwatch Worldwide, an organization that monitors the development of reefs, specially in the south-east asia area. Working with Kevin: Niles the DM (from Denmark), Su the cook, Dem the dingi guy/tank boy (he was great!) and the captain. The dive sites of Koh Tarutao When I was planning this trip, I was looking for some information on the web regarding the dive sites in this area. Basically, I've found none, only that a dive site called "8 Mile Rock" is worth diving. Also on the Similans' liveaboard I tried to get some information from the local dive masters: no one of them ever been there, they just heard of it. One told me that the most important thing is to verify that the trip is not during a full moon, this could cause strong currents and tides. If you plan to go diving in the Koh Tarutao marine park, you'll probably be the only divers there! This area is still not developed as the rest of Thailand: no diving boats, no liveaboards, no dive shops, no hotels... In some sites there are evidences of long time dynamite fishing and use of traps, but these already been covered with corals. I had a chance to be there while it's still quite virgin. I know that in years to come, this marine park could be the next 'Similans' (in a bad way). The most 'crowded' site was "7 Colour Rock" where we dived with two other snorklers coming on a long tail boat from Koh Lipe. I also had a chance to do my very first solo diving there: only me and the nature surrounding me, almost a mystic experience. There are two sites that are a 'must see': 8 Mile Rock & 7 Colour Rock. The rest of the sites offer some beautiful reef diving, but by far these two sites I've mentioned are superb. 8 Mile Rock A massive rock that emerging to the depth of 18 meters. Very strong currents while ascending and descending, and with the currents came the big open water animals: a school of 7 Devil Rays and 2 Leopard Sharks.  Leopard Shark at 8 Mile Rock 7 Colour Rock A shallow dive site (max depth 11m) which has a massive soft corals formations. The soft corals are everywhere you look, dense and colourful. The abundance has a 'wow' factor to it, absolutely marvelous! Reef fish and macro creatures as well.  Abundance of soft corals @ 7 Colour Rock Other dive sites The rest of the dive sites were near Koh Butang. Koh Butang is one of the main islands near koh Lipe and it has some small islands around it. The diving sites that have no name yet(!), were in the reefs of those small islands, sometimes in the channels between them. At the time of month when I did my diving there, there were no currents and not too many reef fish. There were lots of Crown of Thorns sea stars (far too many), cuttlefish, big formation of hard corals and some nice macro stuff. I was lucky enough to spot a Jewel Box urchin, which is one of the small creatures I was hoping to find in this area.  Jewel Box urchin Altogether this trip was great, though it wasn't as spoiling as the luxury liveaboard to the Similans (to say the least...). The scenery both underwater and above was new and beautiful. Dozens of small islands covered with rain forests and untouched pristine beaches, and by 'untouched' I really mean that. Useful Links: Rainbow-Scuba (Adam Preston's web site) The Koh Lipe dive sites (from: asiadivesite.com)  top |
| © 2002-2012 www.escapedia.com |