Big Blue Khao Lak’s first Similan Liveaboard this Season, Manta Ray sighting at Koh Bon and our first impressions of the dive sites this season.
Big Blue Khao Lak are finally underway! Our speedboat still doesn’t start till November 10th but our Similan Liveaboard; The MV Hallelujah, left for its first voyage of the season on the 3rd November. The best news being that we have already had Manta Ray Sightings on our very first trip! This hopefully makes up for still not finding the Seahorse at Richelieu!
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First Similan Liveaboard of the 2014-15 Season
Leaving the pier for the first trip is always a great feeling. A few little nerves, a bit of relief that everything is finally ready, but mainly pure excitement! What are the Similans going to have in store for us this season?
One of the first surprises was a trip to our own private beach. It was a little bit wavy this trip. The Monsoon winds have not completely finished yet. This doesn’t pose much of a problem to the Hallelujah as it is a big stable boat. But we didn’t see a single speedboat for the entire trip. This made our Beach visits have a bit of the Tom Hanks ‘Castaway’ vibe.
Manta Ray at Koh Bon
The next surprise was very welcome. We had already heard of a few Manta Ray sightings from another Similan Liveaboard in the last few weeks. So we all had our fingers crossed. After having such an amazing season last year, this season has a lot to live up to. But this is definitely a very positive start.
We had a group of Instructors and Divemasters come over from Big Blue Koh Tao. All the photos we have are thanks to them. Thank you Big Blue Koh Tao! Because of the waves and surge, the visibility wasn’t the best. But luckily the Manta Ray seemed curious enough. The Koh Tao group in particular had a good 6-7 minutes with it. Let’s hope they are here all season!
First Impression of the Similan Islands 2014-15
For me a Similan Liveaboard is the best way to experience the Islands on the West coast of Thailand. It takes all the hassle out of diving. You wake up in the morning on a beautiful boat and you are already there. Equipment already set up, tanks already filled. All you need to do is jump in.
This makes it the best way to get an overall impression of how things might shape up this season. Overall, you’ll be happy to hear, things were great. If anything, there looked like there was more fish life on the reefs around the Similan’s and of course the previously mentioned Manta was a bonus. Still no sharks yet but hopefully that won’t be long.
First trip of the season is always a fun one trying to locate everything again. After not being here for 6 months it becomes a new challenge to locate all the special little creatures. We found a lot but it’s a work in progress. So come and join us for a Similan Liveaboard at Big Blue and explore all the islands for yourself.
