Trip 014 Similan Islands

Trip 14 has returned to land and what a resounding success! Multiple special sightings throughout the trip, some lovely company and mostly favourable conditions made this a trip to remember.

Some taxis were slightly delayed so departure night was a little upside down, we appreciated your patience with this but we eventually managed to put Thap Lamu to our stern and head out to the Similan Islands for some epic diving and little did we know just how epic it would be.

Hideaway Bay delivered the goods on Day One giving us a marble ray (for those who were paying attention) and some lovely dives at West of Eden and Three Trees followed by a sunset splash at Snapper Alley which was perfectly timed for that terrific storm to descend upon us while we were in the water. With everybody back on the boat and unscathed we were fed and beers were consumed in anticipation of the following days events…

Day Two and North Point was its usual lovely rocky wonder, and delivered a Shovel Nose Ray (yes, Guitar Shark sounds cooler) and some awesome schooling Barracuda. Off to Koh Bon and we descended to find many poised divers sitting over the top of the ridge which meant only one thing- Manta Rays! We’ve recognised that it was two individuals and what an awesome experience for everyone who got a glimpse of these incredible creatures. We decided to do another dive at Koh Bon to beat the crowds and although the Mantas weren’t there, we had a lovely dive with streams of fish and lots of cool sightings including Octopus and Sea Snakes. The last dive of the day at Koh Tachai Pinnacle was also truly breathtaking with a seemingly impossible biomass of fish teeming around the dive site. Day 2 was definitely a day to remember!

After a night of sailing through the winds and waves of the Andaman Sea we hit Aow Pakad for dive one and had a lovely morning SCUBA-stroll over a pristine coral reef. While the waves settled we dropped on Turtle Ledge to find some lovely cuttle fish and the tiniest baby turtle you’re ever likely to see on a reef (this was the highlight of my day). Then we headed out to a much calmer Richelieu Rock for two nice (but a little busy) dives seeing some new things including a Frog Fish and some epic hunting action.

On the morning of day four we planned to do dive one on Koh Bon Pinnacle and finish the trip in the bay but after seeing 4 boats on the pinnacle and none on the ridge we switched the dives and got the ridge to ourselves, with some more sea snake action and an octopus, then descended on the Pinnacle for what I can honestly say was one of my favourite ever dives. An imperceptibly large school of batfish, masses of fusilier and some big tuna and barracuda were all over the pinnacle. This was truly a sensational dive and a fitting way to end an epic trip.

Thanks to all our lovely guests for making this trip such a pleasure to have been a part of. Congratulations to those who completed courses too – keep diving and keep practicing. We hope to see you all again soon!