Trip 031 Similan Islands

Trip 31 has successfully returned back to land and what a fantastic trip it was with some old friends returning for more Andaman fun and some new friends made too :)

Kicking off proceedings we had a relatively smooth departure night with some delicious food and flat seas taking us out to the Similan Islands.

Day one and West of Eden gave us a taste of things to come with a lovely drift along to Deep Six. Hideaway Bay did not live up to its name with a Southerly Storm coming in and throwing us around a little, but we escaped it with a great dive on the Tuna Wreck. A white tip reef shark marked the first special sighting of the trip at a very pleasant North Point with also a sea snake and a Jenkin’s whip ray. After the beach visit we rounded things up for the day we hit Turtle Rock and saw a hawksbill turtle and a baby juvenile sweetlips before devouring our steak and heading off to bed.

Three Trees was our destination for dive one on day two and a quick visit to the sponge followed by a drift along Breakfast Bend. Then to Koh Bon with a very challenging West Ridge giving us down current but another white tip sighting for some groups. Then things turned up a notch. Koh Tachai gave us some very strong and challenging conditions but an epic dive with lots of hunting action and a monster of a great barracuda. For dive four the conditions had calmed significantly with the tide going slack and we had a much more relaxing splash before a very memorable sunset and beers on the roof and yet another spectacular meal.

Richelieu Rock’s morning dive was a fantastic start to the day with super clear visibility and lots of fish action. Conditions became a little more challenging as the day progressed but still epic diving. The cheesecake nudibranch and a snowflake eel being the pick of the sightings along with the usual suspects including the ornate ghost pipefish and the seahorse. Aow Pakkad rounded off the day with a lovely drift along the reef and some Kuhl’s rays, a hawksbill turtle and a black tip reef shark spotted.

And so after a very steady cruise back south we woke up to a stormy Koh Bon but had two very pleasant dives around the island to round things up, with some groups getting a visit from the barracuda, and some awesome Octopus encounters too.

Thanks to all our crew members for making this trip possible, congratulations to the new advanced diver and to the nitrox divers and finally thanks to you our lovely customers for making this trip a real pleasure to lead. We hope to welcome you all back again soon!