JonnieB
Contributor
Snap Similans Report
January 2006 Phuket, Thailand
Keywords: SCUBA Diving, Thailand, Similan Islands, Live-Aboard, Andaman Dancer II
The following is a short report on my recent liveaboard dive-trip to the Similan islands. We were a single group of intermediate and advanced divers both Thais and foreign expatriates resident in Thailand. We left from Tab Lamu (on the Thai mainland about 1 hour north of Phuket) and sailed to the Similan islands and Ko Bon and then returned to Tab Lamu. I dived 10 times during the 5 day trip. No diving was done at Ko Tachai or Richelieu Rock.
General Diving Conditions
Being its January, the weather conditions were not what I would call ideal. There was no rain or storm activity but most days had partly sunny skies, with scattered, and sometimes heavy, cloud cover. This reduced UW lighting and visibility to some extent and also took away the often bright and pretty UW vistas common to the Similans. Currents were minimal to moderate (where expected) and visibility was from 15m-25m. Water temperature at all sites was a constant 28°-29° Celsius. Diving was done to 30 meters at some sites and no thermoclines were encountered.
I have to say the marine life seen was unexceptional. In general, the sites seemed curiously devoid of the prolific fish life the area is known for and that I have seen in past years. [This was my 4th Similans liveaboard in 3 years, the last being in April 2005 (4 months post-tsunami).] All the sites had a smattering of the usual reef suspects but not much more. Few large schools of colourful fish (fusiliers, snappers, etc) were seen, although one decent sized barracuda tornado was observed. Several banded sea-snakes, a few morays, the odd mantis shrimp, and a single small hawksbill turtle were recorded in my dive-log. There areas famous prolific soft coral growth was also much less in evidence.
The Divesites
East Of Eden: Dived two times - generally considered one of the premiere Similans sites. Vis was recorded at 15-20 meters. Notables included a large giant moray and many large angelfish, including Emperor and Regal varieties, as well as striped-face unicorn fish.
West of Eden: Napoleon wrasse and many colourful gobies at around 10 meters, including Red-fire and Black-fin gobies.
Boulder City: A deep sandy site with massive boulder formations, similar to Elephant-head Rock. Good vis at 20-25 meters. Site known for leopard sharks but alas didnt see any. Some open-water pelagics seen, including tuna, blue-fin trevelly, and the afore mentioned school of barracuda.
Deep 6: Again large boulders on a deep sandy bottom. Log-book notes this is where the Hawksbill turtle was seen.
Honeymoon Bay/Shipwreck: While I have dived the inner area of Honeymoon Bay before, this was my first time to the shipwreck located on the perimeter of the Bay. This is a fairly deep dive, with the large intact freighter lying on its side starting at about 30 meters. It appeared to be around 50-60 meters in length and was quite an impressive sight... lying in non-turbid waters making for an easy approach and inspection. There are swim-throughs present. The usual wreck-accompanying batfish were about, along with some lionfish and a moray. I didnt get much information on this wrecks history so maybe someone with more knowledge about it can post a reply. On the dive back from the wreck, there is a very impressive long wall of lettuce/cabbage hard coral, wherein some large groupers and a sea-snake were observed.
Elephant Head Rock: Another signature site at the Similans, but this time, not so impressive. Visibility was somewhat lower than at other visits at 12-15 meters and in any case, there was not much of interest to see. My log-book mentions nothing in particular except that the site seemed washed-out.
Rocky Point Island #9: No currents and vis at 15-20 meters. No prolific fish life but a Day octopus was seen. One interesting site was a rather large common scorpion fish walking along the sandy bottom by way of its pectoral fins. It seemed quite intent on getting from one rocky mount to another without having to put any effort into finning. This was a fairly deep sandy bottom site, ideal for some rays or sharks but again, none were seen.
Ko Bon: Two dives were done here, there were no currents, except around the point, where they are always present. Again I noted the relative dearth of marine life compared to previous years/visits. The deep sandy bottom off to the side of the wall is usually good for a shark sighting, and if one is really lucky possibly a whale shark or manta ray. There was to be no such luck this trip. The reef wall itself and the reef around the point are usually good for turtles too but none were seen. A couple morays, lionfish, sea-snakes, and a lobster had to suffice.
Conclusion
In general, all the sites visited seemed to have much less numbers and variety of marine life than on prior visits before the tsunami I use the term washed-out to describe them. I dont know if this has something to do with the after effects of the Great 2005 Tsunami or not. I know others have posted glowing recent reports on the Similans but my experience on this trip, and the one last April, is that possibly much of the local marine life was either washed away or washed ashore and has yet to make much of a recovery. Additional comment from those who have recently dived the Similans would be most interesting.
In fact, I would go so far as to advise those considering a Similans liveaboard trip to possibly consider other alternatives. There are many areas in SE Asia with great diving that were not in any way effected by the tsunami (Sipadan, Bali, Bunaken/Lembeh, and the Philippines to name a few), whereas the Similians were more or less directly in the path of one of its strongest radiating waves the one that devastated the Kao Lak coastline of Thailand just east of the Similans. These are strong words and as much as I want to support the Thai diving industry I also want readers of this forum, and those contemplating an expensive dive trip to the Similans, to have the benefit of some objective observations of current conditions there. Its possible that mine views are a minority opinion or that maybe I just had bad fish luck on this trip (but at every site/dive on both this trip and last Aprils...seems to be a pattern).
In any case, from reading this report and those of others, readers can draw their own conclusions.
January 2006 Phuket, Thailand
Keywords: SCUBA Diving, Thailand, Similan Islands, Live-Aboard, Andaman Dancer II
The following is a short report on my recent liveaboard dive-trip to the Similan islands. We were a single group of intermediate and advanced divers both Thais and foreign expatriates resident in Thailand. We left from Tab Lamu (on the Thai mainland about 1 hour north of Phuket) and sailed to the Similan islands and Ko Bon and then returned to Tab Lamu. I dived 10 times during the 5 day trip. No diving was done at Ko Tachai or Richelieu Rock.
General Diving Conditions
Being its January, the weather conditions were not what I would call ideal. There was no rain or storm activity but most days had partly sunny skies, with scattered, and sometimes heavy, cloud cover. This reduced UW lighting and visibility to some extent and also took away the often bright and pretty UW vistas common to the Similans. Currents were minimal to moderate (where expected) and visibility was from 15m-25m. Water temperature at all sites was a constant 28°-29° Celsius. Diving was done to 30 meters at some sites and no thermoclines were encountered.
I have to say the marine life seen was unexceptional. In general, the sites seemed curiously devoid of the prolific fish life the area is known for and that I have seen in past years. [This was my 4th Similans liveaboard in 3 years, the last being in April 2005 (4 months post-tsunami).] All the sites had a smattering of the usual reef suspects but not much more. Few large schools of colourful fish (fusiliers, snappers, etc) were seen, although one decent sized barracuda tornado was observed. Several banded sea-snakes, a few morays, the odd mantis shrimp, and a single small hawksbill turtle were recorded in my dive-log. There areas famous prolific soft coral growth was also much less in evidence.
The Divesites
East Of Eden: Dived two times - generally considered one of the premiere Similans sites. Vis was recorded at 15-20 meters. Notables included a large giant moray and many large angelfish, including Emperor and Regal varieties, as well as striped-face unicorn fish.
West of Eden: Napoleon wrasse and many colourful gobies at around 10 meters, including Red-fire and Black-fin gobies.
Boulder City: A deep sandy site with massive boulder formations, similar to Elephant-head Rock. Good vis at 20-25 meters. Site known for leopard sharks but alas didnt see any. Some open-water pelagics seen, including tuna, blue-fin trevelly, and the afore mentioned school of barracuda.
Deep 6: Again large boulders on a deep sandy bottom. Log-book notes this is where the Hawksbill turtle was seen.
Honeymoon Bay/Shipwreck: While I have dived the inner area of Honeymoon Bay before, this was my first time to the shipwreck located on the perimeter of the Bay. This is a fairly deep dive, with the large intact freighter lying on its side starting at about 30 meters. It appeared to be around 50-60 meters in length and was quite an impressive sight... lying in non-turbid waters making for an easy approach and inspection. There are swim-throughs present. The usual wreck-accompanying batfish were about, along with some lionfish and a moray. I didnt get much information on this wrecks history so maybe someone with more knowledge about it can post a reply. On the dive back from the wreck, there is a very impressive long wall of lettuce/cabbage hard coral, wherein some large groupers and a sea-snake were observed.
Elephant Head Rock: Another signature site at the Similans, but this time, not so impressive. Visibility was somewhat lower than at other visits at 12-15 meters and in any case, there was not much of interest to see. My log-book mentions nothing in particular except that the site seemed washed-out.
Rocky Point Island #9: No currents and vis at 15-20 meters. No prolific fish life but a Day octopus was seen. One interesting site was a rather large common scorpion fish walking along the sandy bottom by way of its pectoral fins. It seemed quite intent on getting from one rocky mount to another without having to put any effort into finning. This was a fairly deep sandy bottom site, ideal for some rays or sharks but again, none were seen.
Ko Bon: Two dives were done here, there were no currents, except around the point, where they are always present. Again I noted the relative dearth of marine life compared to previous years/visits. The deep sandy bottom off to the side of the wall is usually good for a shark sighting, and if one is really lucky possibly a whale shark or manta ray. There was to be no such luck this trip. The reef wall itself and the reef around the point are usually good for turtles too but none were seen. A couple morays, lionfish, sea-snakes, and a lobster had to suffice.
Conclusion
In general, all the sites visited seemed to have much less numbers and variety of marine life than on prior visits before the tsunami I use the term washed-out to describe them. I dont know if this has something to do with the after effects of the Great 2005 Tsunami or not. I know others have posted glowing recent reports on the Similans but my experience on this trip, and the one last April, is that possibly much of the local marine life was either washed away or washed ashore and has yet to make much of a recovery. Additional comment from those who have recently dived the Similans would be most interesting.
In fact, I would go so far as to advise those considering a Similans liveaboard trip to possibly consider other alternatives. There are many areas in SE Asia with great diving that were not in any way effected by the tsunami (Sipadan, Bali, Bunaken/Lembeh, and the Philippines to name a few), whereas the Similians were more or less directly in the path of one of its strongest radiating waves the one that devastated the Kao Lak coastline of Thailand just east of the Similans. These are strong words and as much as I want to support the Thai diving industry I also want readers of this forum, and those contemplating an expensive dive trip to the Similans, to have the benefit of some objective observations of current conditions there. Its possible that mine views are a minority opinion or that maybe I just had bad fish luck on this trip (but at every site/dive on both this trip and last Aprils...seems to be a pattern).
In any case, from reading this report and those of others, readers can draw their own conclusions.
You can see new growth coming. If you dive there regularly, year on year you can see coral growing.
