My wife and I just got back from a two week trip to Thailand that included a four night stay on the liveaboard MV Nautica. We did the 5 day/4 night Similan itinerary, which includes the Similan Islands as well as Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, and Richelieu Rock. I wasn't able to find much information on the Nautica before my trip, so I'm writing this review for anyone that is considering this boat.
In summary, we had a fantastic time, despite a few mediocre dives early on. There were two divemasters on the boat, both European. Both were great guys, but one had a habit of taking the advanced group down to about 90 – 95 feet and occasionally swimming into the current. The depth wasn’t an issue per say, but we learned after a couple days that most of the interesting stuff is 40 – 70 feet. My wife and I were given the opportunity to do our own separate, unguided dives, and we took this option most of the last two days, which we really enjoyed.
The dives varied from very bad (Koh Tachai) to excellent, with most falling in the good to excellent category. The Similans underwhelmed a bit (possibly because we spent much of those dives at 90 feet?). We had one dive at Koh Tachai Pinnacle with a rip roaring current – maybe 5 mph – and poor viz that made for a stressful dive for my wife. But Koh Bon and Richelieu Rock were excellent due to the amount of life we saw, and even with some mediocre dives, the overall experience was very positive. We’d recommend this Similan itinerary and MV Nautica to anybody. We saw 5-6 mantas over two dives at Koh Bon, and a seahorse at Richelieu Rock. Those were at the top of the list for things we were hoping to see, so we were thrilled to be able to see them. A whale shark would have been amazing, but I wasn’t expecting to see one given the extremely rare sighting record, so it wasn’t disappointing to miss out on that. We also saw and enjoyed most of the “usual suspects” at the various sights – Napoleon wrasse, trevallies, gobis, various types of morays, dancing and banded shrimp, etc. Visibility wasn’t exceptional, but was fine at most sites. I’d say mostly 40 to 60 feet, with just a few sites closer to 25 feet.
The Thai staff on the boat were excellent. The cook in particular (Mum?) was outstanding. Some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had. All of the guests were also really fun and friendly, which I think hugely impacts a trip. We had a blast chatting everyone up between dives.
Here’s a couple of things I’d pass on to other potential guests:
Cabin accommodations aren’t quite as luxurious as they appear on the website. Double bed consists of two beds pushed together and two separate twin comforters. Pillows are ridiculously uncomfortable – like a big hard foam chunk. I had to abandon mine after the first night. Mattresses were ok, but don’t have mattress pads. Only one towel each provided for both diving and showering. Ours spent most of the day drying out on the top deck, so that left us without a towel to use in the cabin. Floor space was very limited – for a second person to enter the room, the first person had to either move around beside the bed or stand in the bathroom. Toilets are marine heads, and the shower sprays into the whole bathroom, not into a separate shower stall. None of these are deal-breakers for me. It’s worth noting that my only other point of reference is the Turks & Caicos Explorer II, which I understand to be one of the larger and perhaps more well-appointed liveaboards out there.
Layout and size of the dive deck worked well, even with a fairly full boat (11 of 12 spots). But camera facilities are lacking – table space is quite limited, especially if someone had a big SLR rig, and there is only one rinse bucket for everything – cameras, masks, flashlights etc. I wouldn’t recommend this boat for a serious photographer.
Layout of the top (main) deck was perfect. We spent most of our time here. Good seating areas for briefings/meals, and a nice large cushioned area for relaxing between dives. Entire area was covered by a sunshade, which was nice in the hot sun. Direct sun was available in the bow area, if desired.
The above may sound like I listed more negatives than positives, but as I said before, it really was a fantastic trip overall. So glad to be able to have dived that part of the world, and it has us thinking about other potential areas, such as Indonesia. The flights were long, but really not terrible with all of today’s in-flight entertainment options.
Many thanks to Marcia (Quero), who helped us book the trip. In addition to reserving the boat, she provided great information relative to logistics and also suggested a couple other places to visit in Thailand that ended up being trip highlights for us - the Elephant Nature Park, an elephant refuge near Chiang Mai, and Ayutthaya, the ancient capital north of Bangkok.
James
In summary, we had a fantastic time, despite a few mediocre dives early on. There were two divemasters on the boat, both European. Both were great guys, but one had a habit of taking the advanced group down to about 90 – 95 feet and occasionally swimming into the current. The depth wasn’t an issue per say, but we learned after a couple days that most of the interesting stuff is 40 – 70 feet. My wife and I were given the opportunity to do our own separate, unguided dives, and we took this option most of the last two days, which we really enjoyed.
The dives varied from very bad (Koh Tachai) to excellent, with most falling in the good to excellent category. The Similans underwhelmed a bit (possibly because we spent much of those dives at 90 feet?). We had one dive at Koh Tachai Pinnacle with a rip roaring current – maybe 5 mph – and poor viz that made for a stressful dive for my wife. But Koh Bon and Richelieu Rock were excellent due to the amount of life we saw, and even with some mediocre dives, the overall experience was very positive. We’d recommend this Similan itinerary and MV Nautica to anybody. We saw 5-6 mantas over two dives at Koh Bon, and a seahorse at Richelieu Rock. Those were at the top of the list for things we were hoping to see, so we were thrilled to be able to see them. A whale shark would have been amazing, but I wasn’t expecting to see one given the extremely rare sighting record, so it wasn’t disappointing to miss out on that. We also saw and enjoyed most of the “usual suspects” at the various sights – Napoleon wrasse, trevallies, gobis, various types of morays, dancing and banded shrimp, etc. Visibility wasn’t exceptional, but was fine at most sites. I’d say mostly 40 to 60 feet, with just a few sites closer to 25 feet.
The Thai staff on the boat were excellent. The cook in particular (Mum?) was outstanding. Some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had. All of the guests were also really fun and friendly, which I think hugely impacts a trip. We had a blast chatting everyone up between dives.
Here’s a couple of things I’d pass on to other potential guests:
Cabin accommodations aren’t quite as luxurious as they appear on the website. Double bed consists of two beds pushed together and two separate twin comforters. Pillows are ridiculously uncomfortable – like a big hard foam chunk. I had to abandon mine after the first night. Mattresses were ok, but don’t have mattress pads. Only one towel each provided for both diving and showering. Ours spent most of the day drying out on the top deck, so that left us without a towel to use in the cabin. Floor space was very limited – for a second person to enter the room, the first person had to either move around beside the bed or stand in the bathroom. Toilets are marine heads, and the shower sprays into the whole bathroom, not into a separate shower stall. None of these are deal-breakers for me. It’s worth noting that my only other point of reference is the Turks & Caicos Explorer II, which I understand to be one of the larger and perhaps more well-appointed liveaboards out there.
Layout and size of the dive deck worked well, even with a fairly full boat (11 of 12 spots). But camera facilities are lacking – table space is quite limited, especially if someone had a big SLR rig, and there is only one rinse bucket for everything – cameras, masks, flashlights etc. I wouldn’t recommend this boat for a serious photographer.
Layout of the top (main) deck was perfect. We spent most of our time here. Good seating areas for briefings/meals, and a nice large cushioned area for relaxing between dives. Entire area was covered by a sunshade, which was nice in the hot sun. Direct sun was available in the bow area, if desired.
The above may sound like I listed more negatives than positives, but as I said before, it really was a fantastic trip overall. So glad to be able to have dived that part of the world, and it has us thinking about other potential areas, such as Indonesia. The flights were long, but really not terrible with all of today’s in-flight entertainment options.
Many thanks to Marcia (Quero), who helped us book the trip. In addition to reserving the boat, she provided great information relative to logistics and also suggested a couple other places to visit in Thailand that ended up being trip highlights for us - the Elephant Nature Park, an elephant refuge near Chiang Mai, and Ayutthaya, the ancient capital north of Bangkok.
James
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