2011-2012 Conditions at the Similans

[jameseg]

Wow - small world! I'm on nautica too! My wife and I will be the couple from Minnesota.

James

---------- Post added at 11:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 PM ----------

buadhai, thanks for the info and the link. You got some nice shots! From those pictures, looks like"fair" visibility is maybe 30 or 40 feet?

 

[scubydooo]

very small world indeed, especially since the nautica only takes 12 passengers! i booked my trip through marcia (or quero on this site).

i'll be there with 2 friends who are doing real diving for the first time (they did their padi ow in the murky hk waters). will try and find u guys and say hi (shouldn't be too difficult).

shuy

 

[Buadhai]

buadhai, thanks for the info and the link. You got some nice shots! From those pictures, looks like"fair" visibility is maybe 30 or 40 feet?

It was quite variable. I'd say from a low of five meters (15 feet) to a bit better than 10 meters (30 feet).

Here's an uncorrected version of the Manta photo that is in my blog. Gives you an idea of the visibility at Koh Bon.

 

[Zippsy]

I did a four day trip on the White Manta beginning March 15th. Visibility was fair; lots of plankton in the water. I did not wear a wetsuit. I never wear a wetsuit in the tropics. We saw one Manta at Koh Bon Ridge. No sharks.

Some snapshots here: Similans March 2012

I know, the quality sucks, but I'm not much of a photographer.

I love the manta shot where it is swimming through the fish soup. Outstanding! Lots of cool sightings but one correction. Those "jellyfish" pictures are actually showing salp. (Salp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

[Buadhai]

I love the manta shot where it is swimming through the fish soup. Outstanding! Lots of cool sightings but one correction. Those "jellyfish" pictures are actually showing salp. (Salp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Thank you for the correction. Fixed now, Wiki reference included.

Lovely little things, aren't they?

 

[jameseg]

It was quite variable. I'd say from a low of five meters (15 feet) to a bit better than 10 meters (30 feet).

That's quite a bit less viz than I was expecting. But I guess with the poorer viz comes a slightly higher chance of seeing mantas and/or whale sharks. Should be an amazing trip regardless.

James

 

[Buadhai]

That's quite a bit less viz than I was expecting. But I guess with the poorer viz comes a slightly higher chance of seeing mantas and/or whale sharks. Should be an amazing trip regardless.

Keep in mind that conditions can change rapidly. Last November I did a day trip to the Boon Sung wreck just before a liveaboard trip. Conditions were superb. On descent you could clearly see the entire wreck.

The last dive of the liveaboard, five days later, was also at the Boon Sung. It was pea soup.

You can have great fun no matter what the conditions. It's all up to you!

 

[jamiemac]

LK - I was on the White Manta last week for a four day Andaman cruise. The White Manta is a superb vessel, the most luxurious liveaboard I've been on. The cabins are big, the en suite bathrooms are spacious and fitted out like a hotel room. After every dive you get a big, fluffy towel fresh and hot from the dryer. The dive deck is well designed and has plenty of room for lots of divers. I'm not a fan of diving from an inflatable dingy, but the White Manta's size means that for some sites a dingy is the only option. The large boat crew is experienced and very good at making every dive as easy as possible. (I remain amazed at how much help some people need getting in and out of their gear and in and out of the water.)

Nitrox is available at 300 baht per tank or 3000 baht for the whole trip. I was a bit troubled by the fact that they use the same tanks for both air and Nitrox. Analyzers are, of course, available. Oddly, for the couple of dives on which I used air I found myself wanting to use the analyzer to see if it was really 21% oxygen....

If anything, the trip was a bit too organized. (Very Singapore, I'd say.) The dive leader, Chris, is quite knowledgeable about marine biology and gave excellent, detailed dive briefings. The dive guides all seemed to be good. My group had an experienced Thai guide named Ahn who is simply brilliant at finding and spotting things; especially the small stuff that I really like.

The food was excellent and included a good mix of Thai and Western dishes with fresh fruit and vegetables every day. Instant coffee, tea, Milo and water are all free. Soft drinks are 30 baht, beer is 70 baht and a bottle of wine is 750 baht. There is an expresso machine. I think that was 60 baht a pop.

As for conditions, I'll echo Karin: fine visibility (mostly) and no troublesome currents or foul weather. The sites she mentioned remained closed but, as you know, there are plenty of others. And, yes, Richelieu remains awesome. The only bad visibility we had was on the last day (last Friday) at the Boon Sung wreck. It was two or thee meters at best. I had done the Boon Sung that previous Monday and had excellent visibility.

I've been doing liveaboard in this region since the 90s. Although conditions have changed a lot since then, I still always have a good time.

On a lovely boat like that They would have been blending nitrox with contin flow or membrane, so no need for dedicated tanks, but you are always right to analyse gases in any unmarked tank anytime there's a mixing system within ten miles of you!

 

[Quero]

I'm going to be a little naughty for a minute and say 'nice to see you here in the forum, Jamie!' I notice you're posting from GB, so I'll also say that I hope you're well and happy.


:focus:

 

[jamiemac]

Fine thanks, Quero, thanks for the kind thought . Yes back in the UK , managing to nip over to Dahab sometimes and the diving in the Channel is just my thing, not quite Thailand but I had to grow up someday!