2011-2012 Conditions at the Similans

[iamafish]

Recently dove the Similans and was very sad to see the reefs destroyed by coral bleaching and transformed into rubble. One local Thai DM confided in me that just about every dive site in the nine Similan island ecosystem were in similar decayed conditions. Yes, the water was clear and the viz was nice; but the reefs were mostly destroyed, reduced to dead brownish rubble. Yes, there is hope and thoughts go out to all the local dive shops in the area that the reefs recover quickly. Naturally, depending on who you talk to and their relationship and attachments to the area, the reefs are in various stages of "recovery"; but the fact remains, the Similans reefs were seriously destroyed by the warm waters and have a long way to recovery.

It's sad, really; but the laws of nature are much more powerful than the economics of the dive industry. When diving in Bali, ran into many divers and dive operators who used to be keen on the Similans, but now they have "moved on" to healthy reefs elsewhere. Personally, I knew the reefs in the Similans were seriously effected by coral bleaching from the news; but until I saw the damage myself recently; I had no idea it was this extensive.

My thoughts and best wishes to the dive community there. I hope things will recover very fast for all!

 

[red_barbarian]

The fish traps we found were not little bamboo things, but 4x4x10 meter things. All those fishing boats out there are not parking and doing nothing. There's a lot of illegal fishing going on. typically we ran into them in the 45-50M range nestled between boulders so as not to visible to the normal divers.

 

[lord khram]

So much conflicting information it would seem?

 

[Bowmouth]

I just got back from my live-aboard trip. Each day we did 1 shallow (20M) dive and two deeper dives (40-60M).

40 to 60 meter.
Technical diving or simply scuba on air?

 

[Quero]

I've just come back from Kuraburi where I did four beautiful dives on Richelieu Rock through Surinboy's op, Blue Guru. The Rock was gorgeous, as always, no indication at all of coral bleaching, and teeming with marine life. Pelagics were in evidence with hunting rainbow runners, bigeye jacks, and schools of mature barracuda. Didn't see any sharks or mantas, but that's rather expected at this time of year. The biggest disappointment was the giant fish trap right at the base of the rock at a 30 m depth on the west side, at the bottom of the channel crossing the western side of the horseshoe. It had been cut open already, so there were no "prisioners" in it, but there was a rock attached to it, so it definitely didn't drift there. We took pictures, and Blue Guru will appeal to the park authorities to collect the thing. I don't suppose there's any way to identify the owner.

Water conditions were very rough, and I was happy that my three divers were highly experienced and able to manage both the surface and sub-surface currents (we had brisk winds and a full moon) as well as the big swells that made getting back on the boat a huge challenge. People were seasick. Liveaboards were opting not to put their divers in the water since their RIBs coudn't be used, and there were no speedboats to be seen. Blue Guru have a somewhat bigger boat than a speedboat so it was able to get to the place through the rough seas, yet it's small enough to do live drops and pickups, so we were able to do our dives. It was quite nice to be the only boat on the site, I have to say!

 

[Buadhai]

^Glad to see you had a good time.

That fish trap was there as well when I dove Richelieu Rock in mid-November. Open and empty at that time as well.

 

[limbo]

I've just come back from Kuraburi where I did four beautiful dives on Richelieu Rock through Surinboy's op, Blue Guru. The Rock was gorgeous, as always, no indication at all of coral bleaching, and teeming with marine life. Pelagics were in evidence with hunting rainbow runners, bigeye jacks, and schools of mature barracuda. Didn't see any sharks or mantas, but that's rather expected at this time of year. The biggest disappointment was the giant fish trap right at the base of the rock at a 30 m depth on the west side, at the bottom of the channel crossing the western side of the horseshoe. It had been cut open already, so there were no "prisioners" in it, but there was a rock attached to it, so it definitely didn't drift there. We took pictures, and Blue Guru will appeal to the park authorities to collect the thing. I don't suppose there's any way to identify the owner.

Water conditions were very rough, and I was happy that my three divers were highly experienced and able to manage both the surface and sub-surface currents (we had brisk winds and a full moon) as well as the big swells that made getting back on the boat a huge challenge. People were seasick. Liveaboards were opting not to put their divers in the water since their RIBs coudn't be used, and there were no speedboats to be seen. Blue Guru have a somewhat bigger boat than a speedboat so it was able to get to the place through the rough seas, yet it's small enough to do live drops and pickups, so we were able to do our dives. It was quite nice to be the only boat on the site, I have to say!

Looks like I will be there for the first time next week! Am looking forward to it.

 

[iamafish]

Merry Christmas!

Not to be pedantic, but Richelieu Rock is not in the Similans; and yes there was less coral bleaching there. Many DMs and Instructors in the area have told me that the Similans are better "deeper" (lower than 15 = 18 meter, due to coral bleaching), and that was my experience.

Regarding the "deeper" Similans, we did a tech dive (twins, deco gas, mandatory stops) down to 45 meters off Christmas Point, Island #9,, and it was stunningly brilliant. Visibility was nearly from 45 meters on the bottom to the surface. Great rock formations. Absolutely breathtaking.

After diving in Indo over the holidays, I'm heading back to the Similan Islands for some more deep diving early next year, if time permits in my schedule.

Happy Diving!

 

[limbo]

Merry Christmas!

Not to be pedantic, but Richelieu Rock is not in the Similans; and yes there was less coral bleaching there. Many DMs and Instructors in the area have told me that the Similans are better "deeper" (lower than 15 = 18 meter, due to coral bleaching), and that was my experience.

Regarding the "deeper" Similans, we did a tech dive (twins, deco gas, mandatory stops) down to 45 meters off Christmas Point, Island #9,, and it was stunningly brilliant. Visibility was nearly from 45 meters on the bottom to the surface. Great rock formations. Absolutely breathtaking.

After diving in Indo over the holidays, I'm heading back to the Similan Islands for some more deep diving early next year, if time permits in my schedule.

Happy Diving!

Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Koh Surin and Richelieu Rock are all not part of the Similan island group but are well worth checking out. The longer live aboards, the 6 or 7 day ones have both the Similan islands and the Koh Bob to Richelieu Rock islands in their itinerary.

Dived the Northern islands for the first time and really enjoyed Richelieu Rock, a splendid dive site!

 

[Quero]

Koh Bon and Koh Tachai have been incorporated into the Similan Islands National Park, so while they're not actually among the eponymous "nine" (plus some rocks) islands, you still need to pay Similans park fees to dive there. And yes, iamafish is correct that Richelieu Rock is not part of the Similans; it is contained within the Surin Islands National Park. Nevertheless, popular usage for dive travel discussions tends to lump the two together into one "Similans area" sort of category. As it happens, large shallow coral gardens of the Surin park were also affected by the coral bleaching episode, and therefore any discussion of conditions would logically include dive sites technically within and without the Similans park.