Manta Ray Seen In Phuket

[JonnieB]

A friend reports that they were diving yesterday 02/01/06 at ko racha yai and his group encountered a manta ray. it stayed with them for 20 minutes

of course, i finished my diving with this friend the day before and was onboard my flight home when they saw it :huh:

To top it off, this friend was completing his deep-dive for his AOW certification when he saw it...so by his (around) 15th dive he has a manta in his log-book...me, still 200+ dives without one :06:

 

[MoonWrasse]

How big?
Where? I'd bet Staghorn or Lucy's reef. Hopefully not Bungalow Bay or it has likely already been eaten.

 

[Ringo]

JonnieB - sorry to add to injury - 2 weeks ago 2 whalesharks were spotted at Racha!! Can you imagine OW students seeing this on their OW dives? Not fair is it?

 

[nuswhl]

JonnieB - sorry to add to injury - 2 weeks ago 2 whalesharks were spotted at Racha!! Can you imagine OW students seeing this on their OW dives? Not fair is it?

Whale shark in Racha? Why didn't I see any whale sharks in Racha!?
I did see some crown of thorns in Racha, though. That's the biggest creature I saw in Racha, except divers, of course.

 

[Batfish]

Whale shark in Racha? Why didn't I see any whale sharks in Racha!?

I must have done X hundred dives at Racha Yai. Normally you just see little reef fish, plus usually something exciting like morays, octopus, cuttlefish, bluespotted stingrays. I have seen turtles there a few times. Never a whaleshark or manta. The people who saw them were lucky indeed!

 

[Ringo]

Never a whaleshark or manta. The people who saw them were lucky indeed!

Yes, unbelievable Jamie! Thought the divers and Instructors were taking The Mickey! It took quite some convincing as we refused to believe them at first!

 

[Ringo]

Then again, also, about 10 year's ago a pod of Orca's were seen 10 minutes by boat off Racha Yai. The Phuket Marine Biological center confirmed this sighting and sadly shortly after afterwards one of the young was washed ashore close to Kao Luk.

 

[Bowmouth]

Then again, also, about 10 year's ago a pod of Orca's were seen 10 minutes by boat off Racha Yai....


Talking about the good old days; I vividly remember that fantastic year we had the El Ninjo/La Nina with absolutely horrible visibility but plenty of grey reef sharks, black blotched stingrays, African pompano's and giant guitarfishes at Racha Yai. Doing daytrips that year was wonderful...
I just LOVE re-reading the entries in my logbook of all those unusual (BIG) animals I saw that year at Racha Yai.

 

[Ringo]

Then again, also, about 10 year's ago a pod of Orca's were seen 10 minutes by boat off Racha Yai....


Talking about the good old days; I vividly remember that fantastic year we had the El Ninjo/La Nina with absolutely horrible visibility but plenty of grey reef sharks, black blotched stingrays, African pompano's and giant guitarfishes at Racha Yai. Doing daytrips that year was wonderful...
I just LOVE re-reading the entries in my logbook of all those unusual (BIG) animals I saw that year at Racha Yai.

Yes Bowmouth, and remember the Whalesharks off Patong beach and close to Karon Rock? We must have met before? ... we remember those guitar sharks at Racha, especially in Bungalow bay! You must have dived with Fantasea divers in those days?

 

[Quero]

I heard tell that a whale shark was seen Friday (two days ago) at Racha--an instructor was supposedly down with DSD divers, no less! I wonder if this is a "fish story"?