Similan Islands and Phases of the Moon

[JTinSD]

I have heard that phases of the moon can sometimes dramatically affect the diving conditions in the Andaman Sea / Similan Islands as to visibility, currents and presence of certain species.

We will be diving the Similan Islands on a 4d/4n liveaboard from 28 Feb through 3 Mar 2011. The moon will be waning toward a new moon on 4 Mar. Previous full phase will have been 18 Feb and the next full will be 19 Mar. It looks like we will be diving the area pretty much as far from a full moon as it could be.

Andaman Sea / Similan Islands Experts: How can we expect conditions to be affected by the phase of the moon given our timeframe? I would appreciate anecdotal personal experiences certainly, and would like to hear the conventional wisdom, but if someone can point me to any empirical data, that would be great, too.

Is there a thread on this already? I searched for one without success.

 

[stevenl]

I have heard that phases of the moon can sometimes dramatically affect the diving conditions in the Andaman Sea / Similan Islands as to visibility, currents and presence of certain species.

Yes, it does affect the currents all over the Andaman. Full moon will have the strongest currents, new moon also quite strong, in between less currents.

In general though currents do no influence marine sightings in the area.

The visibility can be affected by the currents, this also depends on the divesites. At the Similans it has some effect on the visibility but not that much, at other divesites like the Shark Point area the effect is greater.