Thailand Aggressor

[DivingDoc]

I was on a trip once in Key Largo with Captain Slate. There were some divers that surfaced quite far away from the boat. He had do deploy his ADRU (******* diver retrieval unit) to get them. They must have been some of those Sea Rectums you were talking about.

--DivingDoc

Back from the south Andaman Sea aboard the Thailand Aggressor.

It was better diving by far than the northern trip but still not world class. The six divers on board enjoyed it. However, the consensus was that there is better diving to be had in places that are less troublesome to travel to. I have not been to Indonesia, but those on board that had been said that the diving was far better there. Same with Palau, and having been there I agreed on that score. PNG, the Solomons, the Maldives, all got better reviews than the south Andaman Sea. There was certainly some macro to see and shoot, sea horses, soft corals, and so on, but just not worth the effort or the price of admission. There were Lots of eels, large and small, but no large fish to be seen anywhere which may be explained by the flotillas of fishing boats that appeared to be everwhere. We did not see one shark on either trip with the exception of a white tip reef shark that one of the divers saw in the distance. The viz was quite limited during several dives as well.

At several sites, hordes of amphibious sea rectums we're encountered. For those not familiar with the species, sea rectums are a species of air breathing, land dwelling, homonids that populate cattle boats in popular dive sites and who generally have little,if any, dive trainIng or experience, descending into and onto dive sites within range of day trips with great abandon and exuberance, utilizing their fins, arms, and hands, as rotary wings, and lacking the skill and motivation to exercise even a modicum of buoyancy control or dive manners. Sea rectum infestation was encountered at 2 or 3 dive sites and did nothing to add to the enjoyment of the diving.

If Phuket is two or three hours away from your home, the south Andaman portion of the Thailand Aggressor destination might be something to consider. If that is not the case, you might want to consider alternative destinations.

The boat itself was fine, the crew on board was attentive and helpful, the food was better than on the north leg, perhaps because there were only 6 divers aboard, but it still was not great, and the dive masters, with two notable exceptions, really need to understand that their role underwater is to help the guests find the little stuff that we like to see and photograph.

 

[Silver knife]

They're ubiquitous Doc, most often appearing just as you're about to stroke the shutter on the photo of the subject you spent 20 years looking for.

 

[DivingDoc]

Sorry - I misspelled that. It's Holbox, not Hobox. If I remember correctly, it is pronounced, "Holbush." We went with a dive group from The Dive Shop here in Richmond, VA. The proprietor, Jim McNeal, has a good contact in Alex, a local dive master who has a dive operation in Cozumel. We spent most of the week in Cozumel, but half-way into the week, we got up early, took the 3:30 AM ferry to Playa del Carmen, then drove in 2 rented Chevy Suburbans 3 1/2 hours through the jungle to Chiquila, then took a boat another hour to the island of Holbox. We then boarded other boats and went out to the whale sharks for that afternoon, then the next morning and then we made the reverse trip back to Cozumel - tired but happy. We snorkeled 2 divers at a time with each whale shark. I was close enough to touch one at least 3 times. I think you need the locals to help you with the trip because there might be banditos along the road that goes through the jungle.

Hi Doc. You're welcome. Glad that you found it helpful. Thanks for the suggestion on Hobox Island. Where did you stay and with whom did you dive? No. Did not see any mantas while diving the Andaman. Did see a couple on the surface from the boat but none while diving. In fact, other than the two whale sharks, we saw nothing big. Otherwise than the trip was pretty disappointing taking into consideration the time and expense of getting there from the east coast of the U.S. Judging from what I am reading in the papers these days, looks like things are getting a little unsettled politically in Thailand right now. I don't really understand the point of putting an Aggressor in the Red Sea given the unrest in Egypt. I was planning on making that my next trip but not now, and maybe not ever.

 

[Joe Underwater]

As a dive shop and liveaboard agent I am glad the Aggressor came to the area, they are opening a new market. Unfortunately they, and that includes boat crew, dive staff and management, really don't know the diving area and are not delivering the quality they could.

And they seem to think that anchoring in the Hin Musang Marine Sanctuary (Shark Point) is OK. Even after being told not to and why, they continue. Unbelievable. There is no reason for it.

 

[Joe Underwater]

Go Eco Phuket released many bamboo sharks last Sunday at Koh Mai Ton and Koh Doc Mai. We participated of course, and our divers loved the experience, and the sharks seemed to enjoy their new found freedom as well. We're trying.

At the same time also harlequin shrimp were released by the way.

It was very rewarding to give back something to the reefs that have given me so much over the years. Divers have been reporting seeing the sharks on subsequent dives. Thanks for sending staff Steve, but I want to see you on the next Go Eco clean-up or shark release! I volunteer to give you a scuba tune-up!

 

[stevenl]

Why would I do a Scuba tune up? I dive at least every week.

But unlike you I'm working for myself, so really can't afford to close shop and spend a day on the boat for a shark release or cleanup. But we are present, my staff is there.

No worries about Aggressor anymore BTW. They are moving to Pulau Weh in low season, and the boats that have tried to combine both destination with 1 boat have always had to make a choice. I don't see them coming back to Thailand, even though they still have Similans/Burma on the 2015 schedule. I don't see that happen though, and Hin Daeng/Muang seem to be of their itinerary anyway.