When to register for liveaboard?

[aquamarin]

Seahorses, ghost pipe fish, harlequin shrimps, nurse sharks, manta rays, black tip reef sharks, leopard shark, frog fish, huge barracudas, octopi, various shrimps & crabs, nudibranchs, 20 cuttlefish racing each other, big fat tuna, big schools of barracuda and yellow snapper, sea snakes, napoleon wrasse and tons and tons of other fish, beautiful anemones swaying in the gentle current, viz of 20-30 meters. That's the experience our guests and I had the past 4 days out there....

Karin

 

[stevenl]

Seahorses, ghost pipe fish, harlequin shrimps, nurse sharks, manta rays, black tip reef sharks, leopard shark, frog fish, huge barracudas, octopi, various shrimps & crabs, nudibranchs, 20 cuttlefish racing each other, big fat tuna, big schools of barracuda and yellow snapper, sea snakes, napoleon wrasse and tons and tons of other fish, beautiful anemones swaying in the gentle current, viz of 20-30 meters. That's the experience our guests and I had the past 4 days out there....

Karin

Who won?

 

[aquamarin]

Steven, not sure who won - they kept circling around us and we were getting low on NDL, so didn't have time to hang around for the result

 

[lord khram]

Steven, not sure who won - they kept circling around us and we were getting low on NDL, so didn't have time to hang around for the result

What's the problem, its when you are low on air you need to worry.

 

[aquamarin]

lord k: it was also the last dive of the trip and we didn't want to be late for the night "dive" in our local bar

 

[lord khram]

lord k: it was also the last dive of the trip and we didn't want to be late for the night "dive" in our local bar

Quite right then, too much nitrogen and all that alcohol are not a good combination.

 

[apadko]

Was in Phuket last week of Nov and first week of Dec, 2010. Waited to book until I arrived in Phuket. Had many choices. Not only did I get 20% off the Master cabin on the Pawara, but I had it without sharing. Dealt with Jamie from Sunrise Divers in Karon, highly recommend him. Pawara wasn't publishing last minute discount (I asked 2 shops in town that day), but he made phone calls to get the discount for me.

Pawara - good boat, great crew, good food. The diving itself was not great. Other divers from France and England felt the same. Only spot I would go back to was Richelieu Rock . Decent diving trip for macro but we didn't see anything like what Aquamarin is claiming.

Haven't been on this site in a while, but now researching another trip so decided to finally post about my trip last year. I liked the food and the people of Thailand, and could see going back to see more of the country. But for my next diving trip, I'm looking at either Philippines (Malapascau) or Truk.

 

[aquamarin]

Apadko, I'm glad you had a good trip - too bad you didn't see much of the "good stuff". Obviously, not all trips are like the one I described here, but we see at least 2/3 of the list on most trips. For instance we don't see nurse sharks very often, but on that trip we saw two in the Similans and then one again at Tachai. Much of it is luck, especially when we're talking big ones. No harm in aiding luck, though, by diving sites that most boats don't go to or being flexible with the schedule to avoid jumping in at the same time as 5 other boats. And of course, guides who know the area & where to look are a big help as well.

I hope you'll be back one day so you can see how wonderful it is out there.....

Greetings from Khao Lak
Karin

 

[Bowmouth]

For instance we don't see nurse sharks very often, but on that trip we saw two in the Similans and then one again at Tachai.
Karin

Are you referring to (2-3 meter) tawny nurse-sharks?
Have you (or your divers) seen any this year at Koh Bon Pinnacle?

 

[Zippsy]

Was in Phuket last week of Nov and first week of Dec, 2010. Waited to book until I arrived in Phuket. Had many choices. Not only did I get 20% off the Master cabin on the Pawara, but I had it without sharing. Dealt with Jamie from Sunrise Divers in Karon, highly recommend him. Pawara wasn't publishing last minute discount (I asked 2 shops in town that day), but he made phone calls to get the discount for me.

Are you sure that wasn't Jamie's commission that he was giving up??? He may have gotten you a good deal with the only pay being your public "thank you" here.

BTW, I was on board for the new White Manta's maiden voyage this weekend. The ship is beautiful and extremely steady in the water. As always though, I am biased since I work on the boat but even the crew cabins are stunning. I slept better on the boat than at home!