28 March Khao Lak
I had a combined ticket, popular with travelers in
Thailand, and a man from a local travel agency picked me up and took me to the
office. Here I grabbed a quick fried-egg breakfast before the bus arrived nearby
and soon I was on my way to Thailand’s Andaman coast. The bus climbed into
scenic mountains with sheer limestone cliffs, then continued higher into even
more spectacular limestone mountains. A bit of fog lingered in the valley on the
far side as the bus passed the entrance to Khao Sok National Park. At Takua Pa,
near the coastal plain, the bus turned south and dropped me off at Khao Lak
about midday. Beachgoers like to come here for some time on the sand with lots
of restaurants, but not with the crazy development of Phuket farther south.
I got a 500-baht fan room at Happy House Lodge, the same place I had stayed two
years ago, then goofed off most of the day. A rainstorm came through in the
early afternoon. Later Luca of Similan Diving Safaris came by and told me that
the five-day live-aboard trip SE23 I had signed up for was uncertain because not
enough people had registered. If it didn’t, there was a four-day trip going out
in another two days. For dinner I went to Spinach Restaurant on the highway and
had a very well presented Penang curry and a mango shake.
29 March on
the Andaman Sea
In the morning I met Luca of Similan Diving Safaris and he
had the good news that the trip was going even with just five customers. A Swiss
couple, the last two holdouts, only sent in their deposits late last night. The
other couple, Raul and Amyna, were experienced divers from the Philippines. Luca
sorted out the diving gear for me, which costs 500 baht/day, but was free two
years ago. As usual for going diving, I had to sign a liability release that I
was responsible in case of injury or death, no matter what the cause. To book
this trip I had to make a 30% deposit of 6,247 baht (US$215.50), then the
balance of 20,825 baht (US$662) at the shop. I got the 15% returning diving
discount, which helped. I also signed up for a PADI course in using Nitrox at
6,800 baht (US$216) and a Nitrox pack at 1,500 baht (US$48). Overall I think
this company offers very good deal with excellent staff.
I spent most of
the afternoon on the internet, posting Koh Tao photos to Facebook and writing up
recent days. I also bought an Amtrak train ticket from the San Francisco area to
Grand Junction in Colorado, where I plan to begin my next bicycle ride exactly
one month from now!
We waited for the last two divers to arrive from
northern Thailand, then everyone hopped into a van for the short ride south to
the pier, where we boarded the Similan Explorer, our home for the next five
days. Diving leaders Luca (from Italy) and Jon (from France) gave us a boat
briefing and showed us to our rooms. Each person or couple had a room to
themselves, an unexpected luxury. As two years ago on this boat, we had a good
cook and enjoyed a flavorful Thai dinner before turning in. The captain motored
our boat west into the Andaman Sea and stopped in the Similan Islands.
30 March on the Andaman Sea
The Similan Islands take their name from the
Malay word ‘nine’ and they’re numbered from south to north. All are granite
except for one; Koh Bon in the north is limestone. We did our early morning dive
at Hideaway, off the south coast of Similan #5. For the first time I was diving
with Nitrox, a mixture of air and oxygen. So instead of the 21% oxygen of air,
my tank had about 30% oxygen. The extra oxygen itself doesn’t have any benefit,
rather it’s the reduced nitrogen that allows one to stay down longer without
risk of the ‘bends’ because the body absorbs less nitrogen. This was especially
helpful because I would be going down four times most days. Also it’s said by
some divers that one feels less tired because nitrogen levels are lower, though
I couldn’t be sure if that was true. One has to be very careful with Nitrox
because the high level of oxygen can cause deadly convulsions if one goes to
great depths. All our dives on this trip stay within 30 meters, which was safe.
I wore a dive watch every time underwater, which kept track of the
‘no-decompression limits’ and would have sounded a warning alarm if I did
something wrong, which I didn’t. Also the computer generates a graphic display
of the dive profile—the changing depths—and records things like the time in and
out, and temperatures.
I dived with Luca, as I would on all but the very
last dive of this trip. He’s a very experienced diver and helped me improve my
skills as well as seek out interesting undersea creatures. We jumped into the
clear 29° C (84° F) sea at Hideaway, then had a look at the Tuna Wreck, a
fiberglass fishing boat sunk here as an artificial reef. Appropriately we saw a
dogtooth tuna, but felt greater excitement on seeing a juvenile leopard shark.
Other life included a blue-spotted ribbontail ray, giant moray, trumpet fish
(very long and slender), titan and clown and yellow-margin triggerfish,
small-tooth emperor fish, coral groupers, snappers, and a pair of lionfish. We
went to 30 meters, enjoyed a visibility of about 30 meters, and stayed down a
respectable 46 minutes.
After breakfast and a rest, we did our
late-morning dive at West of Eden, near Similan #7. Here water at the surface
was a comfy 31° C near the surface, but a chilly 24° C when we hit a thermocline
at depth. We saw lots of beautiful sea life such as an octopus, blue dragon
(nudibranch), unicorn surgeon fish, yellow snappers, trevally, parrotfish, and
butterfly fish. Despite going to 30 meters, we managed to stay down 57 minutes.
We had lunch and a short siesta before diving in the early afternoon at
Elephant Rock, between Similan #7 and #8. Again we had a beautiful experience
with 20-meters visibility and saw many wonderful things including another
octopus, giant moray, and triggerfish. Great barracuda and giant trevally swam
swiftly by while a masked porcupine fish and a pufferfish could barely propel
their oversized bodies with undersized fins. Two anemone crabs hid under an
anemone. We also enjoyed a great swim-through, and underwater tunnel. The diving
lasted 54 minutes and, as always for safety, we spent five minutes hanging out
at five meters to reduce nitrogen levels before surfacing. And, as always, food
awaited us—an afternoon snack.
Later we made a shore excursion to the
brilliant white beach of Similan #8, then climbed up to Sail Rock, a giant
granite fin with fine views of sea, sand, and jungle. In the evening there was a
night dive, but I took a rest instead.
31 March on the Andaman Sea
Our early morning dive went down at Three Trees off Similan #9. Corals dot a
sloping sandy slope and either home of stop-off for many fish. Two kinds of fish
have venomous spines yet have adopted different strategies—the common lionfish
stands out with stripes and flamboyant feather-like fins, while the bearded
scorpionfish can change colors to blend in with its surrounding to wait in
ambush. The sands are home to shrimp and goby who share a burrow and live in
symbiosis—the nearly blind shrimp (often a pair of them) digs the burrow, and
the goby keeps a lookout for danger. A flick of the goby’s tail will warn the
shrimp to take cover. Perhaps the most colorful shrimp is the peacock manti
shrimp, which depending on its mood, will either retreat into a burrow or stand
its ground in an aggressive display mode with its little pads extended. It’s
strange eyes are on staffs than can move independently, and scientists have
found this creature to have extraordinary color vision and an ability to see in
infrared. We went down as far as 23.3 meters and stayed a lengthy 65 minutes.
Back on the boat and heading north to our next dive site, we saw the thrilling
sight of dolphins sounding.
Although nine islands of the Similans are
numbered, the group actually has more islands to the north, which are simply
known by their names. Our late morning dive went down off the rugged limestone
island of Koh Bon. Underwater we saw expanses of dead coral, but there are
enough survivors to provide a place for creatures such as octopus, common
lionfish, and giant moray. Visibility was good at 20 meters, and we got down to
30 meters and stayed 57 minutes.
The early afternoon dive also went down
at Koh Bon, and everyone got very excited on seeing a pair of whale sharks—the
biggest fish of all! They eat small things and tend to be very tolerant of
divers near them. Whale sharks seem to like the ‘massage’ of bubbles from divers
underneath them. The first one made three close passes, then the second—with
many rainbow runners and other fish in tow—came by a couple times, then the
first whale shark returned for another pass. This was the first time I had seen
a whale shark, which I had long hoped to meet up with. We saw lots of other
fish, of course, and got down to 25.5 meters and stayed 51 minutes.
Our
sunset dive also took place off Koh Bon, and we dropped down above an underwater
pinnacle covered in colorful corals, then we made a long swim across a sandy
seafloor to corals. We saw titan triggerfish, which can be very aggressive
during nesting time and are the most feared fish by divers, though here they
were peaceable and ignored us. Impossibly slender and needle-like cornetfish
swam by and we saw dense clouds of glass fish. Like the previous dive, we had
visibility of 20 meters, went to 25.4 meters and stayed 54 minutes, surfacing in
time to see the sunset. Fish seem at their most active late in the day as most
are finishing up their hunting or foraging.
1 April on the Andaman Sea
A thunderstorm raged last night, but calm had returned in time for our early
morning dive at Koh Tachai Plateau, also part of the Similans. Visibility ranged
a fine 30-40 meters. We saw a sea snake, distinctly banded in white and black,
using its flattened tail to swim just above the sea floor. Above we saw a big
encircling school of chevron barracuda. Other fish included trevally, snappers,
marbled groupers, trumpetfish, and blackfin tuna. Divers also enjoy seeking out
the tiny things, and we found a glorius flatworm, black with pinkish edges, that
gracefully undulated through the water. We also discovered a nudibranch,
brownish with many spurs. The dive went down to 30 meters and lasted 43 minutes.
Next we motored over to Richelieu Rock, a croissant-shaped group of
undersea pinnacles that only break the surface at low tide. When diving pioneer
Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited this part of the Andaman Sea, he asked local
fishermen about pinnacles, and they pointed him to this site. He took a look at
the gorgeous red and violet soft corals that cover the pinnacles, and that
reminded him of the robes of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642). It’s in the Surin
National Marine Park and one of Thailand’s iconic dive sites. Besides the
brilliantly colored soft corals, we saw lots of fan and whip corals. Luca became
upset when seeing a diver from another group sit on a piece of fragile coral, so
Luca quickly found the group’s leader who pulled the errant diver off the coral.
Other denizens included a large thorny (spiny) seahorse in a yellow hue,
probably a female; they are carnivorous and feed on small crustaceans and other
planktonic organisms. A sleek and silvery crocodile needlefish swam by, and I
think is the species that rammed into a diver with me two years ago and left a
deep wound; that was at the end of a night dive and the fish may have been
confused by our lights and the white skin of the diver. We also saw common
lionfish, bearded scorpionfish, batfish, pufferfish, tomato anemone fish,
longnose emperor fish, and a big school of trevally. Visibility ranged 15-30
meters and we went down to 30 meters and stayed 52 wonderful minutes.
We
had Richelieu Rock to ourselves for the early afternoon dive, and saw pickhandle
barracuda just after we jumped in. Banded boxer shrimp, in a red-and-white
attire and with very long feelers, inhabited recesses in the coral. Also hidden
away in a crevice, we found a frogmouth, a very strange looking fish with the
first dorsal fin ray modified into a short bioluminescent lure which dangles
forward over the mouth, which is turned upwards so as to be nearly vertical;
modified fins extend from the belly and resemble legs. We also saw lots of
bearded scorpionfish along with batfish, blue dragons (nudibranches), peacock
mantis shrimp, and cleaner pipefish.
The Swiss couple had left this
afternoon on a speedboat, leaving just myself and another couple as the
customers. Our boat then headed north to Aow Paka of the Similan Islands, where
we saw a waterspout in the distance. When we arrived a terrific thunderstorm
pounded us. Luca saw a lightning strike on the water that created a brief
fireball. Then we went diving! The storm had passed, but only Luca and myself
went for the night dive. Underwater we could see the flashes of distant
lightning. A cornetfish resting on the bottom had brown stripes, but those
stripes disappeared when it swam off. Eyes of shrimp glowed white in our lights,
and we saw giant red crabs, many small crabs, moray eels, feather stars.
Parrotfish had parked themselves for the night in crevices, then fell asleep. We
stayed shallow, no more than 20.6 meters, then came up after 51 minutes. A dense
swarm of a tiny silver fish kept bumping into us near the surface, and Luca was
concerned that one would clog his regulator.
2 April on the Andaman Sea
On our early morning dive at Surin South, we encountered a very strong current,
which we tried to mitigate by staying near the bottom or in the shelter of rocks
and corals. Much of our route went over coral rubble, a dispiriting scene, but
we saw a giant moray, bluespotted ribbontail rays, parrotfish, and pickhandle
barracuda. Lionfish had a tough time with the current, and scurried into little
alcoves. I used a lot more air than normal because of strenuous swimming against
the current, but managed to stay down 45 minutes, reaching a maximum depth of
25.2 meters.
We had planned to make two more dives in the main group of
Similan Islands, but when word came over the radio of two whale sharks at
Richelieu Rock, we changed plans and headed there. A strong current swept
through as we made our late morning dive here, but we didn’t mind as the pair of
whale sharks soon appeared, larger than the ones we saw at Koh Bon, and with
their wide mouths open for feeding. Lots of fish tagged along with the whale
sharks including remoras, cobia, pilot jack, and trevally. Visibility ranged
20-40 meters, which made views of the whale sharks especially great. We went
down to 26.1 meters and stayed 40 minutes.
On the early afternoon dive
at Richelieu Rock we again met up with the whale sharks, who swam at shallow
depths. We dove as far down as 27.6 meters, but not for long as murky green
water (‘green monster’ as some divers call it) felt cold and reduced visibility
to 5 meters. Fish didn’t seem to mind the murk, though, and we saw many there.
We also saw a fimbriated moray, which has many tiny dark spots. The dive had an
average depth of 14.6 meters, and we stayed down 49 minutes.
The sunset
dived also took place at Richelieu Rock, and again we met up with the whale
sharks, though we only saw the pair together near the end of the dive. The dive
down only to 13.5 meters (7.7 meters average), and lasted 61 minutes.
3
April on the Andaman Sea
On our last day we had time for just two dives, and
they both took place on wrecks lying on a sandy seabed. Boonsung Wreck is a
former tin-mining dredge, sunk on purpose here after tin prices collapsed. The
2004 tsunami that ravaged the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand broke apart the
wreck, but it’s still a great place to find sea creatures. It also functions as
a nursery with many juvenile fish. Larger fish also frequently drop by. We saw a
lot of nudibranches (white with black markings—very pretty) and a baby lionfish
as well as many adults. Twin magnificent and beau vallon magnificent slugs also
had great beauty. Baby soles hung out on the sands, blending in well. We also
saw honeycomb and white-eye moray eels, yellow snails, goatfish, six-striped
soapfish, snappers, titan triggerfish, and many scorpionfish. Visibility was a
decent 12 meters—far better than I experienced here two years ago—and we went
down to 17.8 meters and stayed 59 minutes.
The second dive went to 813
Truck Lagoon, and yes, has lots of what looked like old U.S. Army trucks parked
on the seafloor along with a purposely sunk navy boat. This was also a good
place for small things, and we found a baby octopus, nudibranches, a juvenile
oriental sweetlips along with titan triggerfish, lionfish, and scorpionfish.
Many shrimp lived with gobies in burrows. We only went down as far as 16.2
meters and stayed 58 minutes. Visibility wasn’t as good at 5-7 meters, but still
OK. On this dive I went with the leader Jon and the couple from the Philippines
as Luca had paperwork to do topside.
Lastly we motored back to the pier,
then got the van to Khao Lak. I stayed again at Happy House Lodge.
4
April Khao Lak
I felt like doing more diving! Another five-day
Similans-Surins excursion would have been ideal, but the next one had been
cancelled when just a single diver had signed up. That left a three-day Similans
trip as the only option, except it conflicted with a dental appointment I had
made in Bangkok. I phoned the dental office and got the bad news that no other
open slots are available during my remaining time in Thailand. A little later,
however, I heard directly from my dentist that he was able to move my
appointment to a date after the diving. So I was good to go, and headed over to
the diving office. But there was one more trip going—MA7 with seven days in the
Mergui Archipelago off the coast of southern Myanmar—departing tomorrow. I asked
about it and was told that normally a two-week advance booking is needed, but
staff checked and told me that indeed I would be able to go if I made the
decision before 2 p.m. Nuttie, a Thai woman at the front desk, sweetened the
deal considerably with a 20% discount and free equipment. So I signed up! The
cost per day is more than the Thailand dives, and I’m not happy with the Myanmar
military dictatorship, but I figured this might be my only opportunity to do
these dives. Instead of a regular Myanmar visa, divers need a special permit
that costs a stiff US $230. So I peeled off my last three crisp $100 notes,
coincidentally brought for the two Myanmar cycling trips last winter, but not
needed as my debit card worked well there, and got change in Thai baht. And I
happened to have two visa photos needed. The liveaboard itself cost 34,000 baht
(US$1,080) plus a Nitrox package of 3,700 baht (US$118) for the planned 21
dives.
I needed more Thai baht, and headed to a nearby ATM, but the
machine malfunctioned and swallowed my card. I phoned a customer service number,
and after a long wait someone answered but didn’t speak English. Then I walked
to the bank branch and staff also had a very hard time reaching customer
service. After a very long wait I was able to speak to someone and give my name,
bank name, and ATM number. A return call was promised, but when none came that
day, I phoned my home credit union and cancelled the card. Beware of using
Krungsri Bank ATMs—I’ll avoid these yellow demons in the future!! I still had
another ATM card and got the needed funds, but this one charged a 1% extra fee
in addition to the 1.1% typically charged by Thai ATMs.
I also met up
with another American diver named ‘Bill,’ who is also diving multiple trips with
Similan Diving Safaris, but on different trips. I sorted photos of the past
diving trip and posted some on Facebook. All these were above water, of course,
as I don’t have an underwater camera. I ended the day with a red curry—tasty and
fiery.
On to Myanmar: Mergui Archipelago scuba diving
Back to beginning of Southeast Asia Backpacking Jan.-April 2018