5 April Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea—Myanmar
At about 8 a.m. I
checked out of the guest house and headed over to Similan Diving Safaris to sort
out my rental gear, an easy job. Then I got to meet a few of the other divers.
Our group includes 17 diving customers along with a non-diving woman spouse
(equipped with lots of reading material), four dive leaders, and the Thai crew.
A bunch of the company’s staff on holiday are joining us too. This will be the
last Myanmar diving trip of the season as the sea gets rough during the summer
months.
The company’s Dolphin Queen boat makes the Myanmar trips, and it
was docked near Ranong, a few hours’ drive north. So we piled into three vans
for the ride. While chatting to a fellow next to me and telling him that I had
worked as a travel guidebook writer, a woman in the row ahead turned around and
asked “What company did I work with?” I said “Moon Publications” and was about
to explain that it was a small company similar to Lonely Planet, but she knew of
Moon because her father, Joe Bisignani, had been a writer there, and I had known
him. He had been one of the first Moon authors, getting started in the early
1980s with a book on Japan, then a series of Hawaii guides. She and her mom had
come along on some of Joe’s Hawaii research trips and it was there that she did
her first Discover Scuba course.
After we got onboard, staff showed us
to our rooms and we got lunch. I was in the cheapest accommodation, a four-bunk
compartment, shared with fellows from Alaska and Michigan. That left a handy
empty bunk, soon filled with our bags. Thai immigration officials came on board
and did the paperwork, but only interacted with staff, not the divers. That done
we motored across the bay to Kawthoung, the town at the southern tip of mainland
Myanmar and where I ended the southern Myanmar bicycle ride a year ago.
Immigration people came on board, taking a long time, and again only dealt with
staff. Finally, now late afternoon, we could begin the journey into the Mergui
Archipelago, though diving wouldn’t begin until tomorrow. That was good for me
as I felt a bit tired today. We got a detailed briefing on the trip and boat,
followed by a tasty Thai dinner. The Dolphin Queen and Similan Explorer boats
have a similar size and layout and are equally comfortable—I recommend them!
6 April Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea—Myanmar
Overnight we had
journeyed to Black Rock, the northernmost and one of the favored sites on our
itinerary. It’s an isolated limestone pinnacle well out of sight of shore or any
other islands. The exposed summit is barren rock, but below the surface a great
variety of fish and other underwater life make their homes or stop by. To keep
group sizes small, we had divided into four groups. I did all dives with Mayumi
of Japan. As on the recent trip to the Similan and Surin islands, I used Nitrox
on all the dives.
We got up bright and early on a hazy day and jumped
into the blue water at 7:15 a.m., then dropped down to 25 meters. Lots of pretty
banner fish, with their white streamers coming off their backs, swam over the
corals in pairs or small groups. At the supremely ugly end of the scale we also
saw many bearded scorpion fish. They’re masters of camouflage with tiny
coral-like growths on their body, which can change color and patterns to match
their site. They lie nearly motionless, with only the intermittent gill openings
showing any sign of life. If a suitable meal swims by, that fish disappears!
Scorpion fish have venomous spines and are one reason divers are very careful
about touching things underwater! Much undersea life here has sharp teeth, such
as the giant moral eel and the more delicate snowflake moray. By peering into
crevices we often saw small life such as banded-boxer shrimp and nudibranches. I
also saw a peacock mantis shrimp, which shyly retreated into its burrow when I
came close. Beautiful soft corals, many in shades of blue or violet, cover the
limestone cliff faces and boulders. Anemones, and their small accompanying fish,
cover much of the tops of rocks at shallow depths. Other common sights include
fan corals, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, feather stars, sea stars, peacock mantis
shrimp, blue-ringed angelfish, puffer fish, and trumpet fish. Myanmar’s Mergui
Archipelago has a reputation for poorer visibility than down south in the Surins
and Similans, but the 15-25 meters today were great. After the dive a pod of
dolphins came by.
In late morning we went down again at Black Rock, a
little deeper to 29.1 meters, though averaging 16.1 meters. In a little cave we
found a large stonefish, probably the most venomous fish of all because of its
array of spines with poison sacs. Hard corals seem relatively sparse, and I
noticed that the colorful Christmas tree worms tend to be fewer and smaller than
their cousins off Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. Visibility seemed a bit less
at 10-20 meters. We stayed down 56 minutes.
The early afternoon dive at
Black Rock had similar life and conditions, plus we saw a fimbriated
moray—yellow with many small black spots. We hit 27 meters, though averaged 16.5
meters, and stayed down 56 minutes.
And for our sunset dive we again
dived at Black Rock, staying a bit shallower with a maximum of 21.7 meters and
average of 14.1 meters. Currents were highly variable. A clam emitted a white
stream of spawn, and a sea cucumber sent out a brown stream, which also might
have been spawn. Fish were very lively at this hour, often chasing each other.
Lots of scorpionfish—masters of camouflage—lay in wait for prey to come to them.
We also saw an African pompano and white-eye moray among many other species.
After an underwater time of 53 minutes, we called it a day and came up for
dinner. As we headed south from Black Rock, we saw dolphins sounding and
jumping. At night the glow of green lights from fishing boats lit up the
horizon.
7 April Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea—Myanmar
Our
early morning dive took place at Three Islets, a trio of tiny limestone
pinnacles. The largest, Middle Brother, has a solitary little tree atop its
craggy summit. Underwater it has an enjoyable swim-through called ‘Shark Cave’
and a canyon. Lots of life found niches at the site, including the distinctive
tomato anemone fish (orange with a black spot), tigertail seahorse (yellow),
cleaner pipefish (very tiny and like the seahorse is ovoviviparous; the male
carries the eggs in a brood pouch), Durban dancing and peacock mantis and
banded-boxer shrimps, anemone crabs, and big schools of fusilier. Visibility was
modest at 7-10 meters. We went down as far as 18.7 meters and stayed 64 minutes.
The second dive focused on Middle Brother and turned out to be a bit of a
clean-up dive by removing tangled fishing lines and a fish cage. We admired the
gorgonian fan corals, green corals, and other hard and soft corals as well as
the abundant fish. The dive went as far as 23 meters down and lasted 61 minutes.
Our third dive focused on Little Brother and was very similar to what we
saw at Middle Brother. We went down as far as 23.1 meters and stayed 64 minutes.
For a night dive, we went to Oasis, and rocked gently back and forth in the
swell. Although the water was the same 29-30° C as during the day, I felt cold.
Very few fish were out and about, but we saw many red-colored crabs. One fish,
well camouflaged, had seemingly ‘glued’ itself to a rock face. We stayed
shallow, going no deeper than 11.6 meters and staying down 47 minutes.
8
April Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea—Myanmar
We dove early morning at
Rainbow Rock, whose sheer underwater cliff face hosts dense soft coral growths
in bright colors of violet, orange, and yellow. Critters included a painted
spiny lobster, banded boxer shrimp, nudibranches, and white-eye and fimbriated
morays. We ended the dive in a long vertical crack. Our dive went down to 25.9
meters, 15.6 meters average, and lasted 60 minutes.
For the late-morning
dive, we headed over to Castle City, packed with limestone pinnacles and
canyons. I had long wished to see a cuttlefish or squid underwater, and here a
cuttlefish let me get close! It was white with dark spots, but then transformed
to dark brown when it swam away. Fish included a black-blotched porcupinefish,
that can ‘inflate’ itself to make spines stick out if predators threaten; some
of the internal organs contain a powerful neurotoxin that further deters
aggressors of this clumsy-looking fish. We also saw three kinds of pretty
shrimps—peacock mantis, banded boxer, and Durban dancing. We dove as deep as
23.3 meters and stayed down 60 minutes.
We headed to Elephant’s Kiss for
the early afternoon dive, though it takes a lot of imagination to picture the
rocks as elephants! Lots of soft and some hard corals along with fan corals
decorate the site, and we saw many of the usual fish. The dive got down as far
as 23.7 meters, 15.4 meters average, and lasted 54 minutes.
We did an
exploratory dive at sunset to an area perhaps not dived before, but likely to be
good because of other dive sites in the area. The diving turned out to be good,
but not so exceptional that we felt inspired to name it. Near the beginning of
the dive we saw a banded sea krait swimming along the sandy bottom. As at
Elephant’s Kiss, we experienced an abundance of soft corals along with lesser
amounts of hard, fan, and harp corals. The usual fish included blue-ringed
angelfish. Although it seemed a bit dark underwater, fish were very active. A
few of the divers had become entranced with solving the Rubik’s Cube, and one
woman brought one along to try to solve during the five-minute safety stop at
the end of the dive, though she couldn’t quite solve it in that time. A school
of a tiny silver fish, perhaps sardines, swam near the surface. We had a strong
swell underwater, then rough seas on the boat at dinner time. Luckily I was OK
with that and dinner stayed where it belonged.
9 April Mergui
Archipelago in the Andaman Sea—Myanmar
Early morning saw us go under at Frog
Rock, which has scenic undersea canyons. Here the abundant soft corals all have
a yellow hue, as do the fan corals. We saw the usual blue-ringed angelfish,
titan triggerfish, parrot fish, snappers, and scorpion fish. Barrel sponges, in
a violet color, are present but sparse as at other sites I’ve been to in the
Andaman Sea. We got as deep as 24.4 meters, but averaged 15.8 meters and stayed
down 59 minutes.
After breakfast we headed down to Candy Canyon, where
today’s sunshine brought out the brilliant colors. Lots of yellow soft corals
live on the vertical walls here as do large gorgonian fan corals. A peacock
mantis shrimp stood his ground and made displays at the entrance to his burrow.
I wouldn’t wish to fight with one as their punch is strong enough to break
aquarium glass! One of the guides found a ghost pipefish, which are related to
pipefishes and seahorses. The animals, none of which are longer than 15
centimeters (5.9 inches), float near motionlessly, with the mouth facing
downwards, around a background that makes them nearly impossible to see. They
feed on tiny crustaceans, sucked inside through their long snout. (Wikipedia)
The dive got down to 25.1 meters and lasted 61 minutes.
We liked Candy
Canyon so much that we returned in early afternoon. We saw the very
strange-looking Maldives sponge snail, whose dark protuberances make it look
like a sponge, which hides the shell underneath. A scorpionfish perfectly
matched the dark brown hard coral upon which it sat. The oriental sweetlips
swimming about had a pattern of horizontal black and white stripes with yellow
on its fins, tail, and nose, along with its namesake thick lips. We got to 22.9
meters and stayed 64 minutes.
Our sunset dive went under at Pink Cliffs,
where underwater walls support dense coral growth. Soft corals tended to be red
or violet in deeper parts and yellow in shallower depths. Fish numbers decreased
during the dive as they headed home. Sunset colors greeted us upon surfacing.
Our dive had gone down to 22.6 meters, but averaged just 13.1 meters. We stayed
54 minutes.
10 April Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea—Myanmar
In
early morning we visited Fan Forest, home of large fan corals on a submerged
limestone pinnacle. A scorpion fish must have been having a bad day, because it
adopted a blue color when its surroundings were browns and yellows! We also saw
common lionfish, typically swimming in pairs, titan triggerfish, boxfish,
trumpet fish, puffer fish, and apair of giant morays. A crown of thorns starfish
had contrasting black and dark blue coloration. Maximum depth was 28.3 meters
and we were down 59 minutes.
Next we visited Western Rocky, which
features a cave that goes all the way through the pinnacle. First we swam
through an impressively large arch—our photographer Richard was waiting for us
here—then we went one by one through Crayfish Cave. We carried lights because
the interior got dark in the middle. Lobsters hung out in crevices in this dark
section. Out in the bright sunshine we saw lionfish, pufferfish, porcupine fish,
and a spotted boxfish, which we could tell was a male because of its blue color.
A school of cuttlefish passed by slowly near the surface. They’re fascinating to
watch with an undulating membrane around the sides, strange eyes, and a bit of
iridescence on their bodies; also I could get close. The dive went down to 24.2
meters, averaged 15.1 meters, and lasted 62 minutes.
After lunch we went
again dove at Western Rocky, but dropped on a submerged pinnacle to the east of
the main island. This time met a whale shark—always exciting to see and swim
with! Tiny yellow and white frogmouths lay hidden back in tiny caves, but our
guides somehow found them. We also saw many other kinds of fish including
scorpionfish. The water seemed murkier than on the previous dive with visibility
about 12 meters. Our dive went to 25.1 meters, averaged 15 meters, and lasted 55
minutes.
Our sunset dive also took place at Western Rocky, where we
found lots of very active fish, including big schools of fusiliers. Six
cuttlefish slowly cruised by in the shallows just before we ended our dive.
Maximum depth was 23.6 meters, average depth 14.3 meters, and we lasted 55
minutes.
11 April bus Ranong to Bangkok
Our early morning dive at
Shark Lagoon and nearby The Wall would be our 21st and last. Past trips had
managed two morning dives, but now the scheduling with Myanmar immigration
allowed only this one. And it turned out to be one of the best. We first swam
through a short cave that one can enter either on the surface or a bit
underwater, into Shark Lagoon. Steep walls of rugged limestone encircled the
large pool. Hard corals abounded in the shallows and attracted many small fish,
while the deeper part had a sand bottom. Black-tip sharks would hang out here in
the past, but none were seen today, perhaps due to a mix of hunting pressure
outside and snorkeling tourists who come on day trips.
After a look
around Shark Lagoon, we exited and turned right for a look at the aptly named
The Wall. An abundance of hard and soft and whip corals clung to this underwater
cliff and provided many habitats for sea creatures. We peered into crevices and
saw three tiger-tail seahorses, yellow with gray banding; very cute despite the
fact that they did nothing but wrap their tail around something and pose
motionless. Banded boxer shrimp, red-and-white patterned with extremely long
feelers, hung out in another crevice. Yet another hole contained a juvenile
lionfish, a showy creature that’s lovely to look at but not a bid cuddly. I saw
something move and went over for a close look, and what looked like a rock
covered in the usual sea growth turned out to be an almost perfectly camouflaged
stonefish, notorious for having the most venomous spines of all fish. A starry
puffer fish, large and boxy, slowly finned its way along and occasionally took
bites out of the cliff face. This slow creature would be easy to catch, but
potential predators know that it would be deadly to eat. It has wonderful
geometric patterns of black lines including ones that radiate from its eyes. I
also saw a black-spotted puffer fish, small and cute, slowly go about its
business.
We were lucky today to have only a slight current, and it
helped us along. We stayed shallow, going only as deep as 21.9 meters and
averaging 14.2 meters, so the dive turned out to be one of my longest at 65
minutes. Waves made getting back on the boat a bit tricky, and I kept on my mask
and regulator until getting up the short ladder. We motored a few hours to
Kawthoung for a one-hour shore excursion while immigration handled the
paperwork. Most of the gang headed to a local bar, but a few of us headed to the
large Buddhist temple complex of Pyi Taw Aye Pagoda, perched on a hillside. It’s
centered on a large golden chedi, topped with an ornate crown. A mirrored
hallway in the base contains Buddha images in the four directions. The
surrounding courtyard has many attractions including a towering standing Buddha,
a massive sitting Buddha, dusty dioramas of the Buddha’s past lives and major
events of his life, and a large bodhi tree, encircled by a wall.
I
descended the stairs back to Pagoda Road and followed it past a mosque where a
funeral service seemed to be taking place, as people had carried a green-draped
coffin inside. Back at the pier, we waited for our little inflatable to take us
to our boat. The photographer, Richard, took a group picture of us on the front
of the boat, then we settled in for lunch as we made the short hop east to a
remote dock near Ranong. Except for poor Richard, who holed up on his bunk to
sort out the photos of the trip. He charges a stiff 2,000 baht for a set of
photos, and I splurged for a copy of what turned out to be 289 full-size still
images, a few taken topside of passing scenery, but the majority extremely
colorful underwater views. He uses a Canon DSLR in a housing with two strobe
lights attached.
As before, boat staff handled the paperwork with
immigration officials. Here I walked the plank after saying goodbye to divers
and crew. Everyone else would stay on the boat for the overnight journey back to
the pier near Khao Lak. I would miss the party that night! One of the boat staff
arranged for a driver to take me into Ranong, but at an extortionate price of
400 baht, bargained down from 500 baht. The driver knew I had no other options
at this little-used pier. He dropped me off at Ranong’s bus station, where I
hoped to find transport to Bangkok. Thailand’s big Songkran holiday began soon
and I wondered if the buses would be packed out. As it turned out, a bus was
just about to leave for Bangkok and it was less than half full. This was a
2nd-class bus, a little less plush and lacking the free water and snacks of the
1st-class ones that I usually go on, and bargain-priced at 320 baht. By about
3:30 p.m. I was on my way, enjoying the green countryside of jungle and
plantations of rubber and palms. The bus rolled through coastal hills, crossed
the peninsula to the Gulf of Thailand side near Chumphon, then sped north on
wide highways to Bangkok, making one 20-minute meal stop.
Back to beginning of Southeast Asia Backpacking Jan.-April 2018