FEB 27, 2019
So I found a job with a Thailand's "reputable" liveaboard company. This is my first stint in a liveaboard company. See red circle in the photo. That's me. On one of the trips, I even wrote a blog for the company. hope you like it.
Check-in done. Supply of favorite snacks loaded into bags and off we went, 26 guests from China, Germany, Great Britain, Singapore, Switzerland and Spain to Taplamu Pier where our largest vessel MQ3 was waiting for a 4D4N "dive, eat, sleep, repeat" adventure of the Andaman Sea.
This time around, MQ3 was run by 8 multilingual dive crews/cruise director and 8 Thai boat crews including the captain (big boss of the boat) .
Divers were advised to take the amazing "yellow pills" a.k.a the sea sickness pills prior to the departure. A pop will make you feel just fine, 2 and you will not remember a thing. So, sometimes more is not better.
Dinner was served while the vessel cruised effortlessly crushing waves in the midst of darkness accompanied by cooling sea breeze to Similan Island no. 8 where we spent the 1st night.
Besides the usual abundant marine life, divers were introduced to Similan underwater ambiance/formations with huge boulders and swim-throughs on the first day. During the dives at Deep Six, Elephant Head Rock, North Point and Mooring bay(night dive), divers encountered giant moray eels, giant trevallies, giant, giant sea fans, giant lobsters, just to name a few. Surely, one of the unforgettable experiences was witnessing an octopus fleeing from the reef when a giant moray was out hunting around. Day 1 ended with some "giant" smiles on many faces.
2nd day was when things get a little more interesting. We started the day with a dive at Christmas point before headed to Koh Bon for dive no. 2 and 3. We felt something was not right when there were 9 boats floating around the island. We were wrong. Something was definily right at Koh Bon. Most of our divers were entertained by giant black and white flappy objects with a big mouth. Was it a bird, was it a plane? No, it's a giant Oceanic Manta Ray!!! On both dives at Koh Bon! "Giant" smiles on many faces yet again. We ended day 2 with a satisfying sunset dive at the amazing Tachai Pinnacle. Tachai never disappoints.
All divers were up on their feet early on the 3rd day after 2 days of getting accustomed to the daily schedule. We explored Hin Kong at the Surin Islands to meet Mr. Hawksbill Turtle and some other boulder residents before headed to "double R" a. k. a. the highly anticipated RICHELIEU ROCK! for the remaining 3 dives of the day as the weather was kind enough to us this time. To some divers, it was their first experience seeing so much marine life on a dive site. It was jaw dropping experience. You can see it on their faces through the regulators and by the way their cameras being moved around.
You will find marine life at every depth and at every imaginable and unimaginable areas of the dive sites. That's how the blog author likes to describe the dive site. It's that amazing . You will most probably encounter lots of Giant Trevally, Long Nose Emperor Fish, Rainbow Runners, Cuttlefish, Batfish, Pickhandle Barracuda, Scorpion Fish, Lionfish, various types of Moray eel and many more on every trip at "double R".
Time passed quickly when everyone was busy making bubbles, filling up tummies, sharing life experiences and jokes. MQ3 #318 was on the final day of the trip. Divers were led into cargo area of Phra Thong wreck, a WW2 warship and got to meet a couple of resident sea moth, besides the usual school of snappers, Pompanos and lion fishes on the first dive. We then headed further south to 20+ year old Boon Sung wreck and T13 artificial wreck for the remaining dives of the day. No introduction needed for the amazing Boon Sung wreck. Although T13 is relatively new, marine lives started to flourish. Besides the purposely sank army trucks as the main attraction, we believe this dive site will be the main attraction for Nudibranches in no time. We found close to 10 types Nudibranches on this trip.
Heartiest congratulations to Mitchell and Elena on completing Enrich Air Nitrox course during the trip. A must, useful and easy course which can be done on any of our trips. Highly recommended if you are on multiple days of diving or wish to simply extend the bottom time.
No tears shed but saying goodbye, friendship hugs and handshakes will remain in our memory for a long time.
Thank you/Terima Kasih/Danke/Gracias/Xiexie so much to all the guests on MQ3 #318. You will always be our "best group of the week" !