Livin' It Up
Trip Start
May 07, 2005
1
76
117
Trip End
Ongoing
Similan,
Thailand
Sunday, February 12, 2006
I had to get up super early for the pick-up which drove two hours to catch the speedboat to go another two hours. We arrived on the liveaboard around 11am in time to do a quick dive before lunch.
The boat was a lot nicer than I expected. I had read reviews that said this company just churns people around and is crowded. I didn't find this to be the case at all. Between the time the speedboat arrived at 11am with a fresh crowd and departed at 2pm with people finishing the boat was a bit crowded but most of that time was spent with people in the water, on the lower deck getting in or out of scuba gear, or in their cabin packing up. Outside that time there was no crowd at all
Daytime
.Everything on the boat was first rate. There was about one dive master per three divers which I suspect was a fluke but it made for nice small groups. Everybody knew their stuff and most of the diving crew was very comfortable with that area. They did a good job of making groups of people with similar experience levels. The rest of the boat was good too. I was only there for one night so I kept busy diving and didn't have a chance to get bored. They only had one TV with DVD player but no DVDs. The sundeck was very nice and there was plenty of chances to snorkel if you didn't get enough diving but I imagine that a few days on board might get boring without a good book. The food was surprisingly good. It was mostly Thai and not too bland (tourist operations avoid food being too spicy). I was especially impressed with the muscles and crabs.
The dive coordinator was very experienced. He looked like someone who had retired from the navy -- grizzled and at home on a boat. He was very good at delicately helping people or giving advice. He tried to insert some jokes into his dull 20-minute introduction speech. When I asked him for an asprin he guessed that I was breathing too shallowly underwater and was building up carbon dioxide, and I think he was correct
Sunset
.But the diving was why I was there and WOW! Every single dive was amazing. The first dive we saw a guitar shark, my first shark spotting ever. Even my hard-to-impress divemaster with 7000 dives was excited because it was only the third time he had seen one. It look 3/4 shark and 1/4 ray. Instead of front fins it had the ripply ray fins. It was startling and cool and weird.
I saw lionfish making a nest. I saw turtles swimming, sitting, and eating coral. I saw one of those bad purple starfish things that destroy coral. One dive had a huge field of anemone with lots and lots of anemone fish (like Nemo). One dive saw three white-tip sharks. I'm forgetting tons of things and don't feel like dragging out my log book. I wish I had rented an underwater digital camera for $35.
I was just a fabulous and wonderful time.
On the speedboat back to shore it started raining and I got soaked to the bone and then froze in the over-airconditioned van back to Patong. But I didn't care. I was happy and I was going to see my sweetheart after being away for so long.
