Southeast Asia Backpacking Nov.-Dec. 2018

Thailand: scuba diving in the Andaman Sea—Part 2

30 November Andaman Sea
Koh Bon has a submerged pinnacle, and that’s where we dove. Strong currents made for a shorter dive of about 37 minutes, however, but we saw the usual abundant undersea life including tuna and trevally out hunting.
 
Our late-morning excursion went under at Koh Tachai Plateau, well to the north of the main Similan Islands, but still in Similan National Park. We encountered some current among the massive granite blocks and enjoyed seeing the very colorful hard and soft corals. Abundant fish included angelfish, bannerfish, batfish, grouper, tuna, and trevally.
 
In the afternoon we again visited Koh Tachai Plateau, encountering a cold thermocline near the bottom and somewhat murky water with a current. We saw giant and bearded moray eels and the usual abundance of fish.
 
In the evening we arrived in the Surin Islands and made a night dive at Coconut Bay. Five Jenkin’s rays snoozed on the sea floor while large crabs and lobsters ventured out from their rocky crevices. Some fish swam about, including cardinal fish and masked porcupinefish, both of which have very large eyes. And anytime that I covered my flashlight and waved my hand, I could see the tiny green sparkles from bioluminescent plankton.

A dazzling beach in the Similan Islands


Two thumbs up for this dive!


Longfin batfish (Platax teira) can change color from silvery white with
no bands to brown with darker banding, then fade back to silver again.


Lobsters like to hide in cracks, but will venture out after dark.


Pretty scenery!


How do the little fish avoid become a meal for the giant moray eel?


Jellyfish are mesmerising to watch!


A starfish snuggles in a coral garden.


The pineapple sea cucumber (Thelenota ananas) can reach up to
70 centimetres (28 in) in length and is considered a delicacy in the East Asia.


Jenkin’s whip ray (Himantura jenkinsii)

1 December Andaman Sea
Many divers particularly enjoy seeking out the tiny creatures of the sea, and that’s what we saw this morning when we went down among the giant granite boulders at Koh Chi in the Surin Islands: banded boxer shrimp, pipefish, pygmy pipehorse, flatworm, and the very well camouflaged orangutan crab. The usual large fish swam about too.

Sunrise over the Andaman Sea


Luca tells us what to expect at Koh Chi. We get an illustrated briefing like this before every dive.


Yes, that’s a smile!


Nobody likes the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) because it chews up hard coral polyps.
Venomous thorn-like spines cover its upper surface. It’s one of the largest starfish in the world.


Photographer meets photographer over a school of bluestripe snappers.

After breakfast we made a shore excursion to Morgan Village, inhabited by Moken (sea gypsies), in the Similan Islands. Their simple houses face the sea from which live, though they also have gardens in the jungle behind. Nearly every house had a little souvenir stand with wood carvings and other hand crafts, but otherwise villagers took little notice of us. A Thai teacher was busy grading papers in the two-room schoolhouse. Neither the Thai nor Myanmar governments recognize the Moken as citizens unless a child is born on the mainland, which rarely happens, so most villagers have no papers. I enjoyed stretching my legs by walking the length of the beach.

A Moken villager shuttles us to shore.


People live close to the sea at Morgan village.


Checking papers at school


Spirit totems in the village


Pablo gives us the briefing, with a joke or two, for the late morning dive. Photographer Krzysztof Bargiel looks on.

At Torinla Original in the Similans, we explored the great pile of granite boulders surrounded by sand and found the difficult-to-see ghost pipefish. We had an enthusiastic photographer, Kim from Hong Kong, in our group and he got nipped on the leg when he moved in too close to a nesting triggerfish. Kim was lucky, as our dive leaders later regaled us with tales of how divers had to have as many as ten stitches in their head after triggerfish encounters!

A giant moray eel (Gymnothorax javanicus) patiently waits for something tasty to swim by at Torinla Original.

The afternoon excursion went to nearby Torinla North, where a strong current made for a drift dive. Good growths of hard coral clung to boulders, but a lot of the dive went over an ugly expanse of coral rubble. We saw a Jenkin’s ray, two moray eels, lots of pufferfish, groupers, triggerfish, and a hawksbill turtle.

I think these are painted sweetlips (diagramma pictum). They look like a happy couple!


starry puffer (Arothron stellatus)


Back topside on the bow, Luca gets a rare chance to relax!


Surin Islands

Our sunset dive visited Richelieu Rock, the most famous dive site in the region for its abundance of colorful soft corals and huge numbers of fish. It’s a croissant-shaped undersea pinnacle whose summit just breaks the surface at low tide. Unfortunately the water was on the murky side with visibility only about 6 meters, plus my mask was fogging badly. Three cuttlefish made an appearance early in the dive. Many silvery and slim crocodile needlefish hung out near the surface.

Krzysztof Bargiel makes a selfie with amorous cuttlefish at Richelieu Rock.
Cuttlefish come in more than 120 species in 5 genera. The creature has amazing visual,
communications, and camouflage skills; more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish.

2 Dec. Khao Lak
The sea was still murky at Richelieu Rock in the morning, though visibility had improved. We came across a pair of cuttlefish early in the dive, then a coupled pair near the end. Clouds of tiny glass fish swarmed over the deep purple and red soft corals. ‘The gang’ of trevally, napoleon wrasse, and rainbow runner swam together while on the hunt.

Some of the beautiful soft corals that Richelieu Rock is so famous for.


I’m shocked at the unabashed love-making by the cuttlefish. Shocked!


Soon-ie thinks the cuttlefish are cute!


And not a bit camera shy!

The final dive of the trip also went down at Richelieu Rock, and visibility had improved a bit. Again we saw cuttlefish, including a male embracing a female with a ‘spare’ female hanging out nearby. They are remarkably unafraid of divers and a pair swam by very close to me. Underwater delights included sighting a peacock manti shrimp, fimbriated and white-eye moray eels, a ribbon eel, and lots of lionfish. A school of pickhandle barracuda passed by near the end of the dive.

Glass fish form a cloud over this little coral-covered pinnacle on our last dive at Richelieu Rock.

I shared a little cabin with Kim and two other divers.


But we spent most of the day topside on the large covered deck.


Our captain, Num, safely navigated us to each dive site, then picked us up after each dive.


Our chef, Ten, gave us very tasty meals.


Sous-chef, Tan, helped out in the little kitchen.


Tan readies our Italian lunch as we motor to port.


We dig in!


And lastly, the dishes.


Krys gets us organized for the group photo.


Our group photo after all the dives; I’m in the yellow shirt in front.

  Pizza and beer are the top items at our last dinner together.

On to scuba diving in Thailand’s Andaman Sea Part 3

Back to Beginning of Southeast Asia Backpacking Nov.-Dec. 2018