MANTA QUEEN 8

The horseshoe-shaped reef discovered by Jacques-Yves Cousteau on his way to the Similan Islands is known for its purple corals (it reminded Jacques Cousteau of Cardinal Richelieu´s purple robe) as well as diverse marine life ranging from small fish and harlequin shrimp to large pelagics like whale shark, manta ray, barracuda and grouper. The pinnacle falls steeply to the surrounding sand bottom at a maximum depth of 35 metres. The south side is a bay with a slope that gently falls to the deep, while the rest comprises sheer walls, groups of rocks and numerous small caves that are home to various marine life.

The majority of corals are colourful soft corals jostling against the wall, accompanied by huge sea fans, hard corals and sea anemones. Covered with colourful soft corals and sea fans, the group of rocks to the northwest host some spectacular species.

Due to the large scale of Richelieu Rock, it is not possible to explore the whole site in one dive. You should plan at least two dives here. Enter at the southeast mooring line and then take the left or right side depending on the current. Ascend with caution, when finishing every dive use a surface marker, swim away from the pinnacle and surface slowly, looking for boat traffic all the time.

Amazement awaits divers in every square metre of Richelieu Rock. Slowing down your pace gives you the reward of a chance to meet rare, camouflaged species. Always keep an eye over your shoulder in case of passing Whale Shark.

Without doubt this is ¨The Highlight¨ during any of our liveaboard trips with The Manta Queen Fleet.

The southern Thailand diving pinnacle is bigger, at a diving depth of 12 metres to the top. It is a dome shape surrounded by large boulders. The Thailand diving sand bottom is at a scubadiving depth of around 30 to 45 metres, with the deepest area on the southern side. To the west you will find large boulders at the Thailand diving divesite, some of which have formed diving swim-throughs. In the east, you will find stacks of small rocks, most of which are covered by hard corals and sea whips. Colourful soft corals and sea fans dominate the northern area of the Marine National Park. The top of the Thailand diving pinnacle is a wide flat plain with bush and mountain coral. This huge first Thailand diving pinnacle links to the smaller second diving pinnacle with a Thailand diving sand patch at 24 metres.

From the southern pinnacle, it is about a 50 metre swim at 24 metres depth to the northern pinnacle. The top of the northern pinnacle lies at a depth of 18 metres. This smaller pinnacle comprises a wide range of rock clusters and is home to large sea fans and corals, which are similar to the ones found on the southern pinnacle.

The diving reef slopes from a diving depth of 10 metres down to sandy diving bottom at 25 to 30 metres. The majority of corals here are hard corals including staghorn coral and brain coral that are interspersed with a few big coral heads.

Some 800 metres to the northwest of the island, there is a submerged pinnacle, which is sometimes marked by a buoy set by the Similan National Marine Park based in Khao Lak, although it is often washed away, thus a depth finder is essential here. The pinnacle is at a depth of 18 to 45 metres and is covered by an abundance of yellow soft corals and large sea fans ideally for khao lak scuba adventures liveaboard diving boats for both thailand PADI scuba courses and khaolak liveaboards as much as Thailand diving liveaboards like the mantaqueen fleet.

The site is a massive labyrinth, complete with channels, swim-through’s, and holes at every turn. Lucky for us that our exit point is always up or maybe you would end up lost amongst the towering boulders.

Good luck in the deeper areas with spotting Whitetip Reef Sharks, who tend to reside in the depths.

Also living on this site are Barracuda, Kuhl’s Stingray, Sesamoths, Nudibranch, Octopus, and the Peacock Mantis Shrimp.

Watch out for the washing machine currents that sometimes show up. Never try to fight these, as you will not win! Just go with the flow, relax, and ride them out.

The idea is to arrive on the top of the Thailand liveaboard diving pinnacle as soon as possible, as to avoid being blown off the khao lak dive site. Without a diving mooring line to use for the padi scuba descent, we are forced to jump in the similan water with the BCD completely empty, and descend straight away, finning to the top of the scuba pinnacle, where your manta queen dive guide will ask the first “OK?” Don’t worry though! Erase your serious face! Your khao lak scuba adventures dive guide will give you all the liveaboard scuba information you need for the similan liveaboard dive, and will address any worries you may have, in their enthusiastic and thorough manta queen dive briefing.

Check the deeper area for similan leopard sharks, thailand marble rays, and spotted eagle rays. Careful with dive buoyancy around this wall of the thailand dive pinnacle, as it drops down to about 50 meters.

Keep an eye out for the really special Sponge Snail that, in theory, resides in the Maldives but is spotted in the Thailand Liveaboard Andaman area and the Similan Islands as well.

At the big boulder in the centre, a pile of smaller rocks form swim-throughs at depths of between 12 and 22 metres Thailand diving Liveaboard depth. In addition, there are sheer walls covered with dense soft Thailand corals. Shallow patch corals and rock surround the island at a depth of 10 to 15 metres.

You may see whitetip reef sharksoff the boulders, and Kuhl's stingrays are common on the sandy bottom. You will find black and white snapper, giant travallies and tuna swimming amoung boulders, as well as schools of neon fusiliers, bluefin trevallies and yellow snapper. When passing through the swim-throughs, you may encounter big snappers, oriental sweetlips or harlequin sweetlips, and if you are lucky, you will spot ghost pipefish and frogfish camouflaged amoung the pinnacles. The lush corals are home to various small marine critters such as red fire gobies, blennies and nudibranches

Some areas are characterised by rubble and sand slope falling to a depth of 30 to 35 metres. The shallows are home to many reef fishes, and have stacked granite boulders covered with hard corals, soft corals,gorgonians and feather stars.

The highlight of the Thailand and Similan diving site is a pinnacle called Ruan-Mai (the Orchid Garden), which is covered with colourful soft corals and sea fans, a magnificent sight that shows the diversity and beauty of the marine life in the reef for Similan Liveaboard and diving in Thailand. This dive site is believed to be one of the best in the Similan Islands by experienced PADI scuba divers. On the southern side, some further corals can be found. In addition, in the shallow parts, you will find a huge plain of small grass-like soft corals on the sand that create a very pretty picture that looks similar to an underwater Japanese garden.Welcome onboard the Manta Queen Fleet and the Similan Island Liveaboard Operator Manta Queen 

Colourful corals are scattered along white powdery sand, creating beautiful natural scenery.

A big outcrop located on the south east makes this dive site unique and attracts many photographers at the liveaboard Thailand divesites. From the sandy bottom base at 20 metres to the top of the rock at 12 metres, this fantastic rock is surrounded by various colourful soft corals, gigantic sea fans, and many species of hard corals. The thai name for this spectacular rock is "Hin Muan Deaw" meaning "Whole roll [of film] rock", is the best way to describe how beuatiful this must-see rock really is. At the south side of Liveaboard Thailand Anita's Reef are gigantic boulders that extend from similan island 5 and continue southward. These gigantic boulders lie at between 30 and 35 metres on the sandy bottom, and form a channel to swim through.

in 2003, the Similan National Park authorities sank a 30m x 12m fibreglass fishing boat in the area to create a new dive site known as Tuna Wreck, which is located to due south of the south western corner of similan island #5, marked by a buoy. The wreck sits on the sandy divesite bottom just beyond the outer edge of the reef, with the depth varying from 28m metres, down to the deepest point at 40 metres Thailand diving depth.

Around the wreck, which locals describe as “fish soup,” you will pass through clouds of snappers, fusiliers, batfish, and trevally as you look for the special things living within the wreck and in the surrounding sand. Crocodile fish, stonefish, scorpionfish, lionfish, ornate ghost pipefish and much more reside with the kings of the site, the nudibranch. Do you think you will be able to find more than 10 different species on the same dive? I know I will!

Avoid penetrating the wreck at all costs. Since the tsunami broke it apart, the separate structures are very unstable. Also keep your eyes peeled for the many lionfish found hovering about the entire site. They always have the right of way.