Manta Queen 1 Trip Number 188
This trip we welcome back to Khao Lak Scuba Adventures Ralph and Connie (Action Sport Germany) with another large group of enthusiastic divers for our 4 day 4 night liveaboard adventure to the Similan Islands.
Day one begins at Deep Six on Similan Island 7 for our shakedown dive buoyancy checks etc., where we can see big tuna and small ribbon eels.
Elephant Head Rock next, one of the best sites between Similan Island 7 and Similan Island 8 good for trevallies, rainbow runners and numerous swim throughs.
After lunch we went to Eagle Rock on Similan Island 9 where Sandra completed here Padi Open Water Course......well done.
Our night dive was in Nam Chi bay, an excellent spot for seeing many lobsters.
Day two concentrates on two dive sites on the north of Similan Island 9, Three Trees and North Point where many of us got to see leopard sharks and white tip reef sharks. Leopard shark sightings this year are on the up from last year which is a good sign to see these amazing creatures again.
Moving north to Koh Bon Island for a dive on the West Ridge hoping for manta rays with plenty of nipple rubbing lol.
The day concludes with our sun set dive on the dome at Koh Tachai Island while Ralph went to reef to complete navigation training for his Padi Advanced Open Water students.
Day three begins on The Dome at Koh Tachai Island to a max depth of 30 metres, giving us the opportunity to see areas not seen on the sunset dive, chevron barracuda and emperor fish shoal around the top of the dome.
Moving up to Richelieu Rock we spend the rest of the day here exploring this amazing place over the next three dives.
Day four begins back in Koh Bon Island on the pinnacle of "Hin Luang" meaning yellow rock due to all the small yellow soft corals covering the dive site. Usually we get to see large blotched fantail stingrays here but today we were rewarded with the appearance of one of the biggest fishes in the sea, the Whaleshark.....astounding experience.
Staying in Koh Bon Island for dive 2 we start at North Ridge and dive towards West Ridge again in the hope of glimpsing mantas, leopard sharks and maybe the whaleshark again .
To finish the trip we head to the Boonsung Wreck in 18 metres of the coast near to Khao Lak, a great finish in fish soup.
Thanks to everyone for a great Similan Island Liveaboard trip and hope to see you all again soon in Thailand.
