West of Eden delivers the goods as well, with Swim throughs, Spearing Mantis Shrimp and a really cute Frogfish making appearances on the dive:
Two more dives round out the first day, including an exciting night dive, complete with decorator crabs and some of the largest lobsters we've ever seen! The following morning included a wonderful trip to the beach at Donald Duck Bay and the view point from beneath Sail Rock.
Next it's on to Koh Bon and Koh Tachai for more exciting diving. With great visibility and blue water, the conditions were fantastic. We had heard on the radio about a Whaleshark on the West Ridge, but by the time we arrived at the site and got in it was gone. Little did we know we would be seeing one just a few days later. Large schools of Sweetlips, Tuna, Trevally and Barracudas could be seen during these dives, and the dives were sweet! We even had a pair of mating Octopus at Tachai Pinnacle, putting on quite a show. There seems to be a lot more Octopus out this year... Those little guys have been busy!
Day three takes us to Richelieu Rock and it delivers the usual unbelievable diving. Enough said on that. Now let me skip ahead to day four. We are back at Koh Bon, just a few hundred meters from the West Ridge where we missed the Whaleshark two days ago. As we are about to step in on Koh Bon Pinnacle, a few of us talk and joke about Whalesharks. I even say " Hey guys, be careful not to land on the Whaleshark when you do your giant stride entry". Totally joking. Less than one minute later, to our surprise, we are all swimming with one! The Whaleshark swam with all of us for 15 minutes. Left us for a few minutes, then came back for another pass. Everyone was SOOOO excited! After another few minutes it was gone, but then a Leopard Shark came on the scene. Bonus!!! Such a great four days of diving. I know what you're thinking right about now - Geez, I wish I were there! Well, you can be! Join us on any of our Similan Adventures... we have another trip leaving tomorrow!!! :-)
