Thailand Liveaboards, Similan Islands

[Lethal_OZ]

For a long time i've been interested in going on a liveaboard to the Similan Islands in Thailand, and possibly further into the islands of Burma. Although not sure my budget will stretch to Burma. Anyone been to Similan Islands before?? Any advice?

[Damnam]

Go Oct to May to avoid the bad weather. You should be able to find a liveaboard on Phuket that will do a day trip to Burma. I love the diving in Simillan though, we go every year just at the end of the season so it's a bit quieter. If you go peak time it can get a little crowded down on the popular reefs.

[pnevai]

http://www.fantasea-divers.com/

You won't be dissapointed

[boarder06]

Patong is pretty much the hub. If you have a day or two, I would recommend to organize your trip locally. Quality of the boats varies greatly and (mostly) you get what you pay for. It is a popular and cheap destination for liveaboards and at times you will mostly see neoprene fish. A lot of the customers are recently certified divers. Dive sites can really get crowded. In addition to the inflatables, many of the operators pick up divers with the main boat and there is usually a lot of traffic at dive sites. Be careful when ascending. It pays to ask around locally for advise from divers.

I went to Myanmar in 2002 with the Faah Yai. I booked the trip locally for a steep discount. Back then, the boat was run by crazy Frenchmen Allan and his Thai wife. Starting in Patong, he would pick people up along the coast and drive them all the way to the Thai/Myanmar border. You board in Thailand and go out across the bay to Myanmar, where an immigration "officer" comes on board and all entry formalities are handled. A lot of Myanmar liveaboards start from Phuket and you actually spend most of the time going to and from the Northern Andaman Sea. Allan really knows what he is doing. The best briefings I have ever had on any trip and they would actually agree with what we'd see underwater. The diving is small pinnacles in a big, wide, deep ocean. So timing the dives with the tide is everything and he always got it right. Talking to others from other boats (which we never saw) later, I think we got the much better deal. Allan just knows where and how to find stuff under water. So, if he is still running the boat I would highly recommend the Faah Yai.

Of course owners and operators change often and you should get more recent info. I hope it is a starting point at least ...

[Aussie]

I did the Similians last November with MV Queen Scuba. I had a mate who was working on the boat as an instructor and he recommended the boat as it was the best one he worked on over there. The staff are an awesome bunch and I became more of mate than a customer. I think it comes down to the staff and how they treat the customers more than the boat itself.

The boat is only 4 years old and looks brand new and is built as a dive boat. It has a big rear deck and huge diving platform and is one of the best laid out liveaboards I have been on.

The food is great with a mix of western and Thai food. The Thai chef has been stolen from another company as he is one of the best. I always make an effort to be great mates with the chef as this has it rewards. I wanted to try traditional Thai food as much as I could as I love it. The chef went right out of his way to make special traditional foods of his local area.

The diving is very similar to diving the Great Barrier Reef. The islands reminded me of the Whitsunday group of islands. Warm clear water and sometimes a big cold green monster would come in and drop the temp from 28/29c down to 23/4c Vis went from 30+m down to 10m. But the cold water brought in the Manta Rays as the cold water is full of food.
We did miss out on Whale Sharks but we did see a couple of large mantas. My mate told me that they got several Whale sharks and mantas on the niext trip. Thats diving for you.

I recommend MV Queen Scuba and would go back again for sure.

Aussie

http://siamdivers.com/dive/queen-scuba/

[scubamike]

Originally Posted by Lethal_OZ

For a long time i've been interested in going on a liveaboard to the Similan Islands in Thailand, and possibly further into the islands of Burma. Although not sure my budget will stretch to Burma. Anyone been to Similan Islands before?? Any advice?

We did a Similan Liveaboard in 2006 and I had blast!!. Diving so close to perfect except we didn't see a whaleshark. I had so much fun and the boat crew were extremely nice and helpful.

We used "Lee Maha" (Something like that). the space is tight so dont expect it to be like a Caribbean liveaboard. But this liveaboard is for younger people so it was a lot of fun to hang out with everybody.

Once again diving was amazing!. You will not regret it.

Guys: remember to leave a nice tip for the crew/dm. They dont make much and most of the Europeans are not used to leaving tips back in Europe

[chinacat46]

Some good info here. I'm thinking of doing a liveaboard out of Phuket in Feb or March. I've heard the Mermaid I is a real nice boat as well.

[CompuDude]

I'm going to Thailand for a couple of weeks in January, and have done a lot of research.

The one thing I have heard pretty consistently, is if you are planning to do a liveaboard to the Similians, be sure to go for at LEAST 3 days, if not 4-5, else you'll be feeling very rushed the whole time. The trip from the mainland to the diving area is fairly long, so shorter trips really end up fairly rushed.

[scubamike]

Yes. They usually pick you up in Phuket and the drive to ...forgot the name of the city... but it's 3-4 hours north of Phuket.

I will share my pictures of my liveaboard once I figure out how to do it.

Originally Posted by CompuDude

I'm going to Thailand for a couple of weeks in January, and have done a lot of research.

The one thing I have heard pretty consistently, is if you are planning to do a liveaboard to the Similians, be sure to go for at LEAST 3 days, if not 4-5, else you'll be feeling very rushed the whole time. The trip from the mainland to the diving area is fairly long, so shorter trips really end up fairly rushed.

[jaiyim]

I am goint to go to liveaboard trip at Similan site. I am thai and love my country site very much. It nice to meet you ........all