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Published: February 12th 2007
Sea Turtle!
One of the many magnificent images Devlin captured during our snorkel adventure with Mr. Turtle.As is the norm lately, I apologize for the lack of blog entries. Life has been interesting and busy on this side of the world, not leaving much time for typing. Here is what we’ve been up to…
From January 22-28 we booked ourselves onto a diving liveaboard boat in the Similan Islands. What this basically means is that you have a cabin on the boat, which is somewhat like a floating hotel. You never get off the boat, except to get into the water to dive. To us, this was a slice of heaven for 7 days. It definitely required a lot of effort each day, and I’ll never go so far as to say it was easy, but it rewarded us with the most spectacular diving we’ve experienced thus far and gave us a real sense of accomplishment when we were done. Our daily agenda went something like this:
1. Wake up call at 6am (although the wake up call consisted of the Thai boat leader calling down the stairs, “Wake up” once and then assuming we’d all heard…) brush teeth, insert contact lenses and put on bathing suit. As the week wore on it became harder and
Me and the Turtle
Who knew turtles eat bananas? And yup, that's yours truly! harder to drag our nitrogen riddled bodies out of bed each morning, but a quick reminder of what we could be waking up and doing at that time should we be at home with jobs seemed to do the trick.
2. Walk upstairs to the main deck by 6:45am, in time to catch some of the most stunning ocean sunrises I’ve ever seen (and the most sunrises seen on this trip). Enjoying a cup of tea and a piece of toast with peanut butter while gazing out over the open water has to be the most perfect morning routine I’ve ever had. As soon as all the clients had arrived on the main deck the dive briefing (information on currents, what to look for, maximum depth etc) commenced and we were downstairs on the dive deck by 7:00am.
3. By 7:15am we donned our gear, checked our air, and had entered the water in our small groups (each divemaster has 2-4 divers with them) ready to descend for the first dive of the day.
4. Maximum bottom time was 50 minutes on all dives, or ascending when the first member of a group reached “50 bar” (bar measures the air
National Geographic!
Devlin really amazed me with the quality at which these pics turned out. The water color was perfect, and the surface provides such a cool effect. We had a little fan club on the boat who were frantically giving us their email addresses so we could send them copies! left in your tank). By 8:15am most groups were out of the water removing their gear and discussing the sealife we just saw under the surface. A quick rinse with fresh water to remove the salt from your body and then towel off and we’d head back to the main deck for breakfast. This was usually my favorite meal of the day, it consisted of eggs either scrambled (yum) or fried (not so yum), French toast or pancakes, bacon, sausages and fruit. Oh and don’t forget the Pepsi. Everything was complimentary on the boat except for beer. We definitely drank our money’s worth of Pepsi!! I’ve decided that it tastes much better out of a glass bottle too.
5. After breakfast we had nearly 2 hours to lounge on the upper sun deck, lay in the air conditioned saloon on the enormous leather sectional or hang out on the main deck playing cards or reading.
6. Dive briefing #2 started around 10:30, depending on how far the boat had to drive to the next site. After heading downstairs and organizing ourselves we were usually in the water by 11am.
7. Back on the dive deck at 12pm, we went through
Oh No You Don't!
Those are my FINGERS, no bananas!! (Notice the balled up fists, trying to save my endangered digits!) the motions again of removing our gear and rinsing the salt water off. The sun is moving into it’s hottest position of the day, so laying on the upper sun deck could be asking for trouble. If the boat was moving though it meant a constant cool breeze, although as Dev learned sunblock is ALWAYS required in the scorching Thailand sun. Lunch was served at 12:30, the buffet always containing different delicious Thai items such as chicken and cashew nuts, Thai curries, steamed rice and fruit.
8. After lunch we had roughly 90 minutes to ourselves to relax, flip through the fish books to try to identify what we had seen underwater, review pictures we had taken or just lay in the sun.
9. 2:00pm and it was time for dive briefing #3. By 2:30 all groups were in the water and 3:30 we were all back up and out again. Dive 3 was usually the most exhausting, and I could feel my body growing lethargic from the nitrogen build up. Dive 3 was also the only dive where we didn’t eat afterwards! This meant we could lay down and catch a good hours nap, read quietly, or lay on
Magnificent
One of the most graceful sea species I've ever encountered, the Manta Ray. Reaching nearly 6m in width, they are simply massive (remember, underwater everything appears 25% larger too!). Posing no threat, they are simply plankton eaters, it's a divers dream to spot as many as we did. the main deck watching the ocean. This was one of my favorite times of the day, everyone was usually quiet and the ocean always had a calmness to it.
10. 4:30pm meant dive briefing #4, and the last dive of the day for most of us. Everyone is limited to 4 dives a day but the boat is scheduled for 5. Dive 5 is always a night dive, and you get to select which dives you’ll participate in that day. The night dives were usually reserved for people arriving that day though, because you board the liveaboard in time for dive #2, and the day sites are far too spectacular to pass up for a night dive.
11. All the groups were back on the boat for 6pm. There was one time when we surfaced in time to see a beautiful sunset while we bobbed in the water waiting for the boat pick up. Our gear was removed one last time for the day, and now I could grab my lounge clothes and bath towel and have a proper shower. After spending all day in a damp bathing suit nothing feels better than shampooing your hair and being clean in
Like Flying Underwater
One flap with their massive "wings" and they would glide off. How such a large being can be so graceful underwater continued to amaze me. Occasionaly from the deck of the dive boat you would hear a splash and someone yell "Manta!" as the often leap out of the water performing what looks to us like incredible acrobatics. dry clothes!
12. The groups who were doing a night dive had their briefing around 7:15, once the sun was nearly set. The night dives only lasted 35 minutes, because that is the maximum time that the torch batteries last (on a night dive each diver has a flashlight around their wrist that you turn on before entering the water and do not turn off until you are back on the boat). While the groups are diving we sat around the main deck logging our dive info in our log books, chatting about the days excitement and highlights and drinking Pepsi. The night dive group was usually fairly small, so it didn’t take long for them to remove their gear and head back upstairs in time for dinner. Dinner was served at 8:30pm, and once our bellies were full with one last meal we were both so exhausted that we could do little more than gaze out into the blackness for 15 minutes and then say goodnight. 6am comes awfully early when you’ve had such an eventful day!!
The cabins on the boat were rather comfortable, aside from a couple nights when the air conditioners were broken and the
Look Up!
When Manta spotting one of the most important places to look is simply above you! Liking to stick to shallower waters, a common site is to glance surface-wards and see one quietly gliding by way above your head... heat was unbearable in our room. A couple guests even slept upstairs on the sun deck when this happened, having the misfortune of no opening windows in their cabin. Even with the large windows which slid open it was stuffy and uncomfortable and we didn’t sleep well for those two nights. Soon enough though the boat crew was notified and they managed to fix it and cool air was pumping through our rooms once again.
I can’t stress enough how hard the Thai boat crew works on these diving boats. They work 7 days a week for 8 months straight, usually without a day off or a break. They are in charge of cooking all our meals, helping us out of the water onto the dive deck, filling our tanks between dives and keeping the mood on deck jovial and light (one crew member would call out “ALLLLRIGHT ALLLLLRIGHT” in a rolling Thai accent before each group entered the water, to which everyone on the deck would yell back “AAALLLLLLRIGHT!!!”. It always made me smile and hustle to put my fins on a little faster and get myself to the rear deck. We left a nice tip of 1000baht
Closer!
If not WAY above your head, then DIRECTLY on top of you! Provided the diver was still and non intrusive, they seemed to come almost a little TOO close! for them in their tip box when we left. Most people don’t stay as long as we did on the liveaboard boat and on the day we were leaving they all acted like they were crying and were going to miss us, it made us feel really special!
Throughout the 7 days we participated in all 27 dives. Before we started I was a little skeptical that we would have the energy to complete all of them, diving every day can be taxing on the body. But we got through them all, and are proud to say the least. Each dive site we visited was different, and rewarding. We saw some incredible marine life that has cemented our love of this hobby. My favorite site was called Koh Bon, and it’s the premiere Similans divesite for spotting Manta Rays. This time of year is prime Manta conditions, and Koh Bon is a cleaning station for them. This site is one of the reasons people dive in the Similans, and we were not let down. Upon dropping below the surface to descend we would be treated to sighting after sighting of the elegant and graceful creatures floating around us. Mantas
Batfish
I had a run in on one dive with a school of batfish who seemed far too interested in me and my camera. Every time I turned around there they were, about 6-10 of them all following me! They would then slowly cruise by staring at the camera, as if to say "Take my picture please!" "Ok me next!" These dinner plate sized fish have the most human faces I've ever seen in marine life! can be up to 6m in width, but until I saw my first one I was unable to picture that size. Tears were brought to my eyes when I saw my first one, and everything around me disappeared while I stared at this magnificent creature. They seem to float through the water, and glide past, and then flap their “wings” and continue to float and do acrobatics around you. At Koh Bon all that is required is to descend and then watch the open blue around you as Manta after Manta circle by and seem to stare and watch us with as much wonder as we watch them. I was stunned with their beauty, and never grew tired of watching them and looking around hoping for another to come gliding into our vicinity.
Octopus are also my favorite, and we were very lucky to see 2 pairs of octopus attempting to mate (on different dives). In the fish book we read up on octopus and were surprised to see an entire 2 page story on how they mate. As most of you know from my previous entries octopus can change color very well to camoflauge with their surroundings. When
This is my Better Side
Aren't they just amazing! they are aroused however they turn dark purple and have white “warts” on their skin. The male chases the female until she hopefully also shows her arousal and then they make a third. I was in awe when, on two different occasions, we spotted first one octopus and then a second, and saw the warty skin for ourselves. Nature at it’s finest!! I think both times we may have interrupted and ruined the males chances however, as they seemed to notice our presence and become distracted.
A sea turtle was our only serious request, and even that we were given a true experience with. After surfacing after dive #2 one day and heading upstairs to eat lunch Devlin spotted a sea turtle hanging around the side of our boat. This was day 4 or 5 I believe, and we were becoming anxious about seeing one. Not only did we have the amazing opportunity of seeing one, but we were able to throw on our snorkel gear and snorkel with him for nearly half an hour! I was fascinated by the turtle, who seemed completely at ease with us and continued to swim around the boat, coming up for small
Hey Lady!
Are you aiming that thing at me? Stike a pose! I love to see myself in print... breathes of air and then dipping back down below the surface. Luckily Dev grabbed the camera and he snapped some of the most beautiful pictures on this trip to date. Someone called from the boat to feed him a banana, and they peeled one and tossed it down to me. Much to my delight I was able to get close enough to him to wave the banana in his face and attract his attention, and our lovely turtle munched the banana directly from my hand! It took a few go arounds and bites to finish it, and once he was done I saw him eyeing my banana looking fingers so I quickly made fists and decided I was ready to get out of the water. But I have never been so close to such a marvelous wild animal. I can imagine some people would pay big money to “snorkel with a sea turtle” and to think we did it purely by luck off the back of our dive boat!
Day 7 began and we were both, in the back of our minds, a little bit thankful that we would soon be on solid ground again. On the final day
Hello?!
A rather creative shot, in my opinion, as one got a little too close! you only partake in 3 dives, and the speedboat arrives after that to whisk you back to the mainland. Our time in the Similans was over. We had arranged accommodations at our favorite “resort” before we had left, the same hotel we had splurged at for our three weeks during Christmas. To us this was pure luxury, and we somehow knew it would be needed after the week on the boat. A proper shower and a quick McDonalds meal (I’ve never been so happy to not see Thai food…the food on the boat was good, but even the most delicious food gets old after 7 whole days!) and we were both ready to pass out in our bed.
Our friends from Calgary are soon on their way to meet us in Thailand, and our visas are due to expire during our time with them, so we enlisted the help of the hotel front desk to book a “visa run” for us on the 29th….Stay tuned for more on that adventure!
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Merle & Terry
non-member comment
Diving blog
I just recently resumed reading your blogs after the Christmas holidays and our bout with the flu. Gosh, what an experience, especially diving and seeing the sea life up close. You should send some of the pictures to National Geographic, you never know. I love turtles, something from when we were young and went for our "summer" holidays to the beach in Karachi. We would stay for a week in a hut, Mum and at least four of us kids, with a cook and on the weekend my Dad and a few friends would come to visit us and sit on the beach at night. I can still see the turtles coming out of the water at night and getting onto the beach to lay their eggs, which we would discover the next morning, after digging in the sand. You write very well and I can almost feel travelling with you from cyberspace. We will send you Terry's cousin's phone number in Goa if you need a contact. I am sure India is going to be an eye opener. Enjoy the rest of your trip.