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Published: April 24th 2006
Well it was magic! Manta rays, turtles, huge moray eels, clown fish (nemo fishies, that is), an amazing array of tropical fish, schooling barracuda, the odd large pelagic such as tuna or giant trevally, giant gorgonian fans, an assortment of hard and soft corals, clear, warm, warm water (most of the time) and a great boat. What more could you ask for? Well, whale sharks perhaps but lets not dwell on the negatives... Oh, and I didn't get a photo of the manta ray so you'll just have to take my word for it!
GETTING THERE
Getting there was ok. I had remembered the night train with reclining seats to be a very painful mode of travel but it was nowhere as bad as I remembered. It is amazing how your perceptions change as you travel more. The first night train we took was the first bit of overland travelling we did on our Asia trip. Since then we have had something to compare it to: 13hr trips on cramped night buses in Vietnam, bus trips in Cambodia and so on. This was much more tolerable than I had remembered, at least you can get up and use the
Jim2
Aaawwww, isn't he just as gorgeous underwater as he is out of the water? Ok,maybe not,but then nobody is...bathroom whenever you like and you have more leg room. I think the seats are a little bigger on trains than on buses as well.
The only truly painful part was that it seemed the ONLY 3 guys that snored in the whole train were seated opposite me. And they were, of course, not doing so in uniform. It was a veritable cacaphony of grunts, snorts and squeaks. Ear plugs worked well though at drowning out (most) of the sound. I do recommend getting a sleeper on the train where possible though because then you can lie down and it is much more comfortable, though you probably won't sleep too well anyway. They were all booked which is why we took the seats. We didn't have the luxury of choosing a later date of departure as the boat was leaving the following evening.
The train left late and arrived late (a thai cultural nuance it would seem) and so we did start to get nervous as we weren't sure we'd actually make our 5pm deadline at the dive shop. After the train we had to take 2 different buses in order to get to Khao Lac, the first
Nemo!
Clown fish to be more precise... Beautiful colour in the anemone as well. being a stuffy, cramped and stinky hot oven masquerading as a coach bus, where we squeezed in up the back and emerge from within slightly over cooked. The second was a local bus.
I thought it would be worse than the coach but it was great because it had windows that actually opened and rotating fans mounted to the ceiling up the aisle. It was rammed though, mostly with locals and I shared a seat with an 8yr old girl and her mother. That is to say that I had one buttock cheek resting precariously on the edge of the seat. It was great though and I struck up a conversation with a middle aged thai gentleman on the seat across who had been living in Khao Lac when the tsunami hit.
A Side Note on Khao Lac and the Tsunami:
It was simultaneously interesting and heartbreaking to hear his account of the tsunami and its aftermath. Apparently Khao Lac was one of the worst hit areas. Many of his friends and neighbours were killed or at least injured and the town was largely levelled, of course. He narrowly escaped the tsunami more or less unscathed because
Blue Tang
Go you good tang!! Sorry, bad pun... he saw it coming. He was lucky enough to have a slightly elevated home (he said) about a km from the beach. Sitting at his window he looked out over the water and saw it coming. Of course, he wasn't sure what was happening but perhaps in that split second his instincts kicked in and he bundled up his elderly parents and got in the car in an attempt to make a run for it.
He said the first wave went over and pushed the car under, as the car re-surfaced the second wave hammered them again. The car was washed into some rocks and wedged there, he got out of the car and aided his parents, who weren't swimmers. His mother almost drowned and his father broke a leg but they all survived. He has been able to rebuild his home in Khao Lac and is almost finished rebuilding his business.
As for the town, you'd hardly know they'd been through so much, except that there is still a lot of construction continuing, some spots that look like they should maybe have some palm trees don't and everything looks brand new. The large Tsunami Relief Center that
Turtle
one of the ones Jim didn't get to see. He got to see plenty of others though... is affiliated with the NGO Save The Children also gives it away.
In the Bangkok Post I read an article that said operators in and around Phuket have been telling travellers that the Khao Lac area and the reefs around the Similan and Surin islands were ruined in the tsunami and not to go there. They are mostly probably doing this to keep the tourists there and get more money. This is, I supposed, understandable considering that Phuket was also among the hardest hit and is probably relying on the tourist dollar to help them to continue to get 'back on their feet'. It is not entirely accurate, however, or fair because the Khao Lac area and operators going out to the reefs are also in dire need of a lift in tourism as numbers are severly down - probably no thanks to Phuket. The gentleman I was speaking to on the bus said they really need more tourists to come, and while they don't have the same housing capacity to take in the number of tourists they used to in the area, they are about 50% rebuilt now and can take a lot more tourists than they are
Angel2
LOOK at the pretty colours! Ok, unless you are one of my fish freak friends then these pictures might be getting a little dull. But.. look at the pretty colours! getting. So don't be afraid of going there and if you want to go, don't be dissuaded by Phukets talk alone.
THE DIVE OPERATION AND BOAT
We went with Sea Dragon. The reason we chose them was that Jim did the research on the net and they had a good website, replied in a timely and professional manner and there boat looked good. There were recommendations from other travellers (not on the Sea Dragon website, on another one) and no thumbs down which looked promising. They were also competitively priced (one of the cheapest actually) and this was, of course important to us as well.
Sea Dragon has 3 boats. The smallest is called the Ngun Ngen (or something similar) and we saw this boat while we were out on our trip. We were extra pleased with our choice in boats when we saw this option. It looked like it should be renamed The Minnow. Ok, that's perhaps a little harsh. It was super small, but it was the ultra-budget choice trip, so if you don't mind roughing it a bit and budget is a big priority its probably a viable option.
The boat
Moray eel2
This guy was huge! we were on was very comfortable and well set up. The upper deck was a hang out area with half in the shade and half in the sun. Cushioned mats to lay on and hammocks under the shade. Nice! The main deck was where we ate, had dive briefings and sat to relax, fill dive logs in, chat, tell tall diver tales etc. The lower deck was the dive and kitting up area. There are 2 rows of scuba gear. After the initial briefing the first night they take you down stairs and show you the spot where your dive gear is, already completely set up. When you go diving you sit into your kit to put it on, then go to the back platform. When the buzzer sounds your group strides off. When you come back you sit down in the same spot, get out of your gear and walk away. When you come back for the next dive your tank is full and ready to go. Easy, lazy diver stuff. You don't even pull your gear apart at the end of the trip! All is done for you. On this deck is also where the showers and toilets
Jim1
Taking the plunge are. There are three cubicles with cold showers although it seems to get heated by the sun throughout the day as it isn't really that cold. It's hot anyway so a cool shower is refreshing. Underneath, inside the cabin is the air conditioned bunk area. You get a bunk with a curtain to pull across for privacy and there are a few shelves for baggage but I recommend taking as little as possible. From memory there are 16 divers on board, but don't quote me.
THE DIVING
Well, I've told you what we saw but for my friends who are divers (or for strangers reading this that are) I'll go into a little more detail. Most of the diving is between 20 - 30 metres maximum depth. Usually we'd start with a 29mt dive in the morning and have increasingly shallower dives over the day, just as it should be done. If you don't have your own dive computer I highly recommend spending an extra 5 bucks a day to rent one or else you are not going to get much in the way of bottom time using the charts and NOBODY is going to want to
Dive Platform
My group about to join me in the big blue. The diveroperation had agood setup, I thought. dive with you! Everyone had computers and maximum dive time per dive was 50 minutes or 50 bar left in your tank - whichever came first.
Now, not that I want to make fun of Jim.... but I will. Jim used a lot of air on his first few dives and had to surface early. Luckily we had 2 dive masters for our group of 4 - one dive master and one trainee - so one would go up with him and the rest of us could continue diving. This sucked a bit for Jim, only getting 30 minutes instead of 50 minutes underwater. He was very annoyed when we saw 2 big turtles about 5 minutes after he had to leave us (see photo). He grumbled about feeling like a premature ejaculator. He said he'd get down there, get really excited, huff and puff a bit and then bam. It's over almost before it's begun. I reassured him that it was very common in new divers and that he would find that with time and experience he would be able to last longer. Perhaps, if he was lucky, as long as the ladies. We all had a bit
Butterfly Fish
Yes, I took this all by myself!!! My first dive dabbling at underwater photography... of a giggle - some more than others, all more than poor Jim - and that was that. I'm sure you will all be happy to know that Jim did indeed improve and by the end of the trip was able to stay the entire distance without too much trouble. And he got to see lots more turtles and when we saw the Manta he was the closest to it. He was quite chuffed!
Anyway, enough woffle, back to the diving. The terrain varied from coral shelves and gardens to large boulders covered with gorgonian fans and soft corals. Some places with boulders had swim throughs and very interesting terrain. There was great visibility most of the time - approximately 30 metres - but this varied from site to site (some dropped as low as about 10mt vis but this was rare). There were some savage thermoclines so visibility would drop there and quickly recover once you got away from that immediate area. Temperature was usually around 29C, Mmmmmm. Waaarrrmmmm. I found most of the diving pretty easy going with a couple of exceptions where there was reasonably strong currents to negotiate. We did a drift dive or two
Moorish Idol
For anybody that's interested, the camera is an Olympus MJU600 (basically a slightly fancy 'point and shoot')with underwater housing... which was lots of fun.
BACK TO THE TRIP
So we made it into Khao Lac and landed at the dive store at 4pm - loads of time, what were we ever worried about?!?! - after being on the road for approximately 18hrs (we had left our guesthouse in Bangkok bound for the train station at 10pm the night before). So we were a little tired. Knackered, actually.
We tried on our gear, paid and generally got organised to leave for the boat. Then we had 3 hours to kill so we had some food and a beer and chilled out for a bit. We took a pick up to the boat, grabbed a bunk, another beer, and then were given a briefing to orient us to the boat, the rules and the general schedule and workings. First dive was going to be at 7am so up at 6 for a dive briefing. Right. Best get to bed then so I don't look like something out of 'Dawn of the Dead" and function just as poorly...
I took 2 sea sickness pills and turned in. I'll confess I didn't think I'd get sea sick but
Moray eel
They look scarier than they really are... I knew that they'd help me off to sleep. Knock me out more like! I was knocked out in 5 minutes flat and dragged my sorry self out of bed a little after 6am, last body on deck - those who know me probably won't be the least surprised. The thought of staying in bed crossed my mind but the excitement over going diving won out in the end - those who know me probably won't be the least surprised at that revelation either.
After a quick briefing we were diving. It was great. I came out of the water refreshed, exhilerated and very pleased. The pleasure continued with a buffet breakfast. A couple of hours later it was time for dive briefing 2 and dive 2, I surfaced feeling wonderful again. Then there was a buffet lunch and a couple of more hours to relax and I spent it dozing in a hammock on the upper deck. Then it was time for dive briefing and dive number 3. I emerged feeling great, which quickly gave way to fatigue and I went back to the hammock after a hot chocolate and a few cookies. Then it was time for
Leigh1
Me posing near a big gorgonian fan. the night dive. I was tired but I knew once in the water I'd feel good and it would be worth it so I got back into the wetsuit and off we went again. We surfaced to a buffet dinner, some tunes, a couple of beverages and then sleep.
The next day we repeated this scenario. At this point I felt very glad that we had booked the 4 day trip rather than the 3 day trip we'd initially been looking at because it would otherwise have been our last night and I was just starting to get in full swing and thinking that I could really get used to this.
The third day we repeated this scenario again. Except that there were no night dives and we drank cocktails instead. Everyone got tipsy (or worse) because this was our last night. I started to feel sad that it was the last night because I was now certain that I could really get used to this. I began thinking about renewing my dive instructors certification and fantasising about working on a liveaboard in some exotic location and how I might be able to fit Jim in this picture....
He'll be the divemaster. Problem solved!
Fourth day we did 3 dives and made it back to shore around 3 or 4ish. We travelled around an hour back to Khao Lac (I'm estimating because I fell asleep as soon as I got in the bus and woke up at the dive shop door) and decided - on a whim - to share a taxi to Railey (further south, near Krabi) with the polish couple we'd been diving with. That took another 2 or 3 hours and then we had a longtail boat ride to take to Railey and then we had to find a room. I was officially buggered after all that, ate a pancake and went to bed.
Thats it from me. Til next time.
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maria
non-member comment
spectacular
another outstanding collection of photos xxm