A Liveaboard Diving Holiday is something every diver should do before they die! A four day, four night Liveaboard around the best dive sites in Thailand is a trip you should definitely consider booking on. Usually in the pre apocalyptic world the 9 islands which make up the world famous Similan Islands would be a very busy spot full of day trippers, speedboats and liveaboards but these days this part of the world is as beautiful and as quiet as its been in a very long time!
What is a Liveboard Diving Holiday?
A Liveaboard is a large dive boat which caters for overnight divers so it means these boats need to have sleeping cabins, a dining area, a saloon of sorts on top of the usual sun deck and dive deck, and basically the more you spend the nicer the boat!
Big Blue Diving Khao Lak are one of the leading Dive operators for the Similan and Surin Islands, another chain of islands just north of the Similans, which is home to the world famous dive sites of Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock. Usually we cruise these incredible dive sites on our luxury Liveaboard the Halleluja, but this year we have opted to spread the love far and wide and will be using many great Liveaboards including the Junk and the Philisi.
What do you do every day?
A liveaboard diving holiday usually comprises of 14 dives over 4 days, usually 4 dives a day except on the last day when we only have time to squeeze a couple of dives in. It is literally the epitome of the perfect holiday! You wake up with some freshly brewed coffee and a light breakfast. You will be greeted by the staff and get a full dive safety briefing informing you all the procedures for our Similan liveaboard. The boat boys will help you in to your equipment and get you into our dinghy’s or the water.
The first dive of the liveaboard itinerary will be a check dive. We will check the divers in each group are well matched in terms of ability and air consumption. At the end of this and every dive, you and your group will surface and indicate to our dingy driver that you’re ready to be picked up, after picking you up you will be returned to the Mv Hallelujah. No surface swims, ever.
After every dive, once back on board, our staff will help you out of your equipment and place it in the racks for you. You can grab a quick freshwater rinse from the shower on deck and then head up to the outdoor eating areas where a hot buffet breakfast awaits you. Our staff will fill your tanks while you eat.
After breakfast plenty of time to relax or to tweak a few things with your set-up or cameras. Some guests prefer to stay out of the heat and spend their time in the air-conditioned lounge looking at the pristine beaches from a comfortable distance. Sun worshipers may decide to their time on the sun deck. Others may prefer just to stay in the shaded areas reading or relaxing with the other passengers.
Dive 2 is usually at about 11:00. Dive groups might be reorganized to put divers of similar skill levels together, based on observations from the check-out dive. Obviously we never split up people who want to dive together. As the groups are usually all sorted by this point, we can have a bit more fun diving the best areas of the Similan Islands. As the liveaboard trip progresses we may get to sites with more current (especially around full moon). However, current brings lots of nutrients to the Similans and this attracts the bigger marine life.
Every day we will get a little bit shallower on each dive of the liveaboard itinerary. If you really want to explore the deepest and best parts of all the dive sites in the Similan Islands, then it is worth considering diving on Nitrox. This will give you a lot more flexibility with your dive profiles.
A delicious buffet lunch is served after dive two. Food is a variety of Asian and Western dishes and the menu changes for every meal on every day to give you as much variety as possible.
On Day 3 you will have left the Similan Islands and started heading up to the more Northern dive sites like Koh Bon, Koh Tachai Pinnacle and Richelieu Rock. This is where the diving can really start to get interesting as this is where you are more likely to see the much larger pelagic marine life. Look out for Manta Rays, Whale Sharks or other sharks. The best time of year to spot Manta Rays and Whale Sharks is usually between February and April. However they can appear any time of year.
Every afternoon usually after the 3rd dive of the day an afternoon snack is served at around 16:00. Our wonderful cooks love trying new things so there is always a range of food to choose from. Dishes include Mango and sticky rice, pizza, sushi and a large selection of fresh fruits.
The 4th dive of the first day if you are interested in night diving then we will do one now. For anyone who is not an advanced diver, you can do your Adventure Diving Night training, or even take the full advanced course while on the boat. For the rest of the trip we will do sunset dives. Sunset dives can be the highlight of the trip as the feeding frenzies often happen just before the sun goes down. The sunset dive at Koh Tachai Pinnacle is a real favorite for the diving staff and something to look forward to.
After the dusk dives or the night dive, dinner is served and after that some people head straight to their cabins, others prefer to relax on deck having a beer and talking about the day’s dives and discussing what adventures they hope to have on tomorrows dives.
If you are interested in joining us for a trip on a liveaboard then get in touch and let us know when you are able to depart and how much per diver you are budgeting at and we’ll get back to you with a selection of liveaboards available. This season will definitely be like no other. Nowhere near as many boats out there, nowhere near as many people, but the holiday season around Christmas and New Year will be super busy so do book ahead and in good time.
Do let us know if we can help you at all and we’ll do all we can to assist or have a look at Scuba Otter for some great offers on Liveaboard trips to the Similans and beyond.
Enjoy your trip!
