Thailand
Ao Nang, Hin Daeng en Hin Muang (December 2000)
Krabi Seaview Resort & AoNang Divers
Krabi Seaview Resort is a small resort and diving school. Management is Swiss. Cabins are nice and clean. The resort has no swimming pool, the pool of of a neighboring resort can be used
Diving is done on the dive sites: King Cruiser (small schools of fish), Shark Point, Anemone Reef, and around Phi Phi Island (leopard shark).
Cruise Hin Daeng & Hin Muang on MV T.J. Rerai liveaboard
The boat is operated by Phra Nang Divers. The boat is nice. It has shared baths, cooking is done by the dive masters.
Hin Muang is an underwater ridge, that ends about 12 meters under the surface. We spotted a manta!
Hin Daeng looks a bit like Richelieu rock. Well known for its various shark species, it is a beautiful dive site. Needless to say, there were no sharks. Luckily, we had great dives looking at all the other stuff.
Koh Ha, the place where the boat spent the night, was beautiful! All these islands in the moonlight on an almost windless night! We did our night dives there and found adult and baby (1cm) cuttlefish, hermit crabs, crabs and shrimps in feather stars, decorator crab and squid. It was amazing!
December 2000
Scuba Adventure liveaboard (March 2000)
We organized our own cruise for a group of 10 divers, all friends and members of our diving club. The route included Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock. We hoped to see whale sharks. Unfortunately, due to bad and windy weather, it was impossible to reach Hin Daeng and Hin Muang.
The diving started at the Similan Islands. Usual dive sites included: Elephant Rock, The Boulders, Fantasea Reef, and Christmas Point. We found leopard sharks, blue spotted ray and many fish.
After a few days, the weather improved and the boat was able to reach Richelieu. First stop was at Koh Bon and Tachai reef. Here we found a pair of cuttlefish laying eggs and our first manta
Then Richelieu…. We were lucky that there was almost no current. Unfortunately, we did not find any whale sharks and manta. Richelieu is a top dive site and so the dives were amazing anyway
During the return trip we passed Tachai reef again. Some of the group spotted a small whale shark of about 4 meters, when the rest was already out of the water.
There was a manta that circled around the group of divers. Amazing!
March 2000
Jonathan Cruiser liveaboard (March 1998)
The boat departed from Ao Chalong Bay in Phuket. The cruise included the Similan Islands and Richilieu Rock.
1998 was a year with a strong “El Niño”. In Thailand this means that the water is cold, especially after dropping under the thermocline. The visibility was bad, about 5-10 meters
At Richelieu the currents were strong, it was almost impossible to swing against it. As Richelieu is a sea mount and the dive includes going alternated with and against the current.
Possibly due to the current and bad visibility we saw a big whale shark of about 10 meters. From the tail it was impossible to see the head and vice versa. The 3 of us tried to follow the shark for a bit, but that proved to be impossible. Although it looks effortless, whale sharks swim very fast. Of course, we lost the sea mount, so we had to abort the dive
Otherwise, we saw the usual suspects: tropical fish, big rays, leopard sharks, sharks, etc. It was a fantastic trip.
The Jonathan cruiser is very simple: most bunkbeds are located in a corridor next to the kitchen. There are a few double cabins. No airco or fan, 2 toilets, 4 showers. The food however was good. The diving excellent.
March 1998