Similans Island and Richelieu

5D/4N Similans Island & Richelieu Packages

Boulder City (Island Three – Koh Payan)

Boulder City lies some 200 meter south of Koh Payan. The dive site is completely submerged with two mooring buoys to mark the location, one at the north end and one at the south. Descending down the north line takes you to 20 meters and the south line to 30 meters. This is a dive in the 20 to 30 meter mark making it not a long dive but the underwater scenery here is spectacular with large granite boulders some bigger than a house, with swim-throughs and the chance of swimming with large pelagics. Eagle and manta rays cruise around the large boulders while large fan tail rays rest in the sandy bottom. This is also where I have been lucky enough on two separate occasions last season to witness the mating of leopard sharks. With a family of large humphead parrot fish and napoleon wrasse living in the area the beautiful soft corals and large gorgonian sea fans make this an eye opening dive site with the occasional whale shark cruising past.

Koh Miang # 4 Honeymoon Bay

Honeymoon Bay is a beautiful bay on the back side of island 4 with its quiet beach and tranquil bay it’s the perfect place for a snorkel or our sunset dives on the gentle slopping reef down to 24 meters. In the shallows around the coral heads you will find octopus, crabs and mantis shrimps on the hunt for food.
With the occasional hawksbill sea turtle and white tip reef shark patrolling the reef will keep you busy on your dive.

Koh Haa # 5 Hideaway Reef

Hideaway reef is great place for check out dives or night dives. With depths along the reef at 20 meters this site has some spectacular coral bommies. Covered in soft corals the colors are superb and a great dive for macro photographers with harlequin and ornate ghost pipefish. Down in the sandy bottoms are lots of spotted garden eels poking their heads out to catch a passing feed with the well camouflaged Thai flat fish. On the reef there are plenty of surgeons, butterfly and angel fish with blue fin trevally and goat fish on the hunt for small bait fish.

Koh Payu # 7 Deep Six

Deep six lies on the northern tip of island 7 and has a buoy line running down to 18 meters there as the name implies you can descend down to over 60 meters. Here the dramatic underwater boulders have formed some excellent swim throughs, tunnels and canyons that make this an exciting dive. But down in the soft coral garden the largest gorgonian sea fans in the Similans survive untouched. With the occasional manta ray gliding passed in the blue will make for an enjoyable dive.

Elephant Head, Hin Pousar

This is probably the most famous dive site in the Similan Islands, it lies in between island 7 (Koh Payu) and island 8 (Koh Similan).
With three large rocks breaking the surface these granite boulders run down to over 50 meters. This is an exciting dive. Not too much coral growth but the way the boulders are lying on top of each other has left an intricate web of tunnels and swim- throughs. Large overhangs with oriental sweetlips and harlequin sweetlips which are only found in the Andaman sea hang around in small groups to escape the currents. Coming in and out of the tunnels keep an eye open for the colorful clown triggerfish and the white tip reef sharks resting on the bottom. Currents can be quite strong sometimes but this makes for an exciting and fun dive.

Koh Similan # 8 Beacon Point

Beacon point lies on the south tip of island
# 8 and is one of the deeper sites running down to over 40 meters. This is a great spot to look for stingrays, including the small and common blue spots and mask rays to the larger black spotted fantails and Jenkins rays. With large granite boulders and the occasional White tip reef shark swimming round the boulders, try to see if you can spot the blue ribbon eels poking their heads out from their sandy holes.

Koh Similan # 8 Beacon Reef

Beacon reef lies on the east side of the island and has the longest reef in the Similans. This is a great check out or night dive as the gentle slopping reef runs down to around 22 meters. With lots of hard and soft corals the reef fish here are in abundance with the lion fish and moray eels hiding in the holes. A glance out in to the blue can prove rewarding with large dog tooth tuna and trevallys darting in to the reef to feed on the small bait fish.

Koh Bangu #9 North Point

North point lies on the west side of the island with a dramatic underwater scenery of large boulders with canyons and swim throughs. As you descend down the line passed the tall fin bat fish and head through the tunnels, keep your eyes open for a pair of Napoleon wrasse. In between the large canyons grow large gorgonian sea fans with excellent soft corals hiding harlequin ghost pipe fish but a look out into the blue can be rewarding with frequent visits from the graceful manta ray passing over head.

The Koh Surin Marine National Park is located 85 km north of the Similan Islands and 80 km west of Ranong. The Surin Islands themselves are not too impressive for diving, but the two islands between Similan and Surin, called Koh Bon & Koh Tachai are absolutely fantastic dive sites offering just about everything divers can wish for. These two spots are hard to top but the Richelieu Rock is capable in doing so, one of the, is not the best dive site in the Kingdom.

Koh Bon – The Pinnacle

Koh Bon island lies 12 nautical miles south of Koh Tachai island and the dive site is located around 150 meters north west of the island and has no bouy line so location is by GPS. When the captain signals its time to jump into the blue and descend down to the pinnacles. The top is around 18 meters and continues to run down to over 50 meters to the sand bottom were the docile leopard shark sleeps while white tip reef sharks patrol the reef in search of a meal.hese amazing pinnacles are covered with colourful soft coral trees, large gorgonian sea fans and barrel sponges running down the walls. With 5 species of clown fish in the magnificent anemones and their shrimp and porcelain crab hosts its difficult to keep your eyes of the pinnacles but a look out in to the blue can be rewarding with manta rays gliding around and the occasional whale shark. But don’t forget to keep a check on your air supply as its time to head back to the surface and leave these beautiful creatures behind.

Koh Tachai Island – The Plateau

Koh Tachai lies 22 nautical miles south of Surin, the dive site is located around 200 meters south of the island and is marked with a bouy line which descends down to 16 meters to reach the top of the plateau. From here you decide which way to go ? North or South. North takes you over the plateau to the beautiful coral garden at around 22meters to 26meters with some of the best soft corals and sea fans in the area, which will keep underwater photographers busy. South takes you down over the large boulders to between 36meters and 40meters to reach the sandy bottom looking for the docile leopard shark and large stingrays. Up above schooling great barracudas with tunas and trevallys darting down to catch the baitfish hanging around the reef. With a multitude of small creatures to look at try not to forget a look into the blue to see the manta rays gliding past and the occasional whale shark make Koh Tachai a spectacular dive site.

Richelieu Rock

Richelieu lies 7.5 nautical miles east of the Surin islands national marine park. Here this large rock pinnacle just breaks the surface at low tide and descends down to around 33 meters to the sandy bottom. The northern side has an excellent wall with lots of cracks and holes for you to look inside. The wall is covered with coral and zig zag oysters where you can find over ten species of moray eels like the commonly spotted white eyed, giant, yellow edged, and bartail morays or the shy dragon, leopard, honeycomb and zebra morays.
The wall is all so home to many species of shrimps from the cleaners, anemone, saron, squat and the colorful harlequin shrimps. The west side contains mostly soft corals and sea fans with ghost pipefish and tigertail sea horses hiding in between the branches. But its here where we all so encounter large schools of silver jacks and bluefin trevallys with chevron and great barracudas too.

Its also home to the gentle giant the whale shark anywhere from 2 meter babys to 8 meter subadults. The walls seem to move with so much life or look closely at the camouflaged scorpion, stone and lionfishes that blend in to the rock. A truly spectacular dive site no matter what the visibility.

M/V Mermaid II is a 32 metre, double engine steel motor yacht. One of the most comfortable diver boats in Thailand , she easily accommodates 16 guests in 8 deluxe cabins and 2 guests in a budget cabin below deck. All deluxe cabins are on the main deck with large panoramic sea view windows. Each cabin has a double bed and single bed (max pax 2 per cabin), air conditioning, ensuite bathrooms. The budget cabin is below deck with twin bunks, air conditioning and share bathroom with 1 other cabin.

There is a wide stern dive platform with two exit ladders and fresh water showers. The dive deck is huge with plenty of room to gear up, individual boxes for your dive gear, camera table and loads of rinse tanks. The dining room is located on the main deck where delicious buffet style Thai and western meals are served. The saloon is large and spacious with lounge suites and big windows, bar fridge, tea and coffee facilities, TV/DVD, music center, library and a full selection of marine life books. There are two outside decks the shade covered party deck has a combination of lounge chairs and cushioned sun chairs, The sundeck, located in front of the wheelhouse has full sun and cushioned sun chairs. EANX NITROX is available on every cruise.

Monday

You will be need to be at Sea World Dive Shop in Patong by 1800hrs. After checking in you will be transfer to MV Mermaid at 1900hrsand there will be a safety boat briefing, settle into your cabin then set up equipment. Prior to getting underway, the crew set off firecrackers to bring good luck for the cruise, dinner is served and we sail usually calm seas for 6 hours to the Similan Islands.

Tuesday – 4 dives

Wake up call at 7am in paradise ! After a continental breakfast, 1st dive around 8am at the spectacular East of Eden on Island no. 7 followed by a full western breakfast. Dive #2 at Elephant Head Rock between islands #7 & 8 to enjoy coral encrusted swim throughs, sharks, giant trevally and mostly large fish action at this remarkable site. Macro enthusiasts should look out for specials like dragonets, whiskered pipefish, nudibrancs, peacock mantis shrimp and more ! Then we cruise north to Koh Bon to see if the Mantas are dancing off West Ridge.The night dive will feature crustaceans, sea stars, morays, lion fish plus more. Dinner is served then its time to relax with our new friends over a cold beer
on the party deck.

Wednesday – 4 dives

Early morning the captain sails us quietly to Koh Tachai to dive the fabulous “Plateau” – leopard sharks sleep around 25 metres while over head masses of barracuda, big eye trevally and a wonderful school of resident batfish wait the keen diver – maybe even a chance for an angler fish hiding among the cabbage corals on the dome. Whale sharks frequent this dive site as are mantas !!! Next we cruise north for 2 hours to the world famous Richelieu Rock for a minimum of 2 dives – sea horse, frog fish, harlequin shrimp, ornate ghost pipefish plus more will delight the macro enthusiast with loads of fish action for everyone – rivers of fusiliers, big schools of jacks, chevron barracuda, yellow stripped snapper swim in the blue around “the Rock” with giant garoupa standing sentinel at the many coral heads just off the Rock – dripping with yellow, purple and pink soft corals. A sunset dive at Richelieu Rock is a treat if conditions allow otherwise its off to Koh Tachai for a good night dive where we shelter in a quiet bay for the night.

Thursday – 4 dives

Early morning, another chance for the pelagic action of Koh Tachai and then its back to Koh Bon for more shark and manta action off the West Ridge or a deep dive on the Pinnacle for advanced divers ! Relax over lunch as we cruise back to the Similans for an island adventure to enjoy the white sand beaches and awesome granite boulder formations. Then Dive #3 in the warm blue waters of Anita’s Reef Island #5 – wow – are your camera’s fully charged ? Night diving at Honeymoon Bay or the Hideaway will give you the chance to see loads of big and small crabs, lobster, shells and more – maybe a twin spot lion fish, a Spanish dancer.

Friday – 2 dives

Today 2 morning dives around the southern Similan Islands – Boulder City and Shark Reef often feature on the itinerary developed each trip to suit all divers on board. These sites are washed by light to moderate currents bringing swarms of bait fish attracting pelagic and reef fishes galore. Loads of gorgonian fans dot the sea floor providing homes for creatures big and small and plenty of photo opportunities. Look around the many huge granite boulders for leopard sharks, napoleon wrasse, oriental, sweet lips, jaw fish and more.

Your Similans/Richelieu adventure comes to an end as we cruise back to Patong Phuket arriving around 16:00 hours – all part of the service on board MV Mermaid II – relax over a yummy lunch while the crew wash your equipment and ready the boat for arrival. On shore you are met by Mermaid shore crew who assist your every need transferring you to your hotel or next destination. From here you either go to a hotel and stay for 1 night or straight to the airport for your flight back to Singapore.

SGD$1199/-