Thailand Diving

February 03, 2014

Thailand Diving

This was a trip of many firsts. It was my first solo dive safari, and also my first dive live-aboard.

When I arrived at Phuket, I was escorted to Chalong by the dive company, Sea Bees, a german company I highly recommend. When I reached the dive office, I was greeted by a jolly horde of beer-guzzling, herculean german men. With some difficulty, we found the right equipment for me, because my size is so small as compared to them!

There were still a few hours for our boat, Marco Polo to set sail, so I decided to have a look around at Chalong. It was populated by quaint eateries, open bars, and exuded a very relaxed, chilled out atmosphere. I liked it.

I walked to the end of the town, and discovered a great Thai restaurant, hanging off a jetty with a fantastic view of the open ocean, so I decided to have lunch there.

When I headed back to the dive office, the other divers were already there, all of whom were german. It was a small group of six, just perfect. Due to torrential rains, our port had been changed, and our boat would be setting sail from calmer waters. So we bundled into a car and drove for about 3 hours until night fell.

I could only hear the lapping water, as we clambered onto our cruise, careful not to fall into the black of the ocean. I was so exhausted, I barely heard the instructions of the dive guide. Sleep did not come easily due to the loud whirring of the propellor, and I woke up at 6am still tired. As soon as I stepped outside my room, my spirits soared. I slipped into my dive suit with renewed vigour.

It was a bright sunny day, very calm waters, so crystal clear and beautiful. Perfect dive conditions.

Over the course of the next week, we dived the islands of the Similans, Richileu, Koh Tao, and Koh Bon. We didn't meet any Mantas, but we sighted a lot of macro life. The species that fascinated me the most was the Bobtail Squid. Totally adorable! We saw it at West of Sweden and the Hideaway while diving the Similans. The one we saw at the Hideaway was claimed by our dive guide to be the largest he had ever seen. What is fascinating about this species is that it shares a symbiotic relationship with a bioluminescent bacteria, which resides in a special light organ in the squid’s mantle. The bacteria hide the squid’s silhouette by matching the light hitting the mantle, and in return, they are fed amino acid and sugar by the squid.

Another superb species was the peacock mantis shrimp. This shrimp repeatedly smashes its prey to gain access to the soft tissue below. It is considered to have the fastest recorded punch of any living animal, comparable to a 0.22 caliber hand gun. Pretty badass eh?

We saw a variety of other marine life, including pipefishes, seahorses, stingrays, sharks, barracudas, scorpionfishes, nudibranch, even a Giant Moray eel who took an obsessive liking to me- not so good, because it was discomfiting to have him follow me around during the night dive.

Wherever I flashed my torch, he was there, underneath my fins, over my head, grinning merrily, baring his shining teeth at me.

A nice adventure came in the form of the GREEN MONSTER, aka thermocline. This was at night too, and honestly, I thought I would freeze to death, especially because I didn't know what it was. My vision blurred, and the dive guide was a couple of metres away underwater, so I was alone when it engulfed me. It's scary at first, but also liberating to know that the only one who can help yourself is you. It was over soon and next time the green monster came at me, I was mentally prepared.

Another intimidating experience was when I was 20 metres underwater and my dive computer started beeping emergency red as I was not nitrox certified like the others. However when we surfaced, I realised that dive computers play very safe and I would not suffer from decompression sickness. Phew!

The best dive site for marine life was Richileu Rock. It just blew me away, but I had the most fun diving at Elephant Head Rock at the Similans. It was a bit like cave diving, and it was amazing to weave through the underwater tunnels around the humungous rock formations. The Similans were very disappointing. Due to coral bleaching and ocean acidity, most of the reefs were dead.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take many underwater photographs as the currents were too strong, but I wish I could've captured the Harlequin shrimps at Richileu Rock!

The food on board was scrumptious, and the dive guide was vegetarian like me, so we had a lot of vegan variety.

The last night I slept at the top of the boat, underneath the starry skies. It was great to talk to all the Germans, because there was no sign of land for a week, and we all became great friends. When we discussed contemporary German identity, they told me how when Germany hosted the football world cup, that was the first time that they felt proud to be called German. It is very interesting as to how historical events can impact contemporary youth, and how closely we are tied to our ethnicities.

After this liveaboard experience, I am never shore diving again. Liveaboard diving is way more exciting and intense, and you also get to dive at the most remote locations. Plus you get to dive all day all night every day! With four dives a day, we barely have any intervals between diving, and my dive log has now risen to 70 dives. Still counting!