Khao Lak diving - Trip report

here is a posting from some of our recent guests on a forum for diving! I can't say how nice it feels to hear this. Brings a tear to my eye!

  "Just got back from our trip to Khao Lak diving the
Similians over the
Lunar New Year holidays. Dived three days at Similians
(Island 8 & 9),
Koh Bon and Richelieu Rock.

The diving got off to a very bad start with Sea Bees
to the Similians.
Fearing the crowds, we had made a prior booking with
them before our
arrival because they were recommended by this board
and appear to be
well regarded. We soon regretted making our deposit
without checking
them out in person. Sea Bees was to be one of the most
expensive options
to the Similians at 6,300 bh (US$200) for trip, nature
park fees and
gear hire when most other outfits only charge 4,900 -
5,000bh (US$150)
all inclusive for a speedboat trip. The Sea Bees boat
is also a slow
catamaran which takes at least 2 hours to hit the
Similians while the
speedboats will make the trip in less than an hour.
Although the boat
was quite spacious and efficiently run, there was
little to be done to
alleviate the stress of jumping into the water with 34
other people.
Despite being charged preminum prices, we were not
impressed with the
meagre food selection and soft drinks/beer are only
available for an
extra charge.

The day did not improve with the insipid dive sites we
were dropped into
at the Similians. Our DM later confessed that we were
made to dive in
the same sites together with the snorkellers because
the inflatable
onboard was not working. To make a bad day worse, we
made to wait in the
open sea for half an hour because the Sea Bees boat
was on the other
side of the island picking up the snorkellers. To his
credit, our DM was
quick to reassure the 13yo diver in our group who was
distressed about
floating away to India. Needless to say, she and her
older sister
refused to dive again this rest of the trip because of
their experiences
with Sea Bees.

Our trip improved the next day diving with Khao Lak
Scuba Adventures
(KSA) to Koh Bon. We were excited to play with the
mantas (95% chance of
spotting mantas, they claimed!) and was happy to try a
speedboat
instead. The trip was quite affordable at 5100 bh
(US$160) all
inclusive. We made the journey to Koh Bon in less than
an hour and the
boat was comfortable even with 18 divers. The
atmosphere onboard was
also more warm and friendly compared to the chilly
Teutonic silence on
the Sea Bees the day before. Koh Bon was stunning with
great visibility
and a huge variety of fish and coral. We had seriously
enjoyed our time
with the lovely Vicky exploring the sites. These were
good dives that
would have been spectacular if the mantas had made
their appearance. We
were unlucky as it was the first day in the week where
they were off sick.

For our last day, we were booked on Wicked Diving to
dive at Richelieu
Rock on a speedboat they share with Big Blue Diving.
We were quite
impressed with Wicked the minute we stepped into their
friendly shop on
the main street in Khao Lak. One of the boat staff,
Klaus actually took
the time to patiently explain to a bunch of noobies
about the various
dive sites in the Similians and what to look out for
out there. The
awesome Wicked service continued with one of their
friendly DMs,
Kristian from Sweden, doing a fantastic job guiding us
through at
Richelieu despite the strong currents and the
underwater horde. The Big
Blue speedboat is an excellent option for day trippers
as the silent
fast boat only takes an hour from the mainland. With
the flexibility of
speed, we had the site to ourselves most of the time
in between the LOBs
dives. Richelieu was easily our favourite dive of the
weekend with the
colourful soft corals and amazing stuff. No whale
sharks, no mantas but
lots of little critters for the macro lovers.

With so many outfits in Khao Lak offering the same
options, we all feel
strongly it is that personal touch that sets one dive
shop above all the
others. We will be back next time to dive again with
the fantastic
people at Wicked who also offers overnight diving in
Similians/Koh Bon
and Richelieu with an option to spend the night
camping on a Similian
island underneath the stars on solid ground.

That's our crew!!!

Thanks !

Khao Lak Diving