Similan Liveaboard trip report - November 28th, 2013

It’s official. This Similan trip rocked! The scuba gods and goddesses were really kind to us this trip, and the best part, it just keeps on getting better and better. It all started on a beautiful Monday evening…

The guests started to arrive at the Wicked shop at around 530pm, with lots on anticipation, excitement, greetings, there was something in the air and we just knew we were going to be in for a great time. We were all ready and pumped up to get this party started, Wicked style. On board waiting for our arrival, with having everything prepped and ready to go was the best boat crew Thailand has ever seen, and our friends/instructors: Brett, Ed Bird, Rob, and Cranberry Colin. Myself (Christa) and Manta whisperer Alby, returning guests Antti, Heidi, Egidijus, and Doville, along with new guests Rebecca, Sean, Bob, Maren, Frank, Anthony, Vicki, Josh, Moriah, Simon, Rebecca W., Pablo, Gareth, Emma, Marie and Luke joined the boat of dreams.

The bell rang for dinner, and as per usual our cook P’Da did not disappoint. It never fails to amaze me how she makes such magic happen in such a tiny little space, and how every single one of her meals is made with love

We spent the evening chatting, getting to know one another, and sharing stories. The instructors met with their dive groups, and set up a little game plan for the following days. Sweet dreams to everyone, Paradise was waiting for us when we woke up….

Wake up call was at 7:30 (this is what Ed calls sleeping in) and the first song played in the morning was “Beautiful Day” By U2, and it set the tone perfectly. With our check dive at Anitas reef, everyone got into the groove of things pretty quickly. Alby found nemo, and we also got to hang out with a honeycomb moray (super rare in the similans!) a mantis shrimp, cute as anything box fish and scribbled filefish.

After eating a breakfast of champions, we splashed on in for our next dive at West of Eden. And what a gem of a dive it was. On the dive we saw Frank fish (Eds open water student) a banded sea krate, unicorn fish, clown trigger fish, and a cool looking mermaid was spotted by Sir Rob. (Me)
For the 3rd dive of the day, we checked out Stonehenge, which treated us with a bit of current fun. For many divers, it was their first real experience in current, and all of the instructors were giving safe, and helpful tips to maximize the experience. Current can be a lot of fun, but it is also important to have a dive plan, and ensure that all divers stay close together and don’t over exert themselves! Tunas were hunting around us, and Rob found a nudi branch (dermatobranchus ornatus) that made him wet himself. He does tend to go a bit bananas for sexy nudis.

Following the last dive of the day, we went for a beach visit/ clean up. Everyone got involved with picking up trash, even though it was a mosquito party.  We did our part, and felt great for it! Big thanks to everyone who got involved.

There was something in the air that night, and that something called for our first Wicked quiz of the season!

Everyone got involved, and had lots of laughs, and maybe even learned something new! I’m proud to announce that it was our staff team that won, and without any cheating. So not only are they good looking and like mermen under water, they also have a bit of brains behind them. Well done guys, but with just 2 points behind them was team fish tank, who became the honorary winners, and owners of brand new Wicked Diving mask straps. We look forward to hosting many more quizzes in the upcoming trips, as well as playing all sorts of nightly games!

You WILL have fun!!!

Day 2 was upon us, and with Luke, Moriah and Josh A.K.A Team Amazeballs doing their adventure deep dive as a part of their advanced course with me, the boat was buzzing with excitement.  Elephant head rock was a show stopper as per usual. Along with the usual suspects, hunting trevally and tuna, great barracuda and giant morays, we also spotted a sea moth and a juvenile clown trigger fish.
Christmas point was our next destination and Colin and his group were in for a treat. He met his first robust ghost pipe fish of his life!!!  So dreamy. A napoleon wrasse, schooling oriental sweetlips , and more nudis, this dive was a keeper.

And oh so cruisey, and oh so relaxed dive at 3 trees, this gave everyone a chance to really fine tune their buoyancy and pretty much just hover on the whole dive. It was a bit therapeutic really, like drifting along in an aquarium. Swoon. The only thing we had to be aware of was the nesting trigger fish, feisty little buggers they are.

Night dive time! We felt a bit like adventuring explorers, lightening lighting up the whole dive, bio luminescence like a rave party, cephalopods out in full force, (octopus and cuttle fish) we also spotted a zebra moray eel, slipper lobster, and marble shrimp. Wicked loves night dives

And for the big finale, our last day was spent at Koh Bon Bon. We like to call it that, because it really is THAT good. Team amazeballs nitroxed it up! Simon was doing his Enriched air speciality and the new advanced divers got involved. Everyone had a wicked couple of dives, humbled by the natural beauty that is this dive site.  I could tell you about all the treats we saw, or I could just say one word. MANTA. Maybe it was something in the nitrox tanks that Colin filled for us, or maybe we just felt like having an 80s dance party. Either way, it was a lot of fun!!!

Hoopla! What an absolute winner of a trip. With newly certified open water diver Frank, Enriched air specialist Simon, and my scuba babies, Advanced Adventure divers Josh, Moriah and Luke, Everyone left the boat with a happy heart, new friends, and plenty of memories. Big love and hugs from the Wicked Family, We hope to see you all again soon!


-Wicked Diving Thailand