Thailand, Similan islands

Last time we dove the postcard pretty Similan islands we were there in the wrong season (heard this so many times by now, we are wondering how is anyone supposed to guess that weekend a year when conditions are perfect!). A repeater, we made a decision last time. So much so, that in our eagerness we booked not one, but two dive trips. Just to make sure. The fact that your euros will take you further here than most other live aboard diving destinations has absolutely nothing to do with it. Nothing at all!!

But as the luck is with the bold (or stupid?), in the end we had two very good diving trips. And a few challenges along the way…

On the first trip we were honored (yeah, right) to dive the area at the same time as Thai Princess (the real deal, not the boat). So, naturally the authorities closed off half of the marine park to cater for her royal needs and left the other half to 50 odd boats filled with people with once in a lifetime chance to experience the thrill of diving in legions of divers. Most observed specie under the water on that day was Homo sapiens in a various stages of distress. In retrospect, it actually was hilarious. But all rectified in the next day as the park reopened again. And in addition we saw manta rays (some happy tears in our… well, her eyes…).

We also somehow managed to forget that these boats have shared toilets. Add to that fact that you need to be very well hydrated when diving, so you just keep drinking water. Think Donald Trump would have been impressed with our self-inflicted water-boarding skills. So, we were climbing up and down the flight of stairs in the night, multiple times. Not funny. Especially if you take into account that another theme of both trips was side waves rolling the boat on all the overnight moorings. Thank god for seasickness pills! We kept moving around that narrow space called bed in the same direction the boat did all night long. Every night. On not one, but two trips. As diving doesn’t mix with alcohol, we couldn’t even drink ourselves to sleep. Yup, so proud of our decision making sometimes…

But in the end we managed to see all the best dive sites in their pride and glory and all the troubles were forgotten. We would still say that Thailand is more about travelling (drinking and eating mostly) than diving thou. But it is a great experience to merge the two, hence hordes of people that constantly flock to this tropical paradise. Be warned thou! The postcard pictures of quiet tourist free areas are all decades old. To experience it you either party until or get out of bed at sunrise..

But time to travel (again) to our favorite diving South-East Asia country: Philippines.

Blue water and sandy beaches found here.