The cruise makes bubbles at Similan
ENI just came back from a four-day diving cruise in the fabulous Similan Islands, in the Andaman Sea, in Thailand. Here are some pictures, above and under water.
Similan Islands
To start with, some pictures of this fabulous beach of the island called "number 8" of Similan, where we stopped between two dives.
Nothing has changed since my visit three years ago.
The same white sand, fine as flour, the same translucent waves, the same azure bay that can be admired from above, from the big round rocks on which one climbs by clinging to ropes, with wooden footbridges between two granite blocks.
Atmosphere on board the Sea of Fantasy
For the rest, comfortable boat and great atmosphere! I'm aboard the Sea of Fantasyfrom the company Eden Divers. I have my own single cabin and my diving companions are nice people, easy to live with. There is no German contingent, but on the contrary an international clientele.
We are thirteen customer divers, there are three guides, a videographer, six crew members and a manager of Eden Divers on board. In all, thirteen nationalities: three French including myself, one Canadian, two Japanese, two Australians, one American, two Slovaks, two Swedes, one Turk, one German, one Israeli, one South African, one Swiss and the Thais, of course.
Update : the story you're reading here goes back quite a few years... So don't try to book the same Eden Divers cruise today, the company no longer exists!
No cannonballs on board, only nice people!
But for everything to be perfect, mantas and whale sharks should have been present. We hoped for them. Very much. But none of the big beasts appeared in the blue... So I will be obliged to come back, during a next trip, to see them! 😉
I realize how lucky I was, three years ago, to come across the two underwater...
Underwater photos
No matter. The dives were excellent anyway, and I consoled myself with a lot of other bugs, including the inevitable nudibranchs (sea slugs) that I love so much...
Unfortunately, my small Canon (Powershot A95)I tried everything to revive it: hot, cold, tapping, praying to Buddha, disassembling it with a rusty screwdriver... In vain. I tried everything to revive it: hot, cold, taps, prayers to Buddha, dismantling with a rusty screwdriver... In vain.
But I was lucky in my misfortune. The Turkish dive-master kindly lent me her little Powershot S30 with its housing so that I could continue to take pictures.
I admit, the camera wasn't great, not as good as my A95. But it was better than nothing. And I still managed to take some nice pictures.
I come back enchanted from these four days of diving, sea and sun.
Tomorrow Sunday, I have to get up very early again. The pickup for the ferry to Koh Lipe is between 6:15-6:45 a.m..
Ah, the joys of Thai pick-ups with uncertain schedules! Until the last minute, we are never too sure that the expected taxi/bus/minivan is going to arrive... In general, it always shows up. Never quite at the announced time.
Go. Tomorrow, go to Koh Lipe! And I will find the way to take photos anyway. Promised!
😉
Added on 13/04/2009: below, two links to complete this post.
→ My pictures of the Similan
→ Video of the crossed turtle in East of Eden
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Beautiful photos all the same ... We won't compare them to Hélène's 🙄 In any case, we feel the relaxation as I envy you 8)
It's Women's Day tomorrow, so you should be able to find someone to help you out. Solidarity isn't too old-fashioned, I hope. I vote for the second bug you picked up on your PMT. Phew! It's well placed, maybe not at the right time, but well placed nonetheless 🙂 A plouf'
May the cruise be fun! Biz
Indeed, your photos are really nice even if you don't have your camera anymore. Send many more shots like that. Happy vacations in the land of smiles .... 🙂
@Yves: Nothing to do with Hélène's fantastic images, of course. But I'm happy to have managed to get something out of the little old APN I was lent. A real challenge: it was impossible to access all the settings, the buttons on the housing didn't allow it, plus it ran out of battery super fast and systematically fogged up the lens glass (leaky seal and overheating of the batteries). In these conditions, I'm already very happy to have managed to take a few decent photos... And if I'm the envy of others, I'm delighted!
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@Nono: Ah, March 8th... I'd completely forgotten about it. Since I spent the day in transport, I didn't have much time to find an alternative solution, but I'm hopeful now that I'm in Koh Lipe. At the diving center where I'm staying, I meet up with Erika, a Swiss woman who used to work at Coral Diving in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia, and with whom I've already dived and taken underwater photos... I'll ask her tomorrow. Maybe she'll have a little camera I can borrow? If not, I'll think of something. Otherwise, failed to fit the PMT: I wasn't snorkeling for this photo, but scuba-diving. I'm glad you like my "bug"!
😀
@FunnyWorld: We had a lot of fun, I must say... It went by too fast!
8)
@PhilippeB: I'm going to try and get some more photos... I'm finally starting to get into the rhythm of the country.
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Thanks for the little flashback on island number 8, your blog is almost a teleporting machine... Unfortunately it's a big "almost"! and there's nothing I can do, my tiles won't turn into white sand, and to get blue water like the ones in the photos, I have to put some dodgy stuff in the bathtub 😉
And thank you for the photos of nudibranchs ... it will surely be these adorable critters that will make me buy a camera one day!
Hello Corinne
It's a pleasure to follow your adventures while waiting for mine... you bring back fond memories of last year in the Similans...
I know someone who's going to start looking for the perfect new appliance...
At least you'll have made the most of yours! He will have lived well and seen so many beautiful things... he deserves this beautiful ending under the Thai sun... but he still could have waited to come home, what a capricious! 😡
I hope you find alternative solutions to keep us dreaming. 💡
@Malene: Hey, hey... That's kind of why I started this blog in the first place. I was really enjoying browsing through travel blogs and sites. I wanted to do the same. To share my travel impressions and emotions almost directly, to make people dream... Well, obviously, it's not tele-transportation yet. But I'm delighted to have "transported" you a little under the Thai sun. As for the nudes, yes... When you start taking photos underwater, it quickly becomes a favorite subject!
🙂
@Manta: As you say, it's going to be a good opportunity to equip myself, only better! Koh Lipe is beautiful. Just arriving yesterday, I took hundreds of shots... in my head. Now, more than ever, I'm going to have to find the right words to tell it all.
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These photos are beautiful!!! Nothing is more soothing than swimming among fish... your photos brought me a little dose of calm. My condolences for your camera. Beyond the fact that you can no longer take photos when a camera gives up the ghost, there's also the sentimental value of these faithful travel companions!
@ Marie-Julie:
Yes, diving is soothing. At least, that's what it does for me. I'm sure it has something to do with breathing, the weightlessness of moving around, the spectacle of the underwater flora and fauna... I'm delighted to have been able to pass on some of that soothing feeling to you.
As for my little camera, yes, I'm a bit sad, because I was attached to it. But today, there's a guy from the club who's going to lend me his little camera for "land" photos. As for underwater photos, I'll see...
8)
hello corinne
well the similans are up to their reputation!
When the photos great( too bad about your hottie 😥 !).
as for the comparison with hélènes' photos (which are magnificent), how can you compare a small apn with an SLR, it's like a 2cv and a ferrari ( 😉 I love 2cvs hi hi...)
continue to make us dream with plens beautiful photos, I trust you to find a solution for troubleshooting.
but your experience serves me, I go with my 2 small apn in 15 days ... you never know ...
@ more
laurence
What a nice discovery that this blog! The photos are sublime and make you want to do your backpack to go on a mop ... Good luck!
Hello Corinne
Lipé get you on Butang, you will not regret it.
By the way, say hello to my friends from the Wilmi, they are there right now.
Good bubbles and thank you for making us dream again.
Alain
@Laurence: Yes, you're right to take a back-up camera. These things are fragile. Even if they're only 2CVs... Come on, it's only two weeks to go! You're almost there!
8)
@Caroline: Thank you for all these compliments. Nothing makes me more happy than to give travel desires through this blog!
🙂
@Alain: Butang, I'll make a note!!! I don't know if I'll get a chance to run into your Wilmi friends, but if I do, I'll pass on your regards! I'll try to continue in the same vein despite my camera problems. It's a real pleasure to share these Thai emotions here. And to make people dream...
🙄
I followed you on twitter, very sad news that this shipwreck...
Yes, it's scary. The boat that sank, caught in a storm, was part of a diving cruise to the Similan Islands. Five of the seven bodies were recovered...
-> Read here
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I think the whale sharks have deserted the Similan ... too many cruises, too many divers ...
@ Marie-net: as you say. And too much fishing too... Whale shark fins are very, very expensive in Asian countries. Today, at the 8 Mile site off Koh Lipe, we saw one. Well, when I say "we"... I didn't. I wasn't in the right group. Grrr. And the view was rotten as hell. Too bad!
😕
Hi there you i found your web site -hope you are well
Did you hear about the other dive boat that sunk the day after bear?
Like your website but my not so good
Warm regards Mark
@Mark: Hi! It's good to hear from you!!! 🙂
You can translate these pages with the "Google Translator" I have placed in the right sidebar. Of course, it's not very accurate, by you can get the global meaning...
😉
Yes, I've heard about that tragedy and read the news on the internet. Seven people died, two bodies are still missing, the ship is now lying at about 70 meters deep. What a scary story...
Hope you're fine. Warms regards too!!!
@Alimata: Pfff ... I recognize your big heart!
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I do not thank you.
Anyway, I'll go, too, to Raja Ampat. One day. N / A. And with a new camera. And me too, the mantas they will pass me just above to be tickled by my bubbles. No but.
😛
Since you didn't see a manta in the Similans, you can always console yourself by watching 2 videos I shot in Raja Ampat.
http://alimata.fr/gen/video-sous-marine.htm
No, don't thank me, it's from the heart 😀
NB: Like you my APN gave up the ghost, but I couldn't fix it on the spot 🙁
Hello Corinne,
I also have to go to Thailand in a month and I'd like to know: a cruise, like the one you've just done, costs how much and for how many days??? Your photos are so beautiful, you made me dream... Too bad you didn't take any on the boat... See you at !!!!
@Abdel: Thanks for your note, and sorry for taking so long to reply. Actually, I don't remember the exact price. I think it was 4J/5N for the duration. It was with Eden Divers, you should be able to find their price list on their site. Or through Asiaqua.com, which markets these cruises.
8)
Hello Corinne,
I've just come back from a 4-day liveboard in Similan with Eden Divers, programmed on your good advice.
Well the quality of welcome is always at the rendezvous and the dives superb.
As you know, some Similan sites are closed due to coral reefs. But our tour leader Fari knows the authorized spots in between, and he's practically the only one to show them off.
Beside the attendance of Richelieu Rock, it feels good ...
We saw manta rays in Ko Bon, but not a single shark, as they are always overfished...
Thank you for your blog
Cédric
PS: Olivier and Valérie send their regards to you in Phuket.
Great ! I am delighted that your cruise has gone so well! Really good, this boat.
I've been diving at the Similan with Eden Divers ever since. It was in 2011, I talk about it here :
https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/croisiere-plongee-similan-thailande-20110506/
🙂
Thank you very much for adding the information on Eden divers! I had noted their name following your post to go there in January, so I'll have to modify my search.
I love your articles.