Route Description - 6 Day / 6 Night – Northern & Southern Cruise Combo
Combining our popular 2 day Southern liveaboard cruise on-board MV Giamani with the 4 day cruise to the Northern dive sites. This will allow you to experience 22 dives at some of the best dive sites on offer in the Similan Islands National Park and Surin Islands, including Richelieu Rock, Koh Bon famous for the Manta Rays at West Ridge as well as the spectacular Koh Ha, Hin Muang, Hin Daeng and Phi Phi islands. Trips are available from end of October to beginning of May.
Thailand Liveaboard Combo; combining our Similan Liveaboard cruise with our weekend trip to the Southern Islands.
21 Dives – 6 Days / 6 Nights – Liveaboard Departure every Friday evening
FRIDAY
We Depart from Chalong Pier at around 8pm heading for Koh Haa while having dinner.
SATURDAY
Your southern Thailand Liveaboard experience begins with a check out dive at the beautiful islands of Koh Haa. This is followed by dives two and three around the under-sea mounts of Hin Daeng and Hin Muang. Weather, sea conditions, and the number of ‘big fish’ around will often determine your last dive of the day so we like to leave the afternoon quite open. More diving on Hin Daeng and Hin Muang? You got it. Fancy a change? Then we’ll head back to the islands of Koh Haa for a sunset dive. A short cruise to Pee Pee Island will follow as you take dinner with your overnight stay in one of the secluded bays. Relax and watch a film, read a book, fill in your logbook, or simply have few beers and enjoy the quiet.
SUNDAY
On the morning of day two you will usually begin with dive five on either Koh Bida Nok or Koh Bida Nai at the south end of the Phi Phi Island group before you move slowly back towards Phuket with dive six on the glorious soft coral encrusted Shark Point, and dive seven on the beautiful macro covered walls of Koh Doc Mai. The boat will then cruise back to Chalong Pier while you pack your dive gear and relax while filling in the all important logbook. You’ll have a few hours to either explore Chalong, have a massage or load up on supplies. Alternatively relax on the boat until we depart for the Similan Islands, cruising around the coast of southern Phuket while enjoying a Thai buffet dinner.
MONDAY
Wake up in the tropical paradise of the Similan National Park. The first dive of the day begins at 8am on Anita’s Reef (Similan #5 – Koh Ha), a nice and easy drift dive to start the day. After a healthy breakfast we have chill time until our ninth dive at about 11:30am at West of Eden (Similan #7 – Koh Pabu), a unique blend of soft and hard coral beds and huge boulders followed by lunch. At around 3pm you’ll be dropping in on the Giant boulder site of Elephant Head Rock (Hin Pusar) for dive ten. Snacks will be served after the dive and there will be a chance of a late afternoon to visit to Koh Similan to see the beach and view point. Dive number eleven will be a night dive (7pm) usually in Donald Duck Bay (Ao Guerk). Stay onboard overnight in one of the secluded bays. Relax and watch a film or read a book.
TUESDAY
Your wake up call for the fourth day will be the boat leaving the Similan Islands for Koh Bon. Dive numbers twelve(7:30 am) and thirteen(11am) will be on Koh Bon Pinnacle and Koh Bon West Ridge – the current will decide the dive order as a mild or slack current is needed for the Pinnacle (keep fingers tightly crossed for Manta Rays here!!). For dive number fourteen Giamani will move north to Koh Tachai with the third dive of the day (2:30pm) being on Koh Tachai Pinnacle (another chance for Mantas!). On Koh Tachai we have another chance for a beach visit followed by a sunset dive (6pm) on either the eastern or western reef of Koh Tachai depending on the prevailing wind. Again you stay onboard overnight (at Koh Tachai) while relaxing with dinner, a movie or a book and a game of ‘what did I see today’ while filling in the all important logbook.
WEDNESDAY
Dive number sixteen will be on Koh Tachai Pinnacle, being first dive of the day this allows you to go to some of the deeper areas which you didn’t get to see on Tuesday. Then off to the Jewel in our crown – Richelieu Rock for dives seventeen and eighteen. Dive number nineteen will be a sunset dive at Richelieu Rock unless the weather/sea conditions poor or you’re bored of Richelieu Rock (yeah – like that’ll happen) in which case we’ll make a late night dive(7:30-8pm, whenever we arrive) at The Boonsung Wreck. Either way you will then travel back south towards Khao Lak where Giamani will overnight.
THURSDAY
A slightly earlier start today (7am) on a rarely dived wreck “The Teak Wreck” (MV Sea Chart) which is a steel haulage vessel that sank in August 2009 carrying 1,200 logs of Burmese Teak. Dive number twenty one (9:30 am) will be on the Naiyak Wreck (“Premchai 103”) a lovely macro life site to close out the diving. Once everyone is back onboard we start the gentle cruise back to Chalong Bay allowing enough time to clean and even dry your dive gear, pack your bags, fill in your log books swap e-mails and even do some more hard core relaxing on the sun deck. Disembarkation at Chalong Bay is usually around 5pm.