My first Live-On-Board, spending 4 days and 4 night with complete strangers as if they were the best buddies. We were completely diverse but there was at least one thing common, our passion for diving. Each one, whether young or old, novice or experienced talked about the diving with same enthusiasm. Cheers to the team.
Dived with: ScubaDivingPhuket, the pickup was arranged at the hotel in Patong, Phuket. We were transferred by road to Khao Lak. And the Live on Board begins there.
Dive Sites: Similan Islands (numerous dive sites) , Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock (Bad weather prohibited our dive there), Some wrecks near Khao Lak (Visibility not so great)
Dive Experience: Currents are strong at few dive sites, so some experience and good buoyancy control will make dives enjoyable.
Budget: There are Live On Board starting from 3 Days (10 dives), price starting ~15000 THB (2013). I did 4 days one and paid 22900 THB (2013) for dual accommodation. There are cheaper option like 19900 THB, quad share accommodation, but early for that. the cheaper ones vanishes 1-2 months before in peak seasons like Dec-Feb.
What to Expect in Marine life: Turtles, Travellies, Trigger Fish, Manta Ray at Koh Bon (if you are lucky), Fusillliers, flute fish, Glass fish, Barracudas, Crabs, Octopus ..... i have heard people spotting Whalesharks but I wasn't so lucky.
The team
Best moments in video here. Watch in HD
Camera Info: Underwater Shots taken with Canon S110 + Ikelite Housing, Landscape with Nikon D5100
I did a total of 14 dives in the 4 days, the farthest we went was Koh Tachai.
During one of the dive at Koh Tachai, I witnessed the strongest currents. The group named the Dome of Tachai to Dome of the doom. The full moon and strong winds made it impossible to move to richelieu rock, that was the only disappointment. But that meant more dives in Similan \m/
Clock wise from top left, Trigger fish, Nudi brunch, Sea Snake, reef.
These were one of the best pre dive discussions I had witnessed. You guys rock. For each dive they will come up a nice beautiful sketch of the reef below. Ismael was really exceptional in handling the group. Total fun guy!
Pre Dive Briefing
Flute Fish
The surface interface were as beautiful as the dives.
Big Fusilier
Right: Mantis Shrimp
Surface Interval at Koh Bon bay
Twilight
The was always an excitement to look forward to, after the end of one.
Stone Fish
Lets see if you can find the stone fish here
Always wanted to take this photo
A giant puffer fish looms in shadow of Glass fish
Just show how dense they were
Remora fish clinging on to puffer fish for transportation
Pocelain crab hiding
On the last day we dived into two wrecks near khao Lak. The visibility was poor but the marine life was rich.
Bat Fish and Lion Fish
Another surface interval from previous day before night dive.
Mount Merbabu, standing tall at 3142 meter, is a dormant stratovolcano and the perfect place to view skyline of east java filled with volcanos. Mount Merapi, only few hundred meters from here, stands out among those. This mesmerizing view from the top of Mount Merbabu is perhaps only a stroll away for the fits trekkers but for a lazy occasional walker, this was some effort but a worthy one.
Rinjani had been lingering in our minds since quite a while, ever since we came back from Merbabu in Java. We booked the trip three months in advance and we put honest effort in training for this trip. (Running 5 km, 3 times a week and 100 km cycling on Saturdays ). Situated in the center of Lombok in Indonesia, Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano. It is considered as one of the challenging treks in South East Asia. A 3 day 2 night trek is quite popular and gives just enough time to explore the crater rim and summit. A relatively comfortable trek would be 4 day 3 night one. For the ones interested in summit attempt, Sembalun route is the way to go. We found Sembalun route as more comfortable and scenic also. Sembalun itself is 2 and half hour from Lombok Airport. The other route starts at Semaru (3.5 hrs from airport) but it ends at crater rim. One will have to do an additional day trek to reach Sembalun side for summit a
Jama Masjid and Qutub Minar: two building from different era, symbols of different empires but united by their architectural marvel. The Delhi of today is very different from those era yet when we stroll around these magnificent monuments, it reminds us of our glorious past and rich heritage. Jama Masjib is one of the biggest mosque in India, built by mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 17th century. Located among the congested streets of Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazar, it is easily accessible on foot or rickshaw from metro station. As it true for any monument in India, best time to visit the mosque is in morning when the air is still cold. Jama masjid is home to many pigeons too.
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