Liveaboard diving to the Similan islands, Thailand

Diving in the Similans - Thailande from Olivier Delorieux on Vimeo.

On the numerous reefs in a pristine water, you will encounter manta rays, leopard sharks, turtles, and if you are lucky, a whale shark. But the big fish are not the main attraction of the Similan Islands. There are gentle drop off covered with life, boulders where tunas hunt around; in fact, each individual coral is another world for hundreds of colorful inhabitants. To explore this beautiful national marine park, we have selected some liveaboard boats and Similan diving day trip boats for all budgets, with interesting value for money.

The Similan liveaboards include dive sites such as Richelieu rock (whale shark), Ko Bon (mantas), Ko tatchai and then the 9 Similan islands. The boats are living in the evening either from Phuket (MV Mermaid 2, MV Colona 6), either from Khao Lak. In any case your flight should land not later than 17H00 on the departure day, and in order to respect the 24H00 surface interval rule you need to spend one night in Phuket before you can catch a flight. Usually the last dive finishes at 11.00 am on the last day. Do you want to see mantas and whale sharks? Combine a Similan liveaboard with a Hin Daeng-Hin Muang liveaboard.

Best travel time: November to April

Level of diving: beginner to very experienced

Water temperature: 27 C°

Visibility: 10 meters to 40 meters

Park entry fee: 600 Thai Baht + 200 Thai Baht per day

Similan dive sites

Similan diving pictures

Similan diving videos

Similan day trips

Thailand liveaboard

Koh Bon - Thailand - Similan Islands from Karl Gasteiger on Vimeo

Similan silands

Whale Shark Richelieu rock

Similan dive sites

Similan diving pictures

Similan diving videos

Similan day trips

Thailand liveaboard

Leopard shark

Jack fish

Manta ray

Scorpion fish

Similan diving

Kindly note that the itinerary is never the same from a cruise to another. The program below is an example, the captain and the cruise director will choose what is best, in regard of the weather conditions, current and your dive level.

Day 1: transfer to the boat with a mini van until Tap lamu, 45 minutes away from airport. After a welcome briefing and an introduction to the life on board, the ship cruises overnight to the Similan islands.

Please note that the MV Mermaid 2, MV Giamani and MV Colona 6 are departing from Phuket.

Day 2 : early morning wake up, for your first day diving in the Similan ! After a light breakfast, 1st dive around 8am, then you will find a real breakfast buffet when you come up. The rest of the day, you will do 2 more day dives, and one night dive before dinner.

Day 3: early morning the ship leaves for KO tatchai to dive the fabulous "Plateau". Next we cruise north for 2 hours to the world famous Richelieu Rock for a minimum of 2 dives. A sunset dive at Richelieu Rock is a treat if conditions allow, otherwise its off to KO tatchai for a good night dive where we shelter in a quiet bay for the night.

Day 4: early morning the ship leaves for Ko Bon to dive with the mantas. 2 dives either on the pinnacle, either on the plateau, then off to the Similan islands for a third dive and a night dive.

Day 5: Today, last occasions for diving the Similan islands - Boulder City and Shark Fin Reef. Then we cruise back to Tap lamu, arriving around 14:00 hours. Everybody boards in a comfortable mini van, for 1H30 minutes driving along Andaman coast, back to Phuket. Check in in your hotel around 5.30 pm.

Please note that the MV Mermaid 2, MV Giamani and MV Colona 6 are going back to Phuket.

Liveaboards

Diving in the Similan islands, Thailand, dive sites with pictures and video