Wicked Water World
In between storms I arrived in Khao Lak. The fast boat day trip services had been canceled to the Similans for a few days due to high winds and big wave chop. In downtown Khao Lak road light systems failed and anything not securely fastened took flight or broke. Even the Mariner, the Wicked dive boat had to find a safe harbor while on a dive trip. The wind came out of the north and lucky for the guests the Captain chose Koh Bon and the diving was spectacular with Manta Ray sightings up to six in a dive at one time.
I knew most of the dive guides and instructors from meeting them 3 months prior while doing my first six-day live aboard with www.wickeddiving.com. Many guides remembered me for one reason or another, one I gave music to, another accepted my blog on their Wicked Diving page, a few were my dive guides, all kinds of reasons. I sat down and talked to some of them while waiting for the other guests to show up. Slowly they straggled in and filled out their paper work and got fitted with gear. After a quick introduction to Wicked we loaded a couple taxis for the 1½-hour drive north to the pier where we boarded the M/V Mariner captained by Pe Wit, a seasoned and experienced captain. His wife, Pe Da runs the galley with a helper, Pe Lek. Pe Wit and Pe Da have a son Dew who is the engineer and skiff captain. There are two boatmen, Deng and Kai Tong, who refill tanks, grab fins, get the boat on a buoy and help the divers get sorted whenever they can. After boat introductions, stateroom assignments etc. off we went to the Surin Islands north of the Similan Island National Park for three days of diving near the Burmese boarder.
Again I found myself in the company of an eclectic group of travelers from all over the world with at least one thing in common, diving or more generally, the ocean. It is Manta Ray and Whale Shark season now and I had high hopes of seeing one or both of these magnificent creatures. I bunked with an Aussie named Glenn but I was never going to sleep in my bunk because the top deck is where it’s at when sleeping. I get the stars, fresh air, and the sounds of the sea. After fourteen years as a boatman in Alaska I don’t like sleeping without it. A few of us slept up top each night. I don’t do well with air conditioning, sinuses and all, so the bunk staterooms are not for me mainly because it messes with my sinuses but it is a nice break from the sun and heat of the day. My bunk became my computer spot down loading film footage, photos etc.
By midnight we arrived in a quiet place near Stork Island and the night moved on into dawn when we did a nice dive, checking gear and making sure we were weighted properly. My guide for the next 9 dives was a Thai man named Kui who had climbed the ranks to Dive Master and knew the dive sites well. The dive guides are as eclectic as the guests coming from as far away as Santa Cruz, Ohio, Germany, Sweden, England, Finland, etc. all over and with qualities unto themselves. I talked two lovely ladies into doing their Advanced Diving Certification while on this trip and they decided to check it out after the first dive. All in all, there were approximately 8 people that moved up to advanced diver during the next six days including two young boys from France traveling with their parents. We had a couple of snorkelers on board and they had their own guide named Line, pronounced Lina. She is also affectionately nicknamed the ‘Unicorn’ or ‘Pegasus’ because she speaks 7 languages, free dives with the Mokan, the local sea gypsies, plays a fine ukulele, sings in at least three languages, and is truly a rare one of a kind. Impressed is a small term, in awe is closer to the truth.
As I said, the captain pulled in to a protected bay for the rest of the night. I slept outside on the upper deck. There was the tail end of a breeze but the temperature was perfect and at sunrise we moved a short distance to Stork Island for our first dive of three for the day. I think Stork Island is one of those mellow dives where everyone sorts out their weights and is a safe spot without much current meaning a great dive to get your feet wet so to speak. Our second dive was at Turtle Rock where we saw a Guitar Shark cruising along the bottom and a few eels lurking in holes in the coral. Turtle Rock was a bit more of a slow drift dive. Our third dive of the day was Torinla Reef. Our average depth for the day was around 20 meters and that’s fine because that is where most of the marine life is hanging out.
After each dive Pe Da had prepared a meal and there is nothing to complain about, there is plenty of food. Tea, Coffee, electrolytes, orange juice, pineapple juice are all on the house along with yogurt, milk, cereals, toast, peanut butter and more. Wicked buys eggs and honey from a local orphanage that takes care of a large handful of kids and they make a little money to support the orphanage themselves.
The Surin Islands are north of the Similan Islands and made up of limestone versus Granite intrusions. Soft corals have a better chance of adhering to the rock walls and this in turn leads to high levels of biodiversity. On day two, before breakfast, we approached Richelieu Rock. This was given it’s name by non other than Jacque Cousteau. I think he discovered it in the early 80’s but for us the amount of aquatic life was worth diving it twice. It’s kind of remote being away from the other islands and larger pelagic animals frequent it’s sloping rock support. The top of this site is maybe a meter out of the water at an average low tide. I’m sure the Moken people knew of this point being sea gypsies in the Andaman Sea back into history. As I’ve mentioned before they live on Surin Island, Koh Chang, Koh Lipe and a few other islands now because the Thai government doesn’t want them wandering around. The Moken culture is considerably different than that of Thailand or Burma and DNA relatives stretch down to the Mentawai Islands off the coast of Sumatra.
Our third dive took us to Tachai Pinnicle where we found a few Manta Rays swimming around. In addition to the Mantas we saw some cool octopus, small schools of Barracuda and a Cuttlefish among a plethora of other species cruising the current.
Kui and the four of us dropped down the buoy line because there was a bit of current and it was easier for us to start together to begin the dive. The visibility was about 20 meters, 60 feet. On the bottom the current lessened and we moved off the line and began looking around. Within minutes someone in another group tapped on their tank with a metal stick and we knew that meant something was in the area. The two most sought after animals at this time are the Manta Ray, black on top and white/off white on the bottom and as big as a sheet of plywood, 4 feet by 8 feet and then there’s the elusive Whale Shark with size and mysteries still unknown to man and something I just learned recently is that they are rarely sighted twice anywhere except on the same day.
A shadow blurred into view above us maybe 5-7 meters from the surface and 15 meters above us. The Manta Ray cruised toward us and right over our heads and the sun in the way background. It was a great feeling to see this animal in it element. I did manage to take some good footage but I’m going to turn this photo over to Phil McKinney who definitely wasn’t on the bottom. If you want to see more from Phil and this trip go to https://flic.kr/s/aHskuJPRrR or better yet, chase him down at www.chasingphil.comfor a stack of underwater excitement and priceless moments caught on camera. This is Phil and a sting ray in the fore ground.
I’m going to take this time to mention that many of the underwater photos are from my guide Chris Dyer who went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to get a new underwater camera and many of these are the result of his passion. Most of mine are out of the water because I’m a new-be and lack confidence and time to sort it all out. I have some form of divers A.D.D. ‘Ocean! There’s an ocean!’ kur-plunk, I’m gone.
I did manage to use my gopro and get some nice silhouette action. After a couple exploratory rounds about the pinnacle we returned to the buoy line and ascended to our safety stop at 5 meters for 3 minutes. The current still wasn’t strong but it is easier to hang on to the line at depth than stare at your computer and watch your breathing to stay between 4-6 meters. I turned off my gopro thinking the dive over and save battery for the next dive. We were watching Theo get to the line and we all started pointing in his direction. He thought we were pointing at him but behind him a Manta had crept up behind him and by the time he grabbed the line and turned the Manta was withing a few meters and arching away from us. Of course I had already turned my go pro back on and I watched through the screen as the Manta arched a turn and returned to us absolutely curious about what we were. The underside, the gills, some cleaning fish, the elegance and it was gone just as swiftly as it had appeared. I blew through more air in the last minute than in 10 minutes diving and avoiding Lionfish. I was so excited, I thought I had good material and I did but when I went to download it, it said the file wasn’t readable. Scandisk has sent me the proper connections to try and retrieve it. I’ll let you know.
After everyone checked off the dive list we motored to Koh Bon and the Western Ridge where there was a night dive scheduled in the cresent cove formed by the island and the western ridge. I didn’t do the night dive because I have before and I don’t get as much out of it but many came back on board with big smiles seeing hunting eels, luminescence, turn out your lights and move your hands, feel darkness. Meanwhile I had the boat almost to myself for an hour and watched the night sky with a warm breeze.
Koh Bon is one of those places, one of those dive sites that can be hit or hit hard and our morning dive on the west ridge, due to previous sightings of Manta Rays, was hit hard but not the way I expected. Every live aboard boat was there that morning. The water boiled with bubbles and Kui raised his arms in surrender and clasped his hands together bowing his head. He was apologizing for the traffic jam. It reminded me of a black and white picture of gold miners in line trudging up the mountain with their gear heading for the Klondike. I put my arm out at a 45 degree direction to get out of line and head more toward the ridge and circle back. It was almost time to shallow up so we turned and explored alone for about ten minutes before someone banged on their tank and the mob ascended on us thinking we were the bangers and there we were back in line.
We saw lots of hunting Barracuda in groups at the edge of the blue, a few octopus dropping an ink blot and immediately heading for a hole. I don’t think it happens a lot when all the boats are in the same place. We all want to see the big stuff and boats are trying to keep a schedule so you can dive 3 dives, it happens.
Most boats left after the morning dive and we watched our decompression times closely hoping to get in a nice final dive before we headed back to Khao Lak to change some guests and some crew. The second dive was seriously less congested and we did manage to see two Manta Rays from a far. Apparently they are not early risers and we had a better chance to see them on the second dive as I was told. We boarded, checked everyone off and began our tour back to Khao Lak to resupply.
Just a note about the guests and crew on the boat, I never once heard a discouraging word, not one complaint in the now nine days aboard the Mariner with various staff and surely guests. That is saying something about the way Wicked Diving works. I’ve always said, ‘Don’t underestimate a good time had by all.’
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