Similans 1995
Chinese New Year, 1997.Report from Tom's trip to the Similans in 1995
As I woke, shivering, beneath my fleece and a blanket, it took me some seconds to remember where I was. The gentle lap of waves against the hull, in the shelter of Campbell's Bay, Koh Similan, was enough to offset the discomfort of the arctic air-conditioning; someone had sleepily lowered the temperature, not the power. I tucked in the loose edges and relished the last hour in bed before the dawn dive, with that enjoyment only being on holiday, and escape, can induce.
I had a few days annual leave to use, before the end of the calendar year. It being the week before Christmas, with the North-East monsoon blowing across Asia, I needed to find somewhere on a West coast, in order to find reasonable visiblity, if not weather generally. I had heard about the Similan islands whilst in Thailand, and 'Asian Diver' ran an article on the dive operations in Phuket, the home port for live-aboards to the islands, in November. This fuelled my enthusiasm, and provided a list of contacts. Choosing the company was easy. After faxing each one, I received only five replies, of nine sent. Though prices were comparable, one company, Marina Divers, provided far more information, answered my questions, and followed up with a 'phone call. Customer service won the day, making a trip to a relatively cheap, accesible destination that much easier- I would only need to think about the diving.
The Similans lie approximately sixty nautical miles North-West of Phuket island, and about thirty offshore, in the Andaman Sea, West of Thailand. The nine islands are a marine national park, their low granite outcrops forming steep underwater landscapes of huge boulders, tumbling down to around 40m. The relatively strict enforcement of the national park, partly due to border tensions with neighbouring Burma, means that the vast profusion of marine life, and fish in particular, is largely undisturbed.
The first dive of each day, between seven and eight o'clock, saw the eight of us aboard kitting up in silence. It seemed my companions were as incapable of speech, without frightening amounts of coffee, as I habitually am. The contrast, after an hour underwater, was miraculous. Beaming smiles and incessant, excited chatter about who had seen what, where, paused only to allow the rapid intake of food, at a now very welcome breakfast. Having the cylinder refilled still attached to one's STAB made for much quicker donning and doffing of kit, and fine-tuning of one's weight belt. This latter advantage was sadly offset by the quality of the meals - always important on live-aboards - and the beached walrus impressions that resulted.
Doing four dives per day, we saw a huge number of species. Most striking, finning around the sides of boulders the size of houses, through arches and swim-throughs between them, was the diversity of reef-fish, and their size. While the sweetlips, snappers, groupers and so on were species frequently encountered in other areas in the region, off Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia etc., there seemed to be cohorts only of larger specimens, with no small or juvenile ones apparent. This may have been a seasonal factor, but combined with the boulders, certainly gave the various sites a strange feel, the scale being so unaccustomed. Due to the distance offshore, and the knowledge that whale sharks are seen, albeit around March/April, I was surprised we saw so few pelagic fish. Given coral garden at shallower depths, both hard and soft species, sponges, anenomes etc., and visibility of 20m. plus allowing one to see the bottom at around 40m. much of the time, I was too absorbed to care.
Moments that really stick in my mind include being circled by two mantas, off Christmas Point, Koh Bangu. In open water, out of the haze of a thermocline at 8-9m., a single shadow split, as one ray lazily flapped each side of my buddy and I, within 5m. of us. Already awestruck by their size, we were delighted as they made three curious circuits of us, their grace belying their speed and power, before fading away, as they had arrived. Doing a night dive over a relatively open, coral-rubble bottom in Campbell's Bay, a small white-tip reefshark, of 1.5m.,was startled by the intrusion of our group. Blinded by so many lights, it raced towards us, bouncing like a pinball between buddy-pairs in its attempt to escape, and leaving some impressive photographs in its wake.
The last dive of the trip, at Stingray Alley, Koh Huyong, was a slightly sad occasion, as the holiday had gone so quickly. It was made memorable by an arch, maybe 5m. high, at 30m. It was so thick with tiny glassfish, only a few centimetres long, that they would have blotted out the light, were they not transparent, and their few opaque parts not glistened so silvery, as eight divers successively pushed through their midst.
I would recommend a trip to the Similans to anyone going diving out of Hong Kong. With several companies operating live-aboard cruises, departure dates vary, thus accomodating almost anyone.
