The diving of the first day was awesome. Let's see if our next days will be awesome as well. We started with a morning dive in location called North point.
Priceless
Not much to see on the first dive of the day. In between first and second dive we had some free time to explore the main island with a significant rock on top of the hill.
A break from the moving boat
Time to enjoy!
On diving spot called Christmas point we witnessed couple of White Tip Reef Sharks cruising around. Since sharks are considered as shy animals (surprisingly), it is hard to spot them. Hence there is a 2 meters long shark one on the following video.
Before the last dive of the day Joe warned us of possibility to witness so called Green Monster. We were ready to jump into the water therefore there was no time to actually clarify what Green Monster is. We were diving and suddenly all fish started to rapidly swim towards rocks and corals to hide. We looked in the deep blue and suddenly green wave of cold and murky water reached us. We grabbed each other for hands and try to find safe spot somewhere. Most of the times we were able to find nice spot to wait for Green Monster to pass by. Due to strong currents in that area, Green Monsters are quite common. Our diving guides knew what to do in such situations but it was freezing cold!! Nevertheless experience was priceless and we now know what Green Monster is.
Boris with a puffer fish in the background
Giant Moray Eel
Breathing real air with the wet equipment on
Stars are not only on the sky!
It was time to call it a day. We locked ourselves in the cabin and take a good night rest to recover our strengths for upcoming two days of diving.
Next morning we heard: "It is a beautiful morning in Similan Islands! Rise and shine!" from Joe which was the sign to wake up, prepare our equipment and get ready to jump into the crystal clear water.
Beautiful morning dive
Octopus
Same octopus...
We finished the first dive of the day in the early morning. We had enough time to do another dive on the same location, Tachai pinnacle at Koh Tachai. We jumped into the water and quickly reached out final depth of the dive. We swam around the corals and suddenly it got darker under the water. We looked up and became breathless. Above us was swimming 5 meter wide Manta Ray. This magnificent animal danced around us for couple of minutes. The feeling was outstanding.
The star of the day: Manta Ray
Manta Ray still dancing around us as well as a group of barracudas - Priceless!
Lost in yellowness
Sea horse
Among the animals on the pictures we also saw some tunas, mantis shrimp and bay box fish.
Our captain turned the boat around and we headed back towards mainland. The last day of liveaboard we stopped at Hin Laung, where we spotted a stone fish. Before the last dive location was well known Koh Bon, West Ridge where 2 meters wide Eagle Ray came to say hello.
The last location was Boonsung Wreck near to Khao Lak mainland where we saw a lot of baby fish, all sorts.
Bat fish
Box fish
Giant Squid
One of the most dangerous animals in the world, Stone Fish
Baby Moray Eel
We concluded our diving with awesome feelings and crazy good experiences. Some of the highlights: Manta Ray, White Tip Reef Sharks, Hawksbill Turtle, Green Monster.
All and all well balanced trip. More to come. Stay tuned.
The main reason why we decided to come back to Thailand, was to do awesome scuba diving in national park Similan Islands. Therefore, we headed to a well known location - Khao Lak.
We decided to go on 4 days liveaboard. Long story short: liveaboard means living on the boat - in our case for 4 days and 4 nights. It was one of rare rainy nights, when we were picked up from dive center. And so our 4 days of paradise begun.
After registering at Khao Lak Scuba Adventures we were all excited and ready to go. Boarding on the a boat named Manta Queen 3 was successful. We set sails and started our overnight ride towards the national park. On the 35 meters long boat there were 31 divers, 10 dive crew, 6 boat staff and 2 cooks. Our air-cond room with private bathroom looked like:
On the next morning at 6:00 a.m. the head of the diving crew Joe and his crew started a wake-up call with: "It is a beautiful morning in Similan Islands! Rise and shine!". The view from the boat was just stunning.
While we were drinking our first morning coffee, Joe already had dive plan ready for first dive site called Anita's Reef. We got our equipment ready...
... and started with diving! Finally!
It did not last long when we became amazed about the underwater life in Similan Islands.
Giant Triggerfish
Blue-spotted stingray
Breakfast was served after we came out of the water. And while we were eating, our captain headed off towards our next locations. West of Eden and Elephant Head Rock were next two dive sites. Again we were not disappointed.
Giant Morey
Elephant Head Rock
West of Eden
Hawksbill Turtle
After third dive we waited for sun to go down. The next in row was a night dive.
During the night dive different wildlife can be spotted. We witnessed a lot of small big-eyed fish and different types of crabs. The most admirable animal was lobster. It was time to call a day and jump into pajamas.
Bubbly and nitrogen-ful greetings from Similan Island
Boris & Jerneja
Three years ago we visited Thailand. We were very impressed about it, therefore we decided to come back. Now it was about time to make this happen. We started our journey in small, well known town Khao Lak.
The town is known as the divers heaven. Everything here is concentrated on diving. Even hostel where we stayed was named Monkey Dive Hostel. Hostel was nice and tidy. It also combines Thai hospitality with international needs.
Three years ago we discovered the best local restaurant. After quick unpacking in the hostel we immediately went to check if the restaurant still exists. While walking down the street with fingers crossed we saw familiar sign of a restaurant. The restaurant was still there with exactly the same people and more importantly the best food around. So the dinner was served.
After dinner we went on a short walk around the town and observe that not much has been changed during last three years. As Thai people would say: "Same same but different".
The only difference was timing. Now it was actually diving season and there was a lot of divers. Speaking of diving... stay tuned for upcoming posts.
This weekend was one of the most important anniversaries in the history of the Berlin city - the fall of the Berlin Wall, which happened on 9th of November 25 years ago. Therefore, the city prepared symbolic boarder of lights, which consisted of thousands illuminated balloons. The 15 km line of balloons was placed thought the heart of Berlin, where the Wall used to be. The event started on Friday, 7 November and ended on Sunday 9 November, when the balloons were released.
On Friday after work we went with some friends to one of the main gathering points Brandenburg Gate. Everything seemed to be ready; the stage, food and beverage stands were there.
And most importantly, the line of balloons was ready. "Lichtgrenze" - boarder of lights divided the city in two, just like the Wall used to.
There were a lot more visitors on Sunday night. We arrived shortly after they started to release the balloons, one by one. They symbolized the end of the division and happiness that came with it.
