Smiling Seahorse Itinerary

Burma - Undiscovered Mergui Archipelago (Ranong)

Day 1:
Meeting at our dive centre headquarters between 10:00-12:00. At 14:00, we will head to the immigration office to get the necessary exit stamps from Thailand and then make our way to board the magnificent MV Smiling Seahorse. Upon crossing the border into Myanmar, immigration officers will board in Kawthaung and do the necessary border crossing screening. Once the paperwork is completed, we will head out to sea! At sunset we will hold a ceremony to launch our voyage. Then it will be time for your first scrumptious meal before being rocked to sleep by the waves.​

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Wake up to the friendly call of the ocean as we start the cruise with a day at South Twin Island. Sitting in the outskirts of the Mergui Archipelago, this dive site is quite scenic with consistent crystal visibility and a topography of huge granite boulders. We have even been lucky enough to start the voyage off in style with a guest appearance from a majestic manta ray. Macro lovers will also be treated to chances of ghost pipefish, seahorses and frogfish! We end the first day of diving with a night dive searching for pygmy squid, candy crabs, cowries and nudibranchs!

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Enjoy 4 dives around the very special Shark Cave. In the afternoon we will find a bounty beach where we can get some sand between our toes and we might also pass by a local fishermen village. ​Here there are chances to see eagle rays, grey reef sharks, nurse sharks sleeping in their cave, blotched sting rays, frogfish, leaffish, spearing mantis shrimp and many more. Beautiful coral also makes this a very colourful dive site.

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After a night of crossing, we will reach Black Rock, a small rock out in the open sea. Here we are hoping for the big stuff like sharks and rays and whatever is passing. This is the place to go for "Manta Festival" with manta rays coming in dozens from everywhere (no guarantee of course, but they are pretty common). The conditions this far in the open sea are a bit more challenging and currents make it a different style of diving to other areas of Mergui. This is probably the best dive site in Myanmar and is still seldom visited by divers.

​​Day 5: 

We stay offshore with North Twin and its pinnacle where you will have more chances to cross Manta Rays and sometimes eagle rays. Because there are many patches of sand between the boulders, we also sighted leopard sharks sleeping quite regularly. Giant sea fans are also often hiding wonders so look thoroughly!

We will visit Seafan Forest in the morning – its name says it all – many boulders and many sea fans attract many kinds of fish. You will often see schools of barracudas or batfish on top of the site as well as tuna hunting schools of fusiliers. We have even had the lucky moment where 3 whale sharks came out to play with us on one dive here! In the afternoon we will go around Western Rocky for 2 more dives there.

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This is the day that sets apart this cruise from the others as we have a whole day to do 4 dives in the bountiful Western Rocky neighbourhood. This is by far one of the most famous dive sites in Burma although we still won't need to share it with other divers! One of the highlights is a tunnel (cave) at 20 metres depth that goes all the way through the island. You will see lobsters hiding in dark corners and many types of crabs (sponge crab, spider crab, anemone crab). We have also spotted bowmouth guitarfish, whale sharks, various other shark species, harlequin shrimp, frogfish and seahorses. Also be prepared for a real treat as this is the perfect night diving spot! ​​

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The last dive goes into a volcano where a group of blacktip sharks likes to hang around. This is also a special space to find seahorse and rare tropical fish like the comet long fin, the shaded batfish or the pineapple fish. Take some time to peer into the nooks and crannies of the reef to find some real hidden treasures. We will be back at Ranong to disembark around 15:00.

Sample itineraries are for guidance only. Actual itineraries may differ slightly due to factors such as weather, wildlife, logistics and local regulations.