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Smiling Seahorse

Smiling Seahorse Itinerary

Thailand - North Andaman (Ranong - Khao Lak) 5N

6 days / 5 nights

About Smiling Seahorse

  • Comfort and dive adventures onboard a purpose-built liveaboard vessel
  • Exciting safaris exploring the best dive sites in Thailand and Myanmar
  • Outstanding facilities for divers and underwater photographers
  • Incredible encounters with mantas, macro, and everything in between

The Smiling Seahorse liveaboard is a recently constructed dive safari boat offering liveaboard adventures in Thailand and Myanmar's Andaman Sea. You'll enjoy easy diving and smooth sailing from this spacious and stable vessel, complete with comfortable cabins and common areas, outstanding facilities for scuba divers, and a fun social atmosphere. Plus, impeccable service from the crew, happy to help with whatever you might need. This vessel offers some of Thailand’s best diving itineraries as well as a camera room, making it a top pick among underwater photographers and dedicated scuba divers.

Learn more about Smiling Seahorse

Itinerary details

Length of trip 6 days / 5 nights
Number of dives 18
Experience Open Water - Minimum 10 dives
Insurance Required

Highlights

  • Circular itinerary exploring the north Andaman Sea
  • Dive the famous Richelieu Rock in search of whale sharks
  • Witness Koh Bon, one of the only true wall dives in Thailand
  • Meet the schools of barracuda at Koh Tachai
  • Land visit to Donald Duck Bay on Similan Island
  • Night dives included
Day 1: 
Rendezvous at our dive centre for check in between 12:00 and 14:00. ​We will leave from Ranong at around 16:00. It’s also possible to get picked up at Koh Phayam around 19:00.

Days 2-4:
Surin Island is not dived by many other boats, but it is a very good spot for macro life such as ghost pipefish, frogfish and nudibranchs, and the first place where we can see whale sharks and mantas. There are also many Jenkins stingrays, sweetlips and barracudas around, and regular sightings of humphead parrotfish, eagle rays and reef sharks.

We will start out at Koh Chi in the north of Surin Island and go down to the southern part of Surin Island, where we will make 4 quite enjoyable drift dives. We sometimes also visit the Sea Gypsies on Surin Island. The night dive will be around 19:00. After dinner onboard, we will leave for Koh Bon.

Day 5:
At Koh Bon we will make 2 dives, one at the ridge and one at Koh Bon Pinnacle. The main attraction here is manta rays, but when they are not around, there are plenty of tropical fish to look at. There is also a very good chance for whale sharks and zebra sharks.

For the afternoon dive, we will go south to another dive site in Similan National Park. Your cruise director will choose from various dive sites in the northern part of the Similan Islands, and we will keep in touch with other boats if mantas or whale sharks have been sighted in the last few days. ​
 
Then we will dive at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, where we usually have a very fishy dive: barracudas, trevallies, sweetlips, and batfish—a very nice dive spot. Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock are the best places to see whale sharks, so keep your eyes open!

On Koh Tachai you will have the choice between a sunset dive or Black Water dive, followed by a barbecue.

Day 6: 
We will go further south in the Similan Islands with the famous dive sites Elephant Head, Donald Duck Bay, Deep six, west of Eden, Rocky Point and Anita's reef. Good chances to spot whale sharks, turtles, manta rays, reef sharks, and Napoleons. We will make 2 dives, and we will go back to Khao Lak around 3-4pm. 

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

Transfer details

Departure

05:00pm

Bodin Pier, Ranong

Ranong Airport: UNN

Return

08:00pm

Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak

Phuket International Airport: HKT

Current availability and prices: https://www.zubludiving.com/itineraries/smiling-seahorse/itn-2508220502311-thailand-north-andaman-ranong-khao-lak-5n