This is a collection of my blog entries and experiences with diving.
You can find all the pictures I've taken here, and read below for recountings of my more recent trips:
My last time diving in Thailand didn't have the most sea life, but I thought it was probably because it was very early season (the very first trip of the winter). This time I was back in Thailand for EDC Phuket, so I came early to go diving and due to my dates, there was actually a single boat out of the 20+ that I could go to, and it was the Bavaria. By the time I booked it was late and I only got the last (very small) room. It was not the most comfortable as a result, but it was probably the most affordable liveabord I've been on, so it was good value for money. Ultimately the issue is I picked the wrong boat but it was the only one that fit my schedule:
room was super small, no room for my luggage and no bathroom
Here is our trip:
One "interesting" thing with all the liveboards in Phuket, is that they all seem to leave at the exact same days, which is unfortunate when you need specific dates like I did. Also many boats only went for 2-4 days when I wanted 6 minimum. There were 4 boats anchored and ready to leave at the same time:
food was good
Although the boat was on the smaller side for the amount of divers, there was also a fair amount of crew to take care of us, and they did a great job:
This boat trip had a stop on 2 islands, which was fun and enjoyable:
looked for those but was not able to find any
fun local pigeons
and noisy bats :)
also found my water monitor big lizard from last time
déjà vu :)
I didn't take a picture of all the liveaboards I saw, but I saw many:
this one looked sweet
Phinisi I was on last time
but back to this one :)
and mid way through the trip, this fast boat got new guests in and old ones out
So, let's get to the diving:
my dive guide and dive buddy who made sure I didn't get lost :)
I had some reliability issues with my main camera case, so I ended up taking both cameras :)
clown triggerfish
a few sea snakes, I love those
found a fair amount of lobsters
One of the highlight spots of the trip was Richelieu Rock but when we arrived, the current was unbearable. Got some pictures but it as pretty rough:
Then it was the 6th and last day, 2 more dives;
a good amount of parrotfish
Across the multiple dives:
found a few nice nudis:
Muliple local pipefish and seahorses:
you can see 3 in this video
we did find multiple stonefish:
another beauty
One of my favorites is mantis shrimp:
and then I found this one :)
I tried to lure it out but this is as far as I got, it was smart
On the plus side, a fair amount of smaller octopuses:
And a highlight was seeing Octopus Sex, first time at night. I've read it takes up to 3h :)
had you seen an octopus erection before? :)
many moray eels:
two of them fighting for a fish, never seen this before
they would even bump into one another
Also got lucky with some nice sunsets:
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Thanks to all the nice Bavaria staff, despite the somewhat cramped boat, it was a good week.
