Big Discounts on Richelieu Rock Diving this month!
In the Andaman Sea, in the far northern Similan Islands and just below the Burmese border, lies Richelieu Rock. One of the top sites in Thailand, Richelieu Rock diving is some of the best in the world, due largely to deep sea upwellings of nutrient rich water and plankton blooms that attract many fish, most impressive of which is the Whale Shark. Read on for a diver log of the diversity and awe inspiring beauty during a Richelieu Rock Liveaboard. If you find yourself inspired to embark on a trip of your own, now is the time to book for a 20% discount off travel anytime this year before December 21st, 2017. Unsure of your dates? No problem! Put down a deposit by March 31st, 2017 and we will send you a savings certificate to apply to any of our Thailand Liveaboard and Surin Island Snorkeling trips for the rest of the year!
Diving is best balanced with R&R
We awoke in the early morning to glistening seas and an a impressive swordfish jumping at the surface. Beneath the blue we found some really cool nudis, swam around with napoleon wrasse, watched trevally and tuna hunt and enjoyed some drift dives. We ate like kings and queens, enjoyed frequent nap times, spent hours looking through fish identification books and filling out our own dive logs. Lots of milo was consumed with plenty of quality sun soaking time and dancing around to some cool beats played from our ipods.
Whale Shark: the moment we were all waiting for!
Captain Wit escorted us safely to Koh Bon where we kicked off the first day in fine style with two dives. Napoleon wrasse were there to meet us, along with a juvenile emperor angelfish, mantis shrimps, some not very shy cuttlefish and even a pair of octopus mating! Koh Tachai was next, where we stopped firstly at the Pinnacle for the third dive of the day. After a thorough dive briefing, the first group went down to get geared up, when a large fin was spotted breaking the surface. Attached to the large fin was a 4m whale shark enjoying a quick circumnavigation of the dive site and was spotted by everyone on the boat – certainly a highlight of Richelieu diving!
Drifting into Wonder
In and under the water, giant trevally and tuna were found, along with moray eels, octopus and more mantis shrimp. After another mazing meal cooked by the legend that is P’Da, everyone got ready for a night dive in Tachai Bay, where Christa fell in love with possibly the world’s smallest cuttlefish.
The next morning graced us with schools of barracuda, along with lots of rainbow runners, morays and dogtooth tuna.
The tide charts told us it was slack tide, but a current check told us there was some great drift, making for one of the most enjoyable dives. Two big whiprays, scorpionfish, blue spotted rays, a pair of napoleons and some monster lobsters put smiles on faces shortly before lunch was put into faces. The diversity of Richelieu diving truly took our breath away! Aow Pakad made for the third dive of the day, with some beautiful ribbon eels spotted, along with those napoleons again and Christa continued her tiny love affair with a very small lionfish. After a beach visit, everyone got quizzical in the Wicked pub quiz before settling down for the night.
The only boat in sight!
Mooring up, it was a fine sight to have no one in sight on our Richelieu Rock diving experience – we were the only boat there to enjoy Thailand’s finest dive site, for not one but two dives! Two schools of barracuda were there with baby boxfish, many mantis shrimp, banded box shrimp and some sexy octopus. Sea stars were found with missing legs, but despite our best efforts, those elusive harlequin shrimp managed to enjoy their breakfast alone.
The trip drew to a close as the boat pulled into the harbour where taxis were waiting to whisk everyone back to reality. A fantastic trip that produced 5 new advanced divers and 1 new adventure deep diver, and lots of whaleshark photos – sounds like we had better do it again next week! Perhaps we shall, for each Richelieu Rock Liveaboard is truly a unique experience full of unknown discovery and excitement! You might also consider a combo trip or a merging of Richelieu Rock diving with a Similan Islands Liveaboard, the best of both worlds and a surefire way to take diving in Thailand to the next level!
Remember, 20% off Thailand liveaboards and Surin Snorkeling in 2017 with a booking or deposit by March 31st. Although the deposit cut-off date is just around the corner, your adventure can begin anytime before December 21st, 2017.
