Diving the Andaman Sea - March 2014

The only boat I could find doing a live aboard trip to the Andaman this year was the M/V Pawara run by West Coast Divers. It was a good trip.

I spent the first night at Kata Beach in Phuket.

The boat is quite nice with a good dive deck. The standard cabins are bit cramped, though.

The food is excellent and way too plentiful.

The service staff was tireless and helpful.

Sunrise near Koh Tachai (Island in the North Andaman Sea)

This is a YouTube video of clips I shot at various locations on this dive. It includes a Leopard Shark, Manta Rays and lots of other creatures.

Koh Tachi has a wondful soft sand beach. The ridge and pinnacle, off to the left, are both good dive sites.

We saw a couple of tiny black tip reef sharks swimming in the shallows. (There's a brief clip in the video.)

Koh Bon also has an excellent underwater ridge dive site.

I shot this YouTube video which has nothing but Manta Rays and a few divers. 

Similan Islands sunrise

Similan Islands

Koh Phi Phi Lei. (South Andaman)

Koh Ha is a group of five islands and a few rocks. There are nice caves. You can see some in the video.

Koh Ha

Dive Briefing

Fellow Divers

Koh Ha

Koh Ha - Obviously, one of my favorite South Andaman dive sites.

When I got back to Phuket, it was the day before election day, so all the bars closed at 6:00 PM. Except for this one. I had a couple gin and tonics. They were good and cold.