Diving Safari: Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock and Boonsung wreck
Enjoy 14 dives over 4 days, a relaxed pace with plenty of time above and below the water. There is wide variation in the dive sites across the islands, with hard coral reefs, bombies covered in soft coral, large granite boulders, rock walls and swim through's. In between dives explore and enjoy the islands, fringed with white sand beaches, large rock boulders, turquoise tropical water and dense jungle. A short walk up to the look out at Donald Duck bay provides breath taking views and a great photo opportunity. Our professional Thai staff are here to look after you. All meals are cooked and served onboard, buffet style with plenty of fresh fruit and snacks throughout the day. The dive crew help you gearing up, getting in and out of the water and filling the tanks in between dives. We offer a full range of PADI courses during your trip. Our staff speak a variety of different languages so there is something for everyone. We have nitrox on our boats and the nitrox certification course is easy to complete. Nitrox tanks are either 200 THB per tank or 2,000 THB per liveaboard trip. We dive in groups of 4 guest with one Divemaster. Groups are based on certification level and experience .Trip Itinerary The boat leaves in the evening. We transfer you from your hotel / resort to the dive shop around 7pm. Here you will try on the dive equipment. Once your equipment is sorted, sit and have a coffee and meet your dive staff. Meanwhile your equipment and luggage will be loaded onto the boat. At around 7.50 PM we transfer you to Tab Lamub Pier (about a 10min drive) to our liveaboard. Once onboard we show you your cabin, you can settle in and dinner is served at 9 pm as we are traveling to the Similans. The next morning your diving adventure starts with your first dive at the Similan Islands. Photos and boat information >> Manta rays are subject to a number of anthropogenic threats. Unlike their bottom-dwelling relatives, mantas must swim constantly in order to flush oxygen-rich water over their gills, making them vulnerable to entanglement and subsequent suffocation. Mantas cannot swim backwards, and because of their protruding cephalic fins, they are prone to being caught in trailing fishing line, nets, and even loose mooring lines. Mantas will often attempt to free themselves by somersaulting, tangling themselves further. In the case of loose, trailing line, it is possible for the line to cut its way into the fleshy appendages of a manta as it swims, eventually resulting in irreversible injuries such as loss of cephalic fins and damage to pectoral fins, or even death if the wounds are severe enough. Similarly, mantas are often entangled in gill nets used in coastal and pelagic fisheries, resulting in suffocation and death in most cases.
While bycatch and accidental deaths are likely to heavily impact slow-growing manta populations, targeted fisheries for manta rays are even more harmful. In the last decade, demand for manta gill rakers—the tough, cartilaginous structures protecting the gills and straining plankton from the water—has been growing in Traditional Chinese Medicine practices, although the remedy calling for dried gill rakers has not been shown to be traditional. As a result of growing demand in Asia, targeted fisheries have developed around the world, including in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, West Africa, and Central and South America. Each year, thousands of manta rays—primarily oceanic mantas—are being caught and killed purely for their gill rakers. A recent fisheries study in Sri Lanka estimated over 1,000 oceanic mantas being caught for their rakers in the country's fish markets each year. In comparison, oceanic manta populations at key aggregation sites around the world are all estimated to be significantly less than 1,000 individuals. Targeted fisheries for oceanic manta rays in the Sea of Cortez in the '80s and '90s wiped out the local manta population, which to date has still not recovered. Intense, targeted fisheries for manta rays have long-term detrimental effects, due to the low reproductive rates and long lifespans of mantas. SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA Similan Dive Center organize manta expedition to Koh Bon every Wednesday. Andaman Explorer Khao Lak always one step ahead
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SIMILAN
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