It was finally time for Vince and I to leave Phuket and drive northward to the beach side town of Khao Lak. This marked the beginning of the portion of our trip that I was looking forward to the most. Once we arrived in Khao Lak, we’d be boarding a liveaboard dive boat, where we would get to spend three days diving at some of the best sites in Thailand. So we packed up our bags, and got back into the rental car for the first time since we arrived on the island four nights earlier.
We left earlier than necessary so we could take our time, and stop at a few places along the drive, starting with a visit to Phra Phutta Ming Mongkol Eknakiri, or the Big Buddha. This forty-five meter tall Buddha statue sits atop Nakkerd Hill, overlooking the southern end of Phuket, and the Andaman Sea. Vince drove us up a winding road to the top of Nakkerd Hill, and we arrived to find large signs indicating that the Buddha statue was closed due to landslide damage. But the drive wasn’t completely wasted because we still got to admire the scenery from atop the hill, and we could see a profile view of the Buddha statue, which was indeed substantial.
Upon leaving the hill, we set our map to navigate to Jungle Xtreme Adventure, because it was almost time to meet up for a ziplining tour I’d booked on a whim the day before. We were still a little early for our ten a.m. time slot, so we had just enough time to stop at a couple of souvenir shops along the way, and to take a quick look at Wat Chalong, which is the most revered of Phuket’s Buddhist temples.
We couldn’t stay at the temple for long though, so we just visited the ornate exterior before finishing the drive over to the ziplining park, which was a ways back down a forested road. When we arrived, we had to walk up a steep hill from the parking lot, and we were already sweating from the intense morning heat by the time we arrived at the park’s office. A handful of employees greeted us, and kitted us out with gear before turning on a safety video to teach us how to use all of the equipment. Everything was pretty similar to rock climbing gear, so Vince and I were able to get the gist of it easily enough. After the safety briefing, we did a practice run on a nearby zipline that was just a few feet off the ground, and the then we followed our guides uphill to reach the forest canopy. We even got to walk across a few swinging bridges along the way.
Soon it was time to get onto the first real zipline, and our guide made sure I was doing everything right as I attached my trolley and carabiners to the line. When we told me I was good to go, I stepped off the platform and flew through the air towards a distant tree. Tree tops whizzed by underneath me, and I enjoyed the view of the forest until I landed safely on the next platform.
Soon, Vince stepped up onto the platform beside me, and we both moved on through the course, speeding along zipline after zipline. This was my first time ziplining, and it was a lot more relaxing than I expected. My impression has always been that it must be a high-adrenaline sport, but in practice I found it to be a pleasant experience, but particularly thrilling. I felt myself grinning from ear to ear each time I stepped off a platform to swing above the trees, and it was fun to watch Vince glide up to meet me at each new tree.
At the very end of the tour, we got back to the office by literally leaping out of a towering tree. There was an auto-belay hanging from the tree-top, and we each took a turn clipping into it and jumping into the open air. The split second before the auto-belay caught my fall was undoubtedly the most exciting part of the tour, and when my feet finally touched the ground, I looked back up at the tree to see the dizzying height I’d just jumped from.
Now that our ziplining tour had come to an end, it was officially time to say goodbye to Phuket. We stopped in town to grab a couple of smoothies for the road, then started driving north. I must confess, I fell asleep for much of the drive (typical), so a couple of hours flew by quickly for me. When I woke up, I checked the map to see where we were, and I realized we were near the Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtle Conservation Center.
The conservation center breeds turtles and raises the babies for about six months before releasing them back into the ocean. They also rehabilitate sick and injured turtles, and provide a home for any turtles that can’t be released back into the wild due to the severity of their injuries. I’d heard about the conservation center before our trip, and was excited to see that we had enough time to stop in for a visit.
I grabbed Vince’s phone and rerouted our map to take us there, but after following the directions for a few minutes, we found ourselves at an imposing looking gate that protected a Thai naval base. While the center is run by the Navy, we had trouble believing that we’d be allowed to simply drive onto a naval base. So we drove around searching for any other roads that might lead us there. Eventually we had to concede that there was no alternative route, so we drove back to the gate and timidly asked the sailor who was guarding it about the turtle center. Without any further questions, he gave us some basic directions of how to get there, and ushered us onto the base. Then we drove a ways further, passed a golf course, and finally arrived at the turtle center.
Before stopping into the office to pay for admission, we paused briefly at a tsunami memorial that sits right next to the conservation center. The site pays respect to those lost in the devastating tsunami that ravaged the coastlines of countries in and around the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. An estimated 227,898 people were killed by the tsunami, and about 5,400 of those lost were in Thailand. Twenty-two years later, the southwestern coast still bears evidence of the disaster, and the memorial includes the wreck of Navy Boat 215, which was washed ashore in the wave. Vince and I stopped in front of the boat and shared a somber moment to remember the victims of the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
After a few moments of silence, we paid for admission tickets, then went over to look into a series of tanks that made up the sea turtle conservation center. The site was compromised of a handful of pavilions, each with a few large pools of water protected from the sun by their roofs. Each tank housed a different age group of juvenile green sea turtles.
Watching the baby turtles swim circles around each other brought a smile to my face. It was great to know that these beautiful little creatures would soon get their freedom out in the Andaman Sea where they belong.
We made a loop around the center to see both the youngest and the oldest turtles that live there. Just as we’d finished looking in the last tank, Vince pointed at something back near the tsunami memorial. I looked at where he was pointing and saw, to my great surprise, a positively huge otter.
I quickly forgot about the turtles and reached into my camera bag to grab my long lens as the otter ambled downhill towards a nearby river. By the time I swapped out my lens, the otter was already slipping into the running water, where it joined up with a few other otters to swim downstream. With the family on the move, I opted to shoot video instead of taking pictures as the otters moved into the distance and then ducked under the water and out of sight.
This was my first time ever seeing otters in the wild, and I was so shocked that it happened this suddenly and randomly that I just stood there staring at the flowing water where the otters had been for several minutes. Later, I learned that these were probably smooth-coated otters, which are on the large size as far as otters go. The one we got a good look at definitely seemed bigger than any North American river otter I’ve seen at the zoo back home. After a while, it was apparent that the otters would not be making a reappearance, so Vince and I decided to get a move on.
From the naval base, it was just a short drive to Khao Lak, and when we arrived in the town, we went straight to the Sea Dragon Dive Center to check in for our three day liveaboard trip. We parked our car behind the dive shop, paid the remaining balance for the trip, then picked out sizes for our rental gear. After that, we had a couple of hours left to grab dinner and do some souvenir shopping before it was time to load up into a shuttle bus to drive a couple more hours north to where the MV Andaman was waiting for us. On the drive, we met Ally from Australia, and Zach from New Zealand, two others divers who were boarding the boat with us. The four of us took turns napping and getting to know each other during the drive, and we finally made it to port well after dark.
There were already a lot of divers aboard the MV Andaman. Everyone already onboard had just finished up a four day trip, and were heading back out with us for three more days. They all welcomed us aboard, and then the divemasters showed us around the boat, and gave us a short run-down on what our schedule would be like for the next few days, and some different rules we’d have to follow during the trip.
Vince and I had reserved a private cabin, which was tucked behind the main bunkhouse, and was very basic with just a double bed and a bit of storage space. Still, it was comfortable and would be a fine place to spend a few nights. The trip leader, Svante, warned us that we’d have an early wake-up call the next morning before setting us free to mingle with the other divers as the MV Andaman pulled away from port and headed out into the pitch-black night. We stayed up getting to know our shipmates for a little longer, but eventually we all went to bed to try to get enough sleep to power us through a long day of diving.
Wake up call came before the sun the next morning, and I groggily rolled out of bed and slipped into my bathing and rash guard. There was no point in showering before getting into the ocean, so I just gathered everything I’d need for our first dive, brushed my teeth, and then followed everyone up to the main deck for our first dive briefing of the expedition. The sun was rising, casting a soft glow across Koh Tachai, the small island we’d travelled to during the night. The island was a beautiful backdrop as the divemasters gave us an overview of our first dive site of the day, Koh Tachai Reef. After the briefing, we went down to the dive deck in three waves of divers. Vince and I were partnered with a divemaster named Pi Ton, and the other divers in our group were Zach and Nay, who we’d met the night before, and we would be the last group getting in the water for the day, so we had plenty of time to gear up before it was our turn to climb into the boat’s dinghy.
The dinghy carried us closer to the island, where we rolled into the water and descended down to the reef. Koh Tachai is inside of Similan Islands National Park, and there are strict rules associated with diving there. We were warned not to touch any coral whatsoever. Of course, this is always best practice, but infractions in Thailand’s national parks can get you fined, and if your behavior is bad enough, you can even be banned from continuing to dive. We also weren’t allowed to touch rocks or sand, which usually isn’t quite so frowned upon. I often pinch a rock between my thumb and forefinger to steady myself while I’m filming something on the reef, so I was going to have to kick that habit fast.
I kept all of this in mind as we arrived at a lovely reef that was teeming with schools of glass fish. Over the next hour, we encountered many interesting sea creatures, but my favorite finds were a sea krait and an octopus, who was hiding in plain sight, camouflaged on a piece of pink coral.
We did our safety stop at a shallow section of reef that was covered in delicate sea whips, a soft coral that looks a bit like long tendrils of wild grass. Pi Ton pointed out an extra pretty section of reef and signaled for me to glide over it and film with my GoPro. Then we spent the rest of the safety stop looking at various little reef fish until it was time to surface.
Back on the boat, the crew served a hearty breakfast, and everyone made sure to fill up on food and water because diving can dehydrate you quickly. We spent the rest of the surface interval relaxing under a canopy on the top deck, as the waters surrounding Koh Tachai turned an extraordinary shade of blue under the late morning sunlight.
As the time for our next dive briefing grew closer, a rumor started spreading around the boat that there was a tiger shark circling the area. Some divers from another liveaboard had apparently seen it on their first dive that morning. Everyone gathered along the sides of the deck to scan the water for any sign of it, but none of us managed to spot it. Still, I felt a little rush of adrenaline when it was time to head down to the main deck for our dive briefing. I’d never (to my knowledge at least) come anywhere close to a tiger shark, and while diving with tigers is a dream of mine, the idea of it also scares me.
The buzz of excitement about the shark was still circulating the group as we all sat down to go over the plan for our dive at Koh Tachai Pinnacle, which is one of the best dive sites in the Similan Islands. The divemasters warned us that there might be stronger current on this dive, but the warning felt more like an advertisement to me, because strong currents usually come with more pelagic action. Pi Ton pulled our group aside after the briefing to tell us that we would try to make it out to the second of two pinnacles that make up the dive site, if the current allowed.
By the time we rolled off the dinghy, I had gotten myself a bit worked up about the potential tiger shark. I kept my head on a swivel as we descended onto the the first pinnacle, but the first thing we saw when we got there wasn’t a shark. It was a jack with a large lure stuck in its mouth. It was swimming quite awkwardly to compensate for the weight of the hook, and I wished I could help it, but there was no way I could have caught hold of it.
The jack swam away, leaving us to begin our dive. The current was indeed stronger at this site, and a large school of barracudas had gathered around the pinnacle as a result. We swam over towards them and eventually, we were surrounded. The barracudas supplanted all my thoughts about the tiger shark, which was nowhere to be seen.
After swimming amongst the school of barracudas for a few minutes, we went a little bit deeper and hit a thermocline layer. Warm and cold water met each other, causing a blurry effect in the water that almost made me wonder if my contacts had fallen out of my eyes. The thermocline looked incredible, but it was too cold to hang out in it for very ong, and soon Pi Ton started fighting the current, swimming in the direction of the second pinnacle. It took a bit of work, but we managed to make it out there, and were rewarded with an encounter with a juvenile hawksbill turtle. This little guy swam circles around us the whole time we were at the second pinnacle, and it stopped every so often to eat some coral.
The second pinnacle was also home to some incredible gorgonian fans, which swayed in the current as schools of glass fish teemed around them in a mesmerizing dance.
All too soon, it was time to head back to the surface, but we would get one more chance to dive the pinnacle later in the afternoon, and I couldn’t wait. Back on the boat, a diver from one of the other groups was excitedly telling everyone that he’d seen the tiger shark. He ran down to his cabin, got his laptop, and loaded his SD card into it. Sure enough, he’d captured a fantastic video of shark swimming past him and disappearing into the hazy water. He said he’d noticed it out at the second pinnacle, and I remembered seeing his group when we were out there, which meant that we were diving near a tiger shark and never even knew it was there. This was a bit mind-blowing for me, and as we sat down for lunch I was internally wondering how many times I’ve been in the vicinity of scary sharks species and never known it.
But the thought wasn’t enough to stop me from getting back in the water for another dive at the Pinnacle later that afternoon. Nay had decided to sit this one out, since she’d already dived it twice earlier in the week, so we got into the water as a group of four this time, and planned to go back out to the second pinnacle to see what was hanging out in the current this time.
Along the way, we saw a very chunky moray eel, and some more fabulous gorgonians. Some of them were a bright orange color that almost looked impossible, and we swam around them I realized that Thailand has the best gorgonians I’ve ever encountered.
There was so much happening when we made it to the second pinnacle that it was hard to know where to look first. Thousands of tiny fish formed schools of twinkling lights, moving together in large waves of action.
We swam over to the end of the rock outcropping of the pinnacle, and we peered over the edge of the rocks to find a school of batfish hovering there. They were swimming downward against the current, but they were moving slow enough that they just stayed in one place, almost like they were on an underwater treadmill. I swam down to their level, which took far more energy for me than it looked like it was costing them. I kept finning so that I could stay alongside them for a few moments, but soon, I let the water carry back up the few feet to where the rest of the group was waiting.
Our departure with the batfish marked the end of the dive, and before long we were back aboard the MV Andaman as she started sailing for Surin Islands National Park. The sun was setting when we arrived there, a glowing orb dipping towards the horizon. Just as it was disappearing for the evening, our group dropped back into the water for one last dive to end the day. This time we carried torches with us to illuminate the reef as dusk turned to night.
There’s something very exciting about night diving. When you can only see what’s illuminated in the cone of your dive light, you can never tell what might be waiting behind the next coral head. This dive site, which was called Ao Pakard, was covered in staghorn coral, and as we made our way over the reef, we saw brief glimpses of pufferfish, parrotfish, and various other species, but we didn’t hold our lights on them for long because we didn’t want to attract predators to them.
The main objective of this dive was to look for harlequin shrimp. These festive-looking spotted shrimp are known to mate for life, and subsist on a diet of starfish. About halfway through the dive, Pi Ton located a pair, and signalled for us to come look. I approached the little cranny he was pointing out, and sure enough there were a couple of tiny shrimps (they were far too small to capture with my GroPro) standing atop a half-eaten starfish. It was such a unique find, and a highlight of the dive.
A little while later, we found a jellyfish, which looked as though it was glowing when I shined a light on it.
When it was time for our safety stop, we shone our lights upward to where the MV Andaman was waiting for us. This was a signal to the boat crew that we were ready to be picked up. We surfaced right next to the boat, and climbed directly onto the dive deck. Now our first day of liveaboard diving was at its official end. The rest of the evening was spent showering, gearing up for the next day, and then hanging out on the boat deck where we played skip-bo and talked with our shipmates much later into the night. When we finally climbed into bed hours later, I found myself wishing the next day would just go ahead and start already, because I couldn’t wait to get back in the water!
You can see more details of this amazing destination on my YouTube channel!
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