So I just returned from what was the best trip I've had in my life. The Similan Islands are one of the top ten dive sites in the entire world, and I spent last week diving there while living on the boat the West Coast Explorer.
The Similan Islands are in the Andaman Sea, north of Phuket, and are gorgeous even above water. I took a 12 hour bus to Khao Lak, spent a day drinking on the beach and getting a massage before setting sail on my liveaboard scubadiving trip. My friend Charlie Waters was my dive partner all week and we saw more marine life than I could have ever expected. I kept a log of all the species I could identify during the dives, from blue sea stars to a banded sea snake to a frimulated moray eel. We saw two pretty large leopard sharks and a little seahorse that just tugged on my heart strings. I've never had so much fun.
This was our daily schedule:
6:30-7:00 wake up
7:00 snack
7:30 dive 1
8:30 breakfast
10:30 dive 2
11:30 lunch
3:30 dive 3
4:30 snack
5:30 dive 4
6:30 dinner
7:30 chatting and drinking
We did four dives a day (14 dives total) and we even did 1 night dive (my first) which was pretty awesome. Everyone was older than me, and mostly European men, but they gave me such a hard time for never wearing a wetsuit until the last day. Come on, we're in the tropics, you aren't going to get that cold! Every dive was 30 meters for about 50 minutes. Pretty fabulous considering I'm only an Open Water Diver.
After the trip we all stayed a night in Patong Beach in Phuket which was pretty raunchy, good fun. One of our divemasters owned a bar on Soi Gonzo named Magic Bar and we had quite an evening there. Old European men on a stripper pole can only happen in Thailand.I'm hoping to get some underwater pictures emailed from some friends on the trip, but until now these must suffice. I will be heading home in several days and I can't believe my trip is ending! Not yet! The fun is just beginning!
P.S. check out my new obsessions: Lady GaGa (american) and Tata Young (thai)
