Smiling Seahorse Liveaboard, Thailand

Smooth sailing and spectacular diving at off-the-beaten-track sites in Thailand and Myanmar

from$262 /day

per person

Overview

Comfort and dive adventures onboard a purpose-built liveaboard vessel
Exciting safaris exploring the best dive sites in Thailand and Myanmar
Outstanding facilities for divers and underwater photographers
Incredible encounters with mantas, macro, and everything in between

The Smiling Seahorse is a recently constructed dive safari boat offering liveaboard adventures in Thailand and Myanmar's Andaman Sea. You'll enjoy easy diving and smooth sailing from this spacious and stable vessel, complete with comfortable cabins and common areas, outstanding facilities for scuba divers, and a fun social atmosphere. Plus, impeccable service from the crew, happy to help with whatever you might need. This vessel offers some of Thailand’s best diving itineraries as well as a camera room, making it a top pick among underwater photographers and dedicated scuba divers.

Number of cabins:8
Internet:NO
Nitrox:YES
Equipment rental:YES
Guest / Guide:4:1
Group booking discounts

Choose your trip

21Oct 2024
7D / 6N
Burma - Mergui Archipelago Black Rock (Ranong)
21 dives
from $1,879
Overview
Length of trip 7 days / 6 nights
Number of dives 21
Experience Advanced Open Water - Minimum 30 dives
Insurance Dive and travel insurance required
Transfer details
Departure
21 Oct 2024
02:00 PM
Bodin Pier, Ranong
Ranong Airport: UNN
Return
27 Oct 2024
06:00 PM
Bodin Pier, Ranong
Ranong Airport: UNN
What's included
Meals and snacks
Water, tea and coffee
Soft drinks
Towels and toiletries
Tanks and weights
Night dives
Kayaks or SUPS
What's not included
To be paid in advance or onboard
Dive and travel insurance
National park fee - US$230 per trip
Optional Extras
To be booked in advance or paid onboard
Single supplement - 80%
Alcoholic drinks
Gratuities
Equipment rental - THB600 per day
Nitrox - THB250 per tank
15l tanks - THB250 per day
Diving courses
Transfers
Highlights
Circular week-long itinerary venturing to Black Rock
Exceptional typography and visibility at South Twin Island
Meet resident nurse sharks at Shark Cave
Encounter manta rays at Black Rock
Chance to spot manta rays and eagle rays of North Twin
Possible whale shark encounters at Western Rocky
Seek the rare Bowmouth guitarfish at Western Rocky
Night dives included

Day 1:
Meeting and check-in at the dive centre between 10:00-12:00. At 14:00 we will head to the immigration office to get the necessary exit stamps from Thailand and then make our way to board the magnificent MV Smiling Seahorse. Upon crossing the border into Myanmar, immigration officers will board in Kawthaung and do the necessary border crossing screening. Once the paperwork is completed, we will head out to sea! At sunset we will hold a ceremony to launch our voyage. Then it will be time for your first scrumptious meal before being rocked to sleep by the waves.

Day 2:
Wake up to the friendly call of the ocean as we start the cruise with a day at South Twin Island. Sitting in the outskirts of the Mergui Archipelago, this dive site is quite scenic with consistent crystal visibility and a topography of huge granite boulders. We have even been lucky enough to start the voyage off in style with a guest appearance from a majestic manta ray. Macro lovers will also be treated to chances of ghost pipefish, seahorses and frogfish! We end the first day of diving with a night dive searching for pygmy squid, candy crabs, cowries and nudibranchs!

Day 3:
4 dives around the very special Shark Cave. Here there are chances to see eagle rays, grey reef sharks, nurse sharks sleeping in their cave, blotched sting rays, frogfish, leaffish, spearing mantis shrimp and many more. Beautiful coral also makes this a very colourful dive site. In the afternoon we will find a beach where we can get some sand between our toes and we might also pass by a local fishermen village.

Day 4:
After a night of crossing, we will reach Black Rock, a small rock out in the open sea. Here we are hoping for the big stuff like sharks and rays and whatever is passing. This is the place to go for "Manta Festival" with manta rays coming in dozens from everywhere (no guarantee of course, but they are pretty common). The conditions this far in the open sea are a bit more challenging and currents make it a different style of diving to other areas of Mergui. This is probably the best dive site in Myanmar and is still seldom visited by divers.

Day 5:
Still quite far offshore we will spend the fifth day of the cruise at North Twin for more chances to cross paths with larger pelagic fish and megafauna. We love this dive site for the massive schools of tuna, barracuda and trevally out in the blue, as well as the wealth of tiny critters hiding among the giant sea fans and soft corals. There is also a sand patch where we can sometimes find sleeping zebra sharks!

Day 6:
The sixth day will be spent in the neighbourhood of Western Rocky. The first two dives of the day will be spent exploring the scenery of Seafan Forest. The magnificent corals attract many schools of fish and the shelter of the topography is a favourite place of ours to search for stonefish. The last two dives of the day will be around the main island and islets of Western Rocky. Here we will also have a night dive where we can see a vibrant mosaic of yellow soft coral polyps blooming in the darkness. Spanish dancers and all types of crustaceans can be observed here.

Day 7:
The last dive goes into a volcano where a group of blacktip reef sharks likes to hang around. This is also a special site where we can find seahorses and rare tropical fish like the longfin comet, the shaded batfish or the pineapple fish. After the last dive we will go back to Kawthaung where there will be an opportunity for some souvenir shopping and a refreshing local beer. Once we get our passports back from the Burmese authorities, we will head back to Thailand where we get a new entry stamp. We will arrive back at Ranong to disembark at around 17:00.

Sample itineraries are for guidance only. Actual itineraries may differ slightly due to factors such as weather, wildlife, logistics and local regulations.
Payment & cancellation terms
Payment policy
30% deposit - required to secure reservation.
70% balance - due 2 months prior to departure.
Bookings received less than 2 months before departure require payment in full to secure reservation.
Cancellation policy
Cancellation received more than 60 days before departure: the 30% deposit is not refundable.
Cancellation received between 60 and 45 days before departure: 50% of the trip price is refunded.
Cancellation received less than 45 days before departure: no refund, the total trip price is invoiced.
Special offers or promotions - separate payment and cancellation terms may apply.
Group bookings - separate payment and cancellation terms may apply.
Contact the ZuBlu travel team if you have any questions about payment terms and cancellation.

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from $1,879 /guest
Per person, diving included
Limited availability
29Oct 2024
7D / 6N
Thailand - North Andaman (Ranong - Khao Lak) 6N
22 dives
from $1,611
Overview
Length of trip 7 days / 6 nights
Number of dives 22
Experience Advanced Open Water - Minimum 30 dives
Insurance Dive and travel insurance required
Transfer details
Departure
29 Oct 2024
04:00 PM
Bodin Pier, Ranong
Ranong Airport: UNN
Return
04 Nov 2024
04:00 PM
Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak
Phuket Airport: HKT
What's included
Meals and snacks
Water, tea and coffee
Soft drinks
Towels and toiletries
Tanks and weights
Nitrox
Night dives
Kayaks or SUPS
What's not included
To be paid in advance or onboard
Dive and travel insurance
National park fee - THB2600 per trip
Optional Extras
To be booked in advance or paid onboard
Single supplement - 80%
Alcoholic drinks
Gratuities
Equipment rental - THB600 per day
15l tanks - THB300 per day
Diving courses
Transfers
Highlights
One-way trip diving in Thailand's North Andaman sites
Find some of Thailand’s best macro around the Surin Islands
Dive the famous Richelieu Rock in search of whale sharks and more
Dive Koh Bon, one of the only true wall dives in Thailand
Land visit to the Donald Duck Bay viewpoint on Similan Island
Meet the schools of barracuda at Koh Tachai
Night dives included

Day 1:
Check in between 12:00 and 14:00. We will leave from Ranong around 16:00. It’s also possible to get picked up at Koh Phayam around 18:00.

Day 2:
The first day will be concentrated around Surin Island. We will start out at Koh Chi in the north of Surin Island and go down to the southern part of Surin Island where we will make 2 quite enjoyable drift dives. After the third dive we sometimes go visit the Sea Gypsies on Surin Island. The night dive will be around 19.00. There is an opportunity to see Jenkins stingrays, Napoleon fish, a lot of sweetlips, barracudas, humphead parrotfish, manta ray, eagle ray, reef sharks etc. After dinner on board, we will leave for Koh Bon.

Day 3:
Richelieu Rock is always listed in the top 10 dive sites in the world! It can be described as a big aquarium. Here we find more or less everything. Richelieu Rock is one of the places in Thailand to see whale sharks but also seahorses and plenty of kinky cuttlefish action.

Day 4:
Koh Tachai Pinnacle where we usually have a very fishy dive: barracudas, trevallies, sweetlips, batfish, a very nice dive spot. This is also a good place to see whale sharks so keep your eyelids peeled!

Day 5:
At Koh Bon we will make 2 dives, one at the ridge and one at Koh Bon Pinnacle. The main attraction here are manta rays but when they are not around, there are plenty of tropical fish to look at. There is also a very good chance for whale sharks and zebra sharks. After playing with manta’s we will go south to another dive site in Similan National Park. Your cruise director will choose from various dive sites in the northern part of the Similan Islands. You will love the view from the boat on some idyllic islands with lush green forest surrounded by white sand beaches. Here we dive for the usually great viz and hope to spot leopard sharks, blue spotted stingray, school of snappers and fusiliers, emperor fish, clown triggerfish and more tropical colourful fish as well as some moray eels, turtles and mantis shrimps living in the rocky areas.

Days 6-7:
We are going further south to the Similan islands with the famous dives sites Elephant Head, Donald Duck Bay, Deep six, west of Eden, Rocky Point and Anita's reef. Good chances there to spot whale sharks, turtles, mantas, reef sharks, and Napoleons. On the first day, we will enjoy a BBQ evening after the night dive. On the second day, we will enjoy 2 dives before heading to Khao Lak for 16:00.

Sample itineraries are for guidance only. Actual itineraries may differ slightly due to factors such as weather, wildlife, logistics and local regulations.
Payment & cancellation terms
Payment policy
30% deposit - required to secure reservation.
70% balance - due 2 months prior to departure.
Bookings received less than 2 months before departure require payment in full to secure reservation.
Cancellation policy
Cancellation received more than 60 days before departure: the 30% deposit is not refundable.
Cancellation received between 60 and 45 days before departure: 50% of the trip price is refunded.
Cancellation received less than 45 days before departure: no refund, the total trip price is invoiced.
Special offers or promotions - separate payment and cancellation terms may apply.
Group bookings - separate payment and cancellation terms may apply.
Contact the ZuBlu travel team if you have any questions about payment terms and cancellation.

View itinerary in new tab
View itinerary in new tab
from $1,611 /guest
Per person, diving included
Sold out

Cabins

Standard cabin
Twin or double bed
2 people
Shareable
Deluxe cabin
Twin or double bed
2 people
Shareable
Master cabin
Double bed
2 people
Non shareable

If you are a solo traveller, we aim to allocate shared cabins on a same-sex basis.
Non-shareable cabins can not be shared with another single traveler outside your party. A single occupancy surcharge will be applied.

Smiling Seahorse Liveaboard, Thailand

Overview

Choose your trip

Burma - Mergui Archipelago Black Rock (Ranong)

Departure

Return

What's included

What's not included

Optional Extras

Payment & cancellation terms

Thailand - North Andaman (Ranong - Khao Lak) 6N