- Explore the Best of Thailands Diving:
- Cheap and Affordable: Less Expensive than most other Thai Liveaboards
- Variable Length Trips: Short 5 Night Itineraries all the way up to Epic 14 Night Voyages.
- Comfortable Ship: 25 Meters long liveaboard with spacious and well-furbished sundeck, outdoor saloon & lounge and cabins.
- Experienced and Friendly Crew: Highly experience dive guides; friendly and reliable crew and staff. Great vibes.
- Tasty Food: Mouth-watering cuisine – mainly Thai seafood. Truly one of the tastiest weeks of my life.
- Extra Activities: Embark upon the land of the Similan Islands for deserted beach and forest walks.
- Beginner Friendly: Only Open Water Certification required and most dive sites are beginner friendly. You can also complete your Advanced Open Water or Deep Speciality course throughout trips!
My Experience:
In March 2023 I wrapped up a 3 month diving / work trip on Phuket island and headed up north over the bridge connecting Phuket to mainland Thailand; further along the countries west coast straddling the Andaman Sea for a total of 110 km and rocked up at Sea Dragon Dive Centre in Khao Lak.
Khao Lak; is a hustling little seaside touristy town in the Thai Province of Phang Nga. It is the launchpad for many a Thai liveaboard bound for the Similan and Surin Islands within the fabled Andaman Sea.
Sea Dragon Dive Centre; the finest damn dive centre in Khao Lak are the proud owners of the Similan Explorer liveaboard and it was there that I met the man that would lead our upcoming dive expedition : British Ex-Pilot Jamie; who’d been living in Thailand for 25 years!
He had an easy smile, a strong handshake and a bald, eagle-like head: like the other dive guides, staff and cooks that I would soon meet; I liked him right away.
Shortly after signing my life away on the standard PADI waivers (no need for gear fitting, I bought all my own…), I found myself embarking upon the Similan Explorer liveaboard.
It was a charming and clean looking vessel; recently renovated in 2024 with a nifty little open air lounge and dining area that also doubled up as the briefing area.
Up top from this was the partially shaded sundeck and soon to be designated reading and headphones zone for many of us; various sun loungers and beanbags strewn around to make dens out of.
Down on the lower deck; I found my cabin; I immediately claimed the top bunk as my own before my roommate even appeared and inspected the tiny porthole window by my bed, light and charging station and the immaculately clean ensuite shower-room and toilet. So far, everything so good!
Shortly after this I found myself tucking into a fookin’ delicious meal of calamari, rice, veg and fish; those two chuckling little Thai ladies in the kitchen area; were goddesses of cooking; throughout the entire trip they plied us with all manner of tasty, well cooked, varied and wholesome food; mainly Thai inspired seafood.
Merry chefs, they were super friendly and didn’t even mind me cheekily snagging morsels of food from the plates they were piling kitchen every time I passed by (or at least I think they didn’t mind).
We were soon tucked up in our beds as the Similan Explorer journeyed through the night to our first destination. Tommorow we awoke at the southernmost edge of the legendary Similan Islands.
Sitting some 70km out to sea from the coast of Phang Nga province, the Similan Islands are 11 mighty granite boulders that form a small archipelago with a combined land mass of just 26 km sq.
With crowns of dense forest; these tiny boulder islands themselves harbour great biodiversity in the way of birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians and insects; we actually got to explore the empty white beaches of several of them throughout the trip; crossing from one side to the other through tiny protected rainforest areas.
But of course it the waters surrounding these rocks that we were really there for- of Similan National Marine Park’s total area of 140 km sq, the majority – 114 km sq – is comprised of ocean water.
As I quickly discovered after the first few dives; Similan waters really do have incredibly visibility (40 meters +!) – just as they’re renowned for. Rippling turquoise blue from above and supremely transparent and crystal clear when immersed within; these were some of the clearest waters I’ve ever dived in.
The marine life here was rich and hearty – in the shallower waters there were countless reef fish and many turtles, octopus, nudibranch and sea snakes. At one point I also saw a 6 foot long Guitar Shark – which is technically a ray and looks like the unholy love child of a shark and ray combined.
Out in the deeper waters there were mighty schools of pelagic fish including orbicular batfish, scads, fusiliers, goatfish, trevaly, jacks and barracuda.
The coral reef was for the most part very healthy and something I really liked about diving around the Similan islands was how incredible diverse and varied the underwater landscape that the coral covered was.
We explored a great many epic walls, underwater boulder formations, swim throughs, caverns and underwater valleys throughout the dives here.
For me; the most memorable of these was the dive site Elephant Head Rock; a deep dive comprised of many mighty boulders that together create an underwater labyrinth of arches, swim throughs and corridors you can swim through and between.
Now; although aforementioned Elephant Head Rock was a deep dive that could sometimes experience currents; it was one of the few exceptions in the sense the vast majority of dives we did throughout the trip were beginner friendly; in waters rarely exceeding 20 meters and totally devoid of currents.
Of all the places I’ve been on a scuba diving liveaboard; the Similan Islands were the most beginner friendly – we were never out in deep open waters, fighting currents or doing any kind of technical diving. I can’t think of a better destination to go on a liveaboard for a beginner diver.
You only have to have your open water certification to dive with the Similan Explorer and this is enough to allow you to make most dives.
What’s really cool is the fact that if you do only have your open water cert, you can take your Advanced Open Water Course (5,500 THB) throughout the trip – or simply your Deep Adventure Diver (1,800 THB) allowing you to go on those few deep dives you otherwise couldn’t.
Now on many trips by the Similan Explorer; after the Similan Islands; the next destination are the famous Surin Islands: another tiny archipelago of 5 islands some 91km to the north of Similans.
The Surin Islands are also legendary as one of the top diving destinations in Thailand of all time with incredible coral reef and abundant marine life.
For the 5 night trip I was on; the focus was all about the Similan Islands so we didn’t go to the Surin archipelago; however it is included in many trips by the Similan Explorer as you can see by checking their schedule here.
However, what we did do on the last day of the trip, which rounded it off superbly was pay a visit to perhaps the greatest dive site of all time in Thailand (and often cited among the world’s top ten dive sites); the legendary Richelieu Rock!
Located 10 km East of Surin National Park, Richelieu Rock is an isolated pinnacle in the open sea that drops down to 35 meters deep.
It attracts countless vast schools of pelagic fish and is also said to be one of the best places in Thailand for seeing a whale shark which the Similan Explorer had seen on just the previous trip.
Although when I went there weren’t no whale shark; the huge schools of fish for which Richelieu Rock is legendary were very much there and I was blown away in a way I’ve never been before.
I’ve swum with thousands of batfish in Coiba Marine Park of Panama, been engulfed in red tooth trigger fish in the Maldives; gotten swallowed up in vast tornados of jacks and barracuda at the Philippine’s Bohol…but never before have I seen so…MANY big fish all together as there were at Richelieu Rock!
I was perpetually encased in numerous schools of what seemed like millions of fusiliers and snappers amidst all kinds of other schooling fish from small to medium which were in turn stalked and hunted before my own eyes by the countless much larger trevally, tuna and barracudas.
Richelieu Rock was a diving experience that no words can do justice – it was one of the coolest dives I have ever done!! It was also the highlight of the trip; which is why it’s included on just about every trip by the Similan Explorer – sometimes over multiple days!
After all that; it was time to turn that boat around; make back to Khao Lak; board land, get a taxi back to Phuket, fly out of Phuket to Bangkok and then make for my native lands of England; where I’d spend the next month before journeying to Peru with my Brother Will (but that’s another story!).
The whole trip with Similan Explorer was extremely well planned out; I really loved the attention to detail on making boat so very clean, tidy and packed with good vibes, the awesome crew and guides along with the superb food; I still can’t quite believe it’s one of the cheapest Thai liveaboards of all time.
As always the rag tag band crew of unique and colourful characters one meets on this sort of thing; both in the crew and other guests adds flavour and depth to the whole experience so thanks to everyone that I got spend this awesome week with! (Photo of all of us).
Similan Explorer – affordable, beginner friendly, comfy, quirky, unique and awesome. I had an extremely fun-filled, awesome and memorable experience with these guys.
They’re an awesome liveaboard to go on; as well as visiting the most popular dive Similan Island dive sites; they also aim for those that few other liveaboards visit and they offer simply fantastic value for money with excellent cabins, delicious food, extra activities and awesome dive itineraries.
Thanks so much guys – I’ll definitely be back. Check out upcoming Trips by Similan by clicking the button below!
