Similan Islands Diving

Katie and I just returned from a two day diving trip to the world renowned Similin Islands. We also had our first liveaboard experience and got to spend the night watching the waves and hearing the surf. We enjoyed six dives during our two days out to sea. These islands have the distinction of being one of only a few sites in the world where one can see whale sharks and huge manta rays. Although we did not get to see either creature, we did have the pleasure of seeing two white tip reef sharks, along with a sea turtle, a tuna, an octopus, crab, an emperor fish and schools and schools of the most colorful fish you can imagine. Although the big fish tend to catch the eye a bit more, the small fish are amazing too. At one point we were swimming through the water and it seemed like we were floating through a million pieces of colorful confetti. During the diving trip we also were able to get our Advanced Diving Certificate. In order to do this we had to improve on some old skills and learn some new ones. We participated in our first night dive, which I found a little scary, especially when we encountered a fairly large moray eel. The trip was a great experience and I really enjoyed staying on the dive boat, however considering most liveaboard schedules include four dives a day, for four days, one would really have to love diving to be in the water that much. Katie and I discussed maybe a modified two or three night stay on a dive trip in the future.