written and photographed by Marc Bernardi
Nov 1998, Vol. 3 No. 2
What a BANG !!! As the engines of the boat ROARED to life, a rat-tat-tat of explosions loudly erupted from the direction of the bow, accompanied by a multitude of bright flashes of light. The odor of burning gunpowder fills the air. Were we under attack?
No, we were just experiencing the Thai tradition of launching a boat journey with a bang; the explosion of a string of several hundred firecrackers. When the smoke from the firecracker cleared, good-luck offerings were delivered to the deities, and the beginning of our scuba diving adventure was off with a blast.
While Thai fishing vessels have been starting voyages using this tradition for generations, it is only in recent years that the practice has been adopted by liveaboard scuba diving boats.
Thailand’s thriving coral reefs, warm clear waters, and an incredible assortment of underwater delights are rapidly making this tropical paradise one of the world’s top destinations for experienced scuba divers.
Our boat departed from the city of Phuket in southern Thailand. An overnight cruise took a dozen divers to the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea. Early the next morning, we descended for our first dive on a reef called Fantasea. The reef is on the westside of nameless Island Number Eight, and the dive is a favorite of avid divers. Immediately upon entering the crystal clear water, I was surrounded by curious surgeonfish, who were surrounded by fifty bannerfish and countless chubs. As I approached the sixty-foot bottom, an amazing assortment of reef fish came into view.
There were many varieties of butterfly fish, angelfish and other tropical species residing in and around this multicolored jungle of soft coral. Underwater photographers typically run out of film midway through this particular dive.
Some of the more unique underwater residents were the bizarre manta shrimp. These colorful little guys look like a Walt Disney animated cartoon creation; so whimsical they always make you smile. This is not an easy feat with a regulator in your mouth.
Equally exotic are the ribbon eels. Their heads have the appearance of a medieval dragon, yet they are only the size of an index finger. I was lucky enough to enjoy viewing one eel swimming in open water rather than typically cowering in his sandy hole. Adults are blue and yellow in color, while juveniles are black and yellow.
Ribbon eels are captivating and a diver could shoot an entire roll of film on them. The consequences are not having enough film left for exotic egg cowries, harlequin ghost pipefish, and the elusive blue-spotted jawfish.
For a change of pace, I swam over the sandy bottom toward a bommie (pinnacle.) To my surprise, I discovered a school of glassy sweepers cascading through a forest of purple and red soft-coral trees. My senses were overwhelmed by deep orange anthias with shiny blue eyes. This coral covered bommie appeared to be “guarded” by a sentinel of six lionfish. The Thai variety of lionfish have the appearance of an underwater knight; big as a basketball with venomous spines dispelling any thought the diver might have of “a full court press.” What a great day!
That night our liveaboard dive boat moved further north to the Surin Islands. One of the highlights of diving in the Andaman Sea is the reef named Richelieu Rock. This location is a bommie small enough that you can circle it approximately three times during a single dive.
The pinnacle is located in the middle of the Andaman Sea and is known as a site for possible whale shark encounters. During certain times of the year it’s almost guaranteed that you will dive with these enormous, yet gentle sharks. On the first dive, half of our divers saw and videotaped a twenty-foot-long male. The rest of the group was delighted to experience three different golden seahorses ranging from seven to eight inches in length, about 50 blue-spotted rays, large schools of Pacific jacks, and more than five different species of anemone with resident clownfish. But, they were disappointed to have missed the rare experience of diving with a whale shark.
Later that day, Richelieu Rock revealed the very rare shovel-nosed ray. This bizarre creature looked like he was create with spare parts from many species of sharks and rays, and, to top it off, the ray has a polka-dotted back like the whale shark. This was an impressive sight, but some of us were still waiting for that “whale shark fix.” We didn’t have long to wait for the ultimate thrill.
On the third dive, a whale shark appeared, camouflaged in the midst of a school of jacks This was ridiculous since the whale shark weighed 15 tons and was about the size of a school bus. When one of these big sharks materializes in front of your eyes, it’s hard to comprehend that such a creature actually exists. They have a magical glow around them. It feels like you are looking at an extinct dinosaur. Needless to say my “joy-meter” was “maxed.”
As we swam toward the whale shark, it remained totally relaxed; in fact, it swam toward us. We spent three minutes with the whale shark, then finned back to the boat to catch our breath and return to reality. To our suprise and delight, this female whale shark, whom we later named Wilma, was not finished swimming with us. She returned to the same mystical spot and we were lucky enough to experience the whole encounter again. My dive buddy, Bruce Cratty, and I looked at each other with a twinkle in our eyes, and proceeded to do a jig similar to that done by a football player who has just scored the winning touchdown.
Needless to say, back on the boat the divers’ spirits were very high, and we had only been diving for two days. We would be traveling to the premiere destination that evening: the Burma Banks, a reef where anything can happen – and usually does.
It was a clear morning and the sun was bright, with not a cloud in the sky. Our first morning dive was at a reef named Silvertip Banks. The visibility was about 75 feet. Two minutes after our giant stride into the ocean, we were surrounded by three large, curious manta rays. Amazingly, the mantas stayed with us in spite of a counter-invasion of strobes, video cameras and bubbles. They soared between us with ease.
Taking a few minutes to catch my breath, I noticed that I was in another soft coral forest; however, this one was equipped with a different kind of sentinel. Several eight-to-ten foot silvertip sharks posted guard. On our next dive, we attracted four more large silvertip sharks enticing them with some fish bait.
The highlight of our fourth day was a 100-meter tunnel boring through the center of a coral head. The entrance was camouflaged by huge schools of glassy sweepers. After a quick buoyancy check, we entered the mouth and were greeted by 40 to 50 huge lobsters. Some came completely out of their crevasses sidestepping along the cave floor, urging us in the direction of four sleeping nurse sharks.
There is the possibility that these sharks could have been juvenile whale sharks. The largest was about 14 feet long, its head the size of a beanbag chair. The sharks allowed us to come within 18 inches of their whiskered mouths to photograph them.
As we exited the cave, we literally swam into two mating cuttlefish. It was an incredible sight! Cuttlefish mate face to face as they intertwine their tentacles. The enthralled couple pulsed a variety of color changes. They didn’t seem to mind the audience, and as soon as the mating was completed, they separated. The female tucked into a secluded niche to lay her fertilized eggs. We couldn’t have been luckier. This trip was turning out to be the pot of gold at the end of an undersea rainbow. Did I mention the rare leaf fish and porcelain crabs on colorful anemones?
That night we returned to Richelieu Rock for another chance to swim with whale sharks. The way things were going, the odds were good that we would see more of them. Descending to 45 feet, I noticed a cobia, a shark-like fish that hangs around whale sharks. My heart started to pound. The water was thick with jacks and trevelli, all indications that the conditions were perfect.
My premonitions of seeing whale sharks came true in about four minutes. As if I was being watched, I looked over my left shoulder, and there he was, peering over a rock at us. After five minutes and almost a tank of air, I had a big grin on my face and considerably less film. This whale shark was a big male, and he allowed me to shoot a silhouette of him with sunbeams circling in all directions.
I noticed that I was breathing very deeply and rapidly. I guess in all the excitement I had been paddling along at full blast for quite some time. Just as I recovered, another whale shark materialized. Again we were in front of the large polka-dotted head as the whole scenario repeated itself.
This time there were diver bubbles everywhere. Happily, most of our divers were at this whale shark shindig. None of our divers went home deprived of the ultimate dive experience, that of scuba diving with whale sharks in the beautiful Andaman Sea.