Diving in Thailand

My wife and I will be in Thailand in early January. We are interested in a moderate priced live aboard. We are in our mid 50's and are not interested in a party boat. We'd also like a relatively small boat not one with 20 divers. Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Andy

All the "kids" go the cheaper option with more people and they turn it into a party boat so you will find most of the mid range ones are ok. Also if the boat has lots of double/twin rooms you will find lots of couples and no party animals.
hth

Moderately priced, no party boat but always excellent reports, not too many divers: Jonathan Cruiser.

If you're looking for a more comfortable boat with bathrooms en-suite etc and not too many divers, there are many, many options, like: Colona VI, Jazz and Giamani. And if you want more luxury, there are again more options.

Early January will still be quite busy, so I would not postpone my decision too long if I were you. Boats will be fully booked quite soon now, some are already.

Mid price, only 14 divers - White Manta, Colona 6..

Overview: Thailand Liveaboards

The Le Mahe may yet be a good option - the owner has been doing major work this summer to make the boat bigger, but will still take only 14 divers. I am planning to visit the boat next week.

Happy Diving!
Jamie
Phuket

I went on the White Manta out of Khao Lak through Wicked Diving. It was a great crowd and there was only a couple of people under the age of 35 which was great! I got great personalised attention through Wicked and Paulie Land handled every detail himself (I was coming from Koh Tao). The boat was amazing as was the staff and the food!

Have a great time!
Quinnette

Mermaid 1 and 2 are good liveaboards and affordable. They go to Him Daeng, Him Mung, Similan islands, and also Burma...http://www.mermaid-liveaboards.com/<BR><BR>South siam do cheaper trips and go to similan islands. They have people joining every day they are taken to the boats by speed boat. Hence why it is cheaper. www.southsiamdivers.com, and don t go as far as Burma....

Having been on both there is no difference in the atmosphere, maybe the accommadation is a little better on mermaid boats. The food is the same and they go to the same places within similan national park....I have seen mantas on both liveaboards!!

In Regard to party boats I haven t seen too many partys on both boats, but that is because I m the first one to go to bed!

MV Mahe I think is in the same category as Mermaid.

Ocean Rover is the more expensive choice but if you have the money why not!

You ll have a great time either way, I m off to thailand in jan on south siam 4.....

Hope this helps and hope you have a good time!

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>maybe the accommadation is a little better on mermaid boats<hr></blockquote>You can't seriously be comparing Mermaid 1 to South Siam 3? I mean, for the price, the South Siam boats are good value, and if you are lucky not to be there when it's full, it can be spacious. If only they would take less divers and stop the day trips South Siam 3 would be a much nicer boat. South Siam 4 is better since it does Richelieu Rock and does not have people coming and going every day.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>MV Mahe I think is in the same category as Mermaid<hr></blockquote>Le Mahe is a small boat, not much space, but the owner has been hard at work this summer. I am planning to visit the boat at Thap Lamu on Thursday. But no matter what is changed - it's still not going to be as good as Mermaid II or Mermaid 1!

Errr yes I can.....

If you go on the mermaid 2 go downstairs to the "budget bunks"..with no windows, and shared bathroom then switch off the air conditioning.......an experience which I had, i slept on the deck most nights.....

Now go onto the SS3 with a/c and a window....

Why do people have to tell you what to think? do you need to win all the time?

Just let this guy have a nice diving holiday.....

Hey there,

I totally agree with cruisinmanly, I have had the same experience and can say that the mermaid 2 is very comparable in quality to South Siam, to me the price difference is only because of the amount of people on the boat.

But being downstairs with no air con is not a very enjoyable experience...

I believe aschlossberg only asked for a recommandation, and would like to have the choice, not be told where to go and what to do.

Jim.

Ah! The downstairs cabins on mermaid II - We don't sell them. Only the main deck cabins. For some reason the lower deck cabins are only sold direct by the operator and I wish they would just limit the boat to 16 guests in the 8 main deck cabins, which are double bed, en suite bathroom and (in my opinion) nicer than the South Siam boats which take up to 28 guests sleeping and in the case of South Siam 3, many more on day trips and "overlaps" where some people are arriving and some leaving. You can end up easily with 40+ divers during the day in high season on South Siam 3 - THAT is why it is cheap. The actual cabins are not bad at all and IF the boat only took 28 ("only") and no extras, it would be just about spacious enough.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Why do people have to tell you what to think? do you need to win all the time? Just let this guy have a nice diving holiday..... <hr></blockquote>Not sure why you are getting angry. I have been on both boats too and know them very well. In fact I was on the first ever trip on Mermaid II.

The OP said "We'd also like a relatively small boat not one with 20 divers" - so recommending South Siam 3 is rather nonsensical :)

no I m not angry. I just thought it was funny you should assume another persons opinion.

This man who is going on holiday doesn t care if youre the 1st or even the maker of the boat.

He wants an unbiased opinion to have a great holiday, and at the end of the day even if you spend a million pound you can t garuntee you a brilliant dive.

bon voyage et bon chance

Yes, he wants a great holiday and a nice liveaboard experience. So in early January I would not recommend one of the South Siam boats, but rather one of the other boats the OP is looking at, with not too many divers, no daytrip guests, not the same program every few days, minimum of 4 days to go relaxed to Richelieu Rock, etc.

Amen!

Thanks, everyone for this helpful thread, and to Andy for starting it!

My boyfriend and I are looking for a (4-5 day) Similan liveaboard for late November/ early December. I think we'd prefer to go out of Ranong/ Ko Chang or Khao Lak and avoid Phuket altogether (and hoping to avoid 'party' boats, too!).

It seems that no air-conditioning is what separates the cheaper boats from the others? Sleeping on deck sounds nice (am I over-romanticising this?!) and I read that November is the 'coolest' month - would it be very uncomfortable without air-con? Is it worth spending the extra? We'll be stepping straight out of the UK November winter!

I had also wondered about the routes these boats take - there are so many that surely some of the sites become crowded with boats and divers?

Has anyone had experience with Aladdin who operate from Ko Chang? Or with Sea Dragon who seem to run both air-con and no air-con boats, pointing out that no air-con means night-time peace and quiet with no generator.

Recommendations gratefully received - don't want to hijack, but it seems unnecessary to begin a new thread!
Many thanks.

And I'm in nearly the same position but hoping to dive in April. It's mainly about the diving for us, but we'd like to steer clear of the day-trippers & party animals if possible & we have a slight preference for smaller boats.

We've had Mermaid II & Pawara (newer?) recommended, but I was wondering about the different itineraries. Pawara does 6 days around the Similans & Richelieu whereas 6 days on Mermaid II is made up of 4 Similans-Richelieu followed by 2 around Phi Phi & Hin Daeng.

I'd be really grateful for any views on these boats (for example, is all air conditioning equally effective?) but mostly for opinions on whether or not it's better to spend an extra 2 days in the Similans or to head South to Phi Phi. I've heard that all of the diving is good, but is the extra variety of visiting more places worth the extra sailing time? (Both trips offer 22 dives in 6 days.)

Thanks!

hiya,

have just paid a deposit on a liveaboard in december with Sunrise Divers on White Manta. Just wanted to get some independent confirmation before we pay the rest - can anyone else confirm that these guys are legit? Everything looks perfectly fine, but I prefer to get some sort of cross-confirmation before forking out large sums of money over the internet to people overseas.. No offense Jamie!

Had the same qualms last year before going to Sipadan with Kapalai dive resort - in the end was a fantastic trip and an awesome place! But can't be too careful..

Finally can anyone explain the relationship between the boats and the operators? E.g. you can book White Manta through any of several operators - same dates, e.g. thailand-scuba, sunrise divers, and several others as well as www.whitemanta.com. What's the deal?

thanks
Martin