The Junk; Liveaboard diving in Thailand; 9.1 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £110, $134, €125/day. Customer Review:
“Amazing diving, on an amazing boat with an amazing crew. The in-depth knowledge and wonderful dive briefings and dive leadership of Jonathan, the Boatmaster, made the whole trip much more enjoyable than it than it would otherwise have been. Even without that though the trip would have been incredible visiting some great dive sites across the Andeman Sea, but the absolute highlight was the four dives at Richelieu Rock, and the frequent sightings of Whale Sharks there. Another highlight of the diving for me was seeing and photographing a seahorse at 30m. I think Jonathan knew where he lived and led us straight to him! The Junk itself is a unique vessel with a fascinating history, and just being on board was a huge privilege. The kitchen team were fantastic, and kept producing a never ending variety of amazing food with great flavours from authentic Thai and European recipes. I can’t complete this review without complimenting the whole crew on their friendliness, efficiency and professionalism. from the boat crews helping us in and out of the ribs, to the super reliable engineer in charge of managing and refilling the cylinders, and the lovely smiling lady offering refreshing juices after each dive. All of this made for a diving holiday that will be hard to beat.” Recommended for: The boat itself, the whole crew, the dive locations.
MY Sawasdee Fasai; Liveaboard diving in Thailand; 9.2 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £118, $144, €135/day. Customer Review:
“Sawadee Fantastic (Fasai). Great boat with great staff. Fits a huge amount of divers without getting crowded. Very modern and luxurious. The Similans are awesome as expected, really got the impression the staff knew where to find all the good stuff. Think we had 7 dive masters with us in total.” Recommended for: Boat size, Modernity, Staff.
MY Deep Andaman Queen; Liveaboard diving in Thailand; 8.6 out of 10 and is rated 'Fabulous'; from £138, $168, €157/day. Customer Review:
“Exceeded all expectations. Travelling alone as a woman is a daunting affair. Rocking up to the boat I was a little nervous about being separated from civilisation for several days. How I was wrong in thinking this! The crew took care of my every need. The food was amazing and the level of service the group got in and out of the water was incredible. I never once felt uncomfortable or worried. I enjoyed myself so much that I can’t wait to get back onboard! Thank you to Steve for his amazing attention to detail and excellent management across the board. See you soon!” Recommended for: Crew, comfort and care.
MY Pawara; Liveaboard diving in Thailand; 9 out of 10 and ; from £110, $134, €125/day. Customer Review:
“Awesome liveaboard for single diver. 3-4 dives a day which is really good compared to longer trips where there is normally only 2-3 dives a day. Got to see seahorses, a leopard shark, octopus, huge schools of barracuda and alot of nice corals. Nice to only have to think about transfer and hotel before and after the liveaboard. Else everything was very convenient.” Recommended for: Small dive groups, many dives, good price.
MY Manta Queen 3; Liveaboard diving in Thailand; 8.6 out of 10 and is rated 'Fabulous'; from £103, $126, €117/day. Customer Review:
“Great trip, great diving, great guides. The staff worked hard to help you, both the local boat staff and foreign guides. Food was good with enough variety and quantity. We had Sergio as our dive guide/instructor, he was great. Before some if the dives he would tell us what to expect to see and show us pictures and then he was excellent and finding things under the water. Only tea, coffee, and water are included in the price, bring your own alcohol/soft drinks if you don’t want to pay boat prices. The beds were not comfortable, they were hard, the mattress was thin, but this is not a cruise its a liveaboard. We were on Manta Dive 3, I think there was 33 divers, on a couple of sites it was a little crowded but on the whole the dive guides tried to give us some space. We really enjoyed our 4 nights 4 days itinerary, we would recommend.” Recommended for: Dive guides, visibility, diving.
MY Giamani; Liveaboard diving in Thailand; 9.1 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £237, $289, €270/day. Customer Review:
“A great liveaboard with personal service. The great thing about the Giamani is that because it is a relatively small boat you are guaranteed almost exclusively dives, with small groups. The quality of the dive leaders is good, and their knowledge of the dive sites is exceptional. Nothing is too much trouble for any member of the crew who are all there to give you a fantastic diving experience. The food is great quality and plentiful, catering for all tastes. Richelieu Rock is an amazing dive site – truly a world top ten and at last being properly protected by the Thai authorities.” Recommended for: Small diving group. Great dive guides. Well organised.
TO SEE ALL SIMILAN ISLAND LIVEABOARDS SCROLL TO THE TABLE BELOW
Liveaboard Diving in Similan Islands
Similan Islands liveaboard diving is about vibrant marine life and diving amid huge granite boulders with caverns, arches and swim-throughs where you meet Napoleon wrasse, sharks and turtles. Similan islands liveaboards are the best way to dive a unique marine paradise with world-class diving.
Liveaboard diving in the Similan Islands is breath-taking, which is why many scuba divers come back year after year. If you love shark diving, the Similan Islands don’t disappoint, as you can spot whale sharks, whitetip sharks, blacktip reef sharks, leopard/zebra sharks, guitar sharks, nurse sharks, bull sharks and the infamous tiger shark.
On top of diving with sharks, you can dive amongst huge granite boulders with caverns and arches accompanied by large schools of fish, meet Napoleon Wrasse, see turtles, bump head parrotfish, blue spotted rays, triggerfish, scorpionfish, snappers, giant trevally and emperor fish.
Then there’s the small critters seen at the Similan Islands, including mantis shrimp, ghost pipefish, cleaner shrimp and porcelain crabs.
There are strong currents in this region, which means you need to be an experienced diver with an advanced diver certification. Then you also have the chance to enjoy a night dive or two, which is when you get to see those underwater creatures that come out at night.
Table of Similan Islands Liveaboards
This list of Similan Islands liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating will be at the top of the list. To filter this table for the features that are important for your Similan Islands liveaboard trip, select from the list of filters below.
Note: The above “Price Per Day” was correct at the time of producing this article, as was the exchange rate used to convert the GBP cost to US Dollars and Euros. For an up-to-date cost for your chosen liveaboard, please visit the “Book” link above.
Similan Islands Dive Sites
Richelieu Rock in all about pelagic giants is a pinnacle that is 88 kilometres (55 miles) north of the Similan Islands. This pinnacle has an abundance of marine life and spectacular corals, and is regarded as the best dive in Thailand due to the great diversity of marine life. Known for pelagic giants, including whale sharks, manta rays, tuna and barracuda, plus other sea creatures such as trevally, turtles schooling snapper, octopus, squid and moray eels (see video below).
Koh Tachai Pinnacle is about mantas and whale sharks is an open-ocean pinnacle and is best suited for intermediate and experienced divers due to the strong currents, but makes for an exciting dive. Koh Tachai Pinnacle is located half way between the Similan archipelago and the Surin Islands.
Anita’s Reef is for beginners and first dive of the liveaboard is on the east coast of Similan Island which has great marine life and coral formations. Marine life includes trevally, yellowfin goatfish and blue damsels. Mild currents make this an ideal site for all diver levels, including beginner divers.
Elephant Head Rock, is pinnacle with great swim-throughs located about one mile off shore and best suited for more experienced divers due to the currents found here. Elephant Head Rock is the largest of the pinnacles in the Similans and a great site for spotting whitetip reef sharks, batfish, trevally and barracuda, moray eels, octopus, boxer shrimp, mantis shrimp and lionfish.
Donald Duck Bay is all about macro critters so named because it resembles the cartoon character and is a great dive site for underwater photographers and macro critter lovers, as well as for seeing cuttlefish and green turtles. The boulders in Donald Duck Bay provide shelter to emperor shrimps, red round crabs, decorator crabs, triton shells and cone shells, bull crabs and red octopus.
Christmas Point is a collection of large boulders and rock formations that provide divers with swim-throughs and tunnels filled with glassfish. Christmas Point is on the northwest edge of Ko Bangu and has a coral garden with marine life such as school of bluefin trevally, giant sweetlips, sea snakes, anemone with clownfish. moral eels and grouper.
West of Eden (known as West of Six) is on the north-west corner of Ko Bayu Island. West of Eden is made up of massive granite boulders with sea fans and a healthy hard coral reef. Marine life seen at West of Eden includes barracuda, batfish, octopus, turtles and octopus, frogfish, pufferfish, ribbon eels, giant morays and nudibranchs can also be seen.
Boulder City is about one kilometre (0.62 miles) offshore from Ko Payan, and is a dive site that consists of large granite outcrops and huge boulders scattered across a sandy bottom where leopard sharks can be seen. The currents can sometimes surprise divers with whale sharks, manta rays and turtles.
Shark Fin Reef is a dive site with of granite boulders covered in gorgonians and hard corals on a sandy bottom. Shark Fin Reef is home to sea snakes, Napoleon wrasse, turtles, boxfish, triggerfish, batfish, yellow goatfish, surgeonfish, angelfish, plus the chance to see manta rays and whale sharks too.
Honeymoon Bay is a sheltered dive site perfect for a night dive. At night you see crabs, shrimps, lobsters, cuttlefish and nurse sharks.
[4K, Sony A7SII] Underwater | Richelieu Rock, Similan, Thailand
I hope you enjoyed this page about Similan Islands liveaboard diving
I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your adventures of diving and snorkeling, in the comments below. Please also share your photos. Either from your underwater cameras or videos from your waterproof Gopro’s!
If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkeling or scuba diving (or specifically about Similan Islands liveaboard diving), please comment below with your questions.
There will also be many more articles about scuba diving (and snorkeling) for you to read and learn about these fabulous sports.
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