Showing posts with label Jolly Roger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jolly Roger. Show all posts

01 July 2012

Diving at the Shark Point, Phuket, Thailand

The las dive of the dive was at the famous Shark Point diving site. The place is know for the local leopard shark population who gives great pictures for the photo hunters of the deep sea. I came here to see them too. But it is just by luck to catch something underwater. I learnt that long before. Anyway, I worn my shorty to taste the water for the last time in Thailand till the next visit. So that made me even more excited and sad at the same time not only because the place was like a paradise but also I had to wake up from this tropical dream soon. 


The shark point is actually composed of a massive reef and a group of smaller ones located very close to the larger reef. The dive normally starts at the large pinnacle whose peak is just 2 meters deep. Then you may choose to take a turn around this one till 25 meters and then move to the second pinnacle and an see that one around 25 meters and ascend to 16 meters where the most of the beautiful things are located. If you are lucky you may see the leopard sharks during this part of the dive around the small reef. 


Nevertheless, the site embraces so many different species that you might not look for a shark meanwhile. That was my case at least! First of all the place includes many murray eels. You can almost see them every hole in the reef and they give great shots. The anemones, besides, host many clowns fishes. If you are a nemo like me then you will love the picture you take. There is also a beautiful sea horse on the west side of the 1st pinnacle and it is not shy at all. 


Apart from this particular beauties of the site, you constantly see the passing crowds of small fishes around you as well. This makes an extra flavor to the ambiance of the dive route. You may also see, like me, some interesting scenes. There were a dead murray being eaten by the other fishes slowly on one side of the 2nd pinnacle. Nature was calling and I was there. That might be the most interesting shot of mine up to now.


There were also several tritons wondering around with their funny and curious eyes looking both sides at the same time. I ended my dive again at the large reef but this time with a small sting ray slightly levitated from the sea bottom. It was moving so slowly that I thought this guy was really want some pictures to be taken.




Overall, I think the Shark Point was the best of all dive point I dived for the day.  The visibility was great. There variety of the fishes was amazing. And most importantly, we haven't seen any bamboo or leopard shark whose supposed to be seen at this point. As a final word, I can say that every diver must see the depths of Andaman sea one day. One should be very careful about the dive school and the dive boat in Phuket. I can definitely recommend the guys at Rumblefish Adventure but I have some doubts about Jolly Roger


Enjoy you dives and stay safe!

30 June 2012

Diving at King Cruiser, Phuket, Thailand

I'm not gonna lie! After the terrible visibility at Kho Doc Mai, I needed a pallet cleanser to fresh up the taste of Andaman underwater. We have reached our destination for the second dive of the day. The king cruiser is located between Kho Doc Mai and the famous Phi Phi Island of the beach movie. You can actually see it if the visibility is good. Anyway, we started to suit up in our lovely boat Jolly Roger with ultimate interference of the mothers and wives at the divers area. I guess there is no need to talk about the super respectful customers of Jolly Rogers anymore after the previous article



I wish to say that the visibility was great in King Cruiser but I was not. However, it was not supposed to be great anyways. So this time the disappointment is less than previous time. Nonetheless, King Cruiser was hiding much more for us! The place is great for the lion fish chasers. Lion fishes are thriving around the wreck. I have seen at least 8 as individual and in groups. So the wreck was not really a deep one. The rock bottom is around 30 meters and most of the must-see parts of the wreck is around  16-18 meters. So she lets see her for an almost hour long dive.


Apart from the all the crowds of fishes and the sneaking hunter lion fishes, there are a couple of places you should check when you dive King cruiser. First of all don't forget to take a pee! Well yeah! On the back of the boat you can see the toilets of the cruiser. The ceiling was opened and the toilets are visible. So fun time! 


The other hot spot of the site is the chimneys of the boat where a shrimp colony was thriving. They are not shy at all and you can have great picture over there too. The color of them were so crisp and the scenery was amazing!


The gate of the vehicle deck is almost completely destroyed. Thus you can go in and have a nice trip inside the parking site of the cruiser. If you have a good flash light, I believe you can see many beautiful things inside.


All and all, King Cruiser dive was a great experience and it is a location for all levels of divers. She gives beautiful shots and you can see many different rate sea creatures down there... or up above. We have accompanied by a giant jelly fish during our ascent. The combination of sharp sunlight and the jelly fish gave great pictures to make this beautiful place unforgettable. 









Diving at Koh Doc Mai, Phuket, Thailand

In the boat Jolly Roger, which I have mentioned in detail in the previous entry, that was the first dive of the day at Koh Doc Mai. This little island has a very nice reef underskirts of her! You can think of it as a very large reef that you can wonder around. The dive can last a reasonable amount of time without turning around of the island more than once. The depth of the reef is around 30-40 meters if you keep yourself close to the vertical cliffs. Therefore the site is quite suitable for a range of divers from beginners to the experts.


Normally, the site supposed to have a good visibility especially in the early morning and for calm surface as you can see above. However I was not that lucky I guess. The visibility was quite poor and it was not possible to have a good shot unless you go for a macro shot. Nevertheless, the fauna down there was really great. Especially the nudibrach population was quite stunning. Other than that you may check out the groupers, box fishes, and random gang of fish crowds!





However the impressive part of the dive was, for me, to see the bamboo shark hiding underneath a big rock. I assume it is a regular inhabitant of the neighborhood because I encounter similar sceneries on other websites before.



Overall the spot is a nice dive point with variety of the fishes. I totally recommend you to check out if you pass by Phuket to dive. I hope you will be luckier than me and have great visibility so that 100% or your shots are clear.