27th - 28th August: Alistair Jr Advance Course

Wednesday, 27th: Raya Yai Island
Dive 92: Staghorn Reef
Max Depth: 15.8m ; Bottom time: 42 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15m+

Dive 93: Home Run, Bay 1
Max Depth: 13.7m ; Bottom time: 41 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15m+

Thursday, 28th: King Cruiser - Shark Point Area
Dive 94: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 21.6m ; Bottom time: 23 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10m+

Dive 95: Shark Point *
Max Depth: 14.9m ; Bottom time: 38 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10m+

Dive 96: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 17.3m ; Bottom time: 39 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10m

Comments: Alistair, a Gillmanoid's Sea Star original member dropped in for a couple days of diving. He hasn't dive since his 4th dive after his jr OW course, so there were lots to be done for his Jr Advance. Unlucky for Alistair, he got me as his instructor :-), so now he saw how Sophiya got tortured during her time diving with me in Phuket.
The weather was a lot wetter this month, with rain on and off during both of our diving days. The occasional wind stirred up the sea for a bit of bouncy boat ride. Alistair did very well, handling some of the more challenging conditions: current, thermocline, low viz etc. at the King Cruiser Wreck & Ko Doc Mai. He saw his first shark (2 leopards), and sorta overcame his fear of "BiG FiSh" though i'm not sure if he'll swim up close to anything larger than his arm :-) More photos of Alistair's trip is located at my Picassa Album.

14th - 16th August: Gillmanoids Invasion

Thursday, 14th: Phi Phi Islands
Dive 86: Shark Point *
Max Depth: 15.8m ; Bottom time: 37 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Dive 87: Ko Bida Nai *
Max Depth: 14.3m ; Bottom time: 48 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10m+

Friday, 15th: Raya Noi Island
Dive 88: Raya Noi Bay
Max Depth: 15.5m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 40m

Dive 89: Banana Bay
Max Depth: 14m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 40m

Saturday, 16th: Raya Yai Island
Dive 90: Andaman Eagle Wreck* & Bay 2
Max Depth: 24m ; Bottom time: 48 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Dive 91: Staghorn Reef
Max Depth: 13.1m ; Bottom time: 48 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Comment: Can't get any better for the monsoon season this year! We had a great 4 days of fantastic weather for diving. A leopard Shark swam at us minute after we descent at Pinnacle 1, got the kids excited immediately. Alex & Gary were doing their fish ID adventure dive, so one easily recognized. First day back in the water for Sophi, newly nick-named Twerp, she saw 2 leopard sharks & hung out with a Green turtle for a few minutes. Raya Noi on the second day was spectacular, I haven't seen 40m viz in a long time. It's a drift dive for the group, where we also saw the "Moiseys" doing their OWC skills in clear blue water. Alex & Gary got the opportunity to dive the Andaman Eagle Wreck on the third day, their first wreck dive. Good viz & nice current extended our dive easily, as we drifted lazily across Staghorn Reef for the group last dive of the trip. More photos of the trip is located at my Picassa Album.

10th August - Koh Doc Mai, King Cruiser & Shark Point

Dive 83: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 24.6m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Dive 84: King Cruiser Wreck *
Max Depth: 21.6m ; Bottom time: 40 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Dive 85: Shark Point *
Max Depth: 19.2m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Comment: Beautiful day for diving, flat sea and sunny skies! I was joined by Brem & Maaike, from the Dive Shop Cambodia (their first dive in the Andaman), Saskia, and Brendan, my current padi-wan DMT. Condition also was fantastic under water. We got 20m+ Viz for all 3 dive sites, and very little current. King Cruiser has collapsed a little bit more now, as the stern where the toilets are located, sunk another 5m or so deeper. It's one storm away from falling to the bottom. Brendan did a good job getting the gang through Ko Doc Mai for the first dive. The bow of the King Cruiser is covered with thousands of snappers. We saw a pair of hunting baracudas on pinnacle 1 of Shark point, and the safety stop, a 1.5m leopard shark cruised by to show of his graceful swim... Overall, cool diving day. Photos are uploaded to my Picassa album.

See a video clip of the car deck, in the King Cruiser's Bow:

19th - 21st July: Wreck & Deep Courses

Danny led Richard through his specialty training dives for Deep and Wreck at Racha Yai Island. Conditions were spectacular again, with the guys having a great time going through all of the tasks and skills. Brendan joined the courses as a DMT and responsible for some awesome photos of the Andman Eagle Wreck in Racha Yai, Bay 1. Check it out in Brendan's Picassa album.

Phuket July Condition: Calm Sea & Sunny Skies

July weather has been spectacular, with calm wind, flat sea, 30m visibility in the Racha Islands area, and whale shark sightings daily in Phi Phi and Shark Point Marine Sanctuary. I love LOW SEASON :-)!!!

8th July, 2008
Koh Bida Nok, Phi Phi Island
Comment by Danny Pilling - Awsome dive, bad viz from lots of plankton and quite strong currents, sound bad?? NOT FOR WHALE SHARK ENCOUNTERS!! Perfect conditions and hey presto, there she was. Encountered in the first 10 minutes of the dive, then after we returned to the boat, she decided to come check us out, thus rewarding us with 10-15 minute snorkel swim encounter. Awsome!! Low Season just got better!!!

6th - 7th July - Racha Yai Island

Sunday, 6th July
Dive 79: Bay 1-2 *
Max Depth: 12.8m ; Bottom time: 42 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 30m+

Dive 80: Bay 2 - Staghorn Reef
Max Depth: 10.3m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 30m+

Monday, 7th July
Dive 81: Home Run Reef *
Max Depth: 18m ; Bottom time: 43 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 30m+

Dive 82: Staghorn Reef *
Max Depth: 17m ; Bottom time: 42 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 30m+

Comments: After almost 4 weeks without Scuba, I got my "nitrogen fixed" again thanks to Livia Vo (from Texas by way of Singapore), coming to visit us for her referral OW course. The first week of July has been spectacular, beautiful weather, calm breeze, flat sea, and unbelievable visibility. Patrick Lee (from Singapore) joined in on our second day of the course to finish off his dive 3-4. Want to see how nice the trips were? check out the photo album at picassa below:

Open Water Course 7th July

12th June, Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Dive 77: the Corral, Koh Rung **
Max Depth: 13.4m ; Bottom time: 80 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 5-10m

Dive 78: Unnamed site, Koh Rung
Max Depth: 22.8m ; Bottom time: 33 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 3-5m

Comment: After almost 20 days going without getting wet, I was in full "Nitrogen withdrawal" before the plunge for a couple of muck dives in Cambodia. Meeting up with Paul (friend & former Instructor candidate) at the Dive Shop, he has intrigued me with the opportunity to dive with seahorses. Yes, you read it right, it's plural... A 2 hour boat ride to Koh Rung with the rain pestered us the entire day, we descended into a sandy bottom, starting out at 11m depth. Appropriately named by Paul (he discovered the site among many others), "The Corral," it delivered spectacularly!
Common seahorses (adults, pregnant, and juveniles) are spotted every couple of minutes during the dive. Octopus hidden in every other clam shells, crevices, sand and can be seen by any beginners. Then there were a Balloon shark, crabs (all over the place), nudibranch, flatworms, and the rare found of a leafy or weedy filefish ... As unlucky for me, I failed to charge my battery properly, thus within 30 minutes into the dive, my camera was done :-(

Marine life spotted were: Hippocampus kuda (common seahorses, there were 9 different sightings, with 2 beautiful juveniles), Chaetoderma penicilligera (leafy or weedy filefish), ocellated (spotted) octopuses (they were in every other clam shells), a pipefish that looked like Acentronura gracilissima (graceful or bastard seahorse), Cephaloscyllium umbratile (balloon or swell shark, often found in Japan and very uncommon in the Indochina Sea) can also be Cephaloscyllium sufflans
Nudibranches: Bornella stellifer, Pteraeolidia ianthina, Thecacera pennigera

Come dive with the Dive Shop, located on the road to Serendipity Beach, right next to the well-known the Monkey Republic Bar, Restaurant and Guesthouse. The Dive Shop's DM & Instructor, Bora, Shina and Paul, are on hand to help you spot all the little critters.

UPDATE: Click here to download and read Asian Divers' Feature on diving in Cambodia by Sol Foo, the Editor.

If you're interested in looking further into travel to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, some helpful info are: accommodation ranges from 8-15 USD, food costs 2-3 USD per meal (try the Cambodian Lok Lak, it's tasty!), and Anchor Beer costs 1 USD per bottle in the bar (0.75 cents at happy hour). A day trip for diving runs about 50 USD for two dives. And lastly, there's plenty to do in the beach town when you're not diving...cool beach bars, wooden huts with hammocks, music clubs, and even a couple of casinos to keep anyone entertain.


Sihanoukville, Cambodia is a "must dive location" for all macro photographers and rare marine life seekers! I can't wait until my next trip back in September.

See what photos I barely got in the album at Picassa:

the Corral, Sihanoukville