Similan Liveaboard – Day 3
By Mark Milburn on 2 September 2008
Richelieu Rock
Today for me was going to be the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of Thailand’s diving, three dives on Richelieu Rock. Richelieu was our most northerly dive site on this trip, located east of Koh Surin at 09 218N 98 013E. It has a pinnacle that breaks the surface at low tide, other than that it is in the open seas. My previous visits to Richelieu have always been very productive when it comes to photography, it is covered with life of all shapes and sizes, hopefully thing hadn’t changed. I even changed the memory card in my camera so I had plenty of space.
“Dive Briefing”, it was 7:30am already. As Mats started with the briefing for dive nine, all I could think was hurry up and lets get in, my camera was at the ready and itching to get wet. 8am first group, then our group, at last. Descending on the mooring line was a must in case of any currents, there didn’t seem to be much. My first sight was of two large groups on long spined sea urchins on the sea bed at around 29m, if they cannot find places to hide they travel in large numbers to create as much protection as possible. A hundred or so could not find a home! Our first mission was to find the sea horses, we scoured the area where they normally hide but couldn’t find them, onward.
It seemed almost everywhere we looked there were ornate ghost pipe fish, lots of them, some even in pairs. Moray eels were sticking their head out of nearly every crack, scorpion fish lay in camouflage especially in the shallows. Dancing Durban shrimp and banded cleaner shrimp lie waiting for their next job, I think I’ll have my nails done please, I left my hand inside and out they come, seeing what they can pick out from under my nails. Mantis shrimp were spotted scurrying along, they always seem so busy.
As we came shallower you could sea shoals of barracuda and big-eye trevally. A normal dive for this site, lets get breakfast out of the way and back in.
Dive number 10
“Dive Briefing”, it was 10:30am. Dive ten. Again I couldn’t wait, our group first, in I went. I had been set a challenge by Mats to take a photo of a two colour blenny, he had tried and failed they always shot off before you got too close. I was looking, but they are small and fast, and all the ghost pipe fish were looking like they wanted to have their picture taken. At least 12 ghost pipe fish were spotted on this dive! More morays, clown fish in every anemone, a spindle cowrie, and at last a two colour blenny that stayed still. I did try to take a photograph of a small thin black fish that was hiding within the spines of a long spined urchin, it was shooting up and down near the other side and very hard to get a photo, I did get one but its not clear enough to see what it was, there is nothing like it in any of my books! Another great dive, I need a decent surface interval to get the most out of the last dive on Richelieu so I didn’t hang around in the shallows too long and came up.
Another huge lunch, I scoffed done what I needed, back to my bunk and sorted out my photos, prepared the video for the next dive, then took a small nap
Dive number 11
“Dive Briefing”. Dive number eleven. What was in store this dive? Another look for the seahorse, it was there this time, at last. A large shoal of squirrel fish swam past, as I pursued them I noticed something moving behind a large shoal of glassfish above me, as they parted I could see a turtle making its way looking for something to eat. It should have been on our boat it wouldn’t have had any problem looking for food. Angel fish of every kind, more scorpion fish, more lion fish than you would want to take pictures of. One more nudibranch, that made a grand total of two for Richelieu, I like nudibranchs they don’t swim away when you take their picture. Oh well, plenty of other thing to keep me amused, crown of thorns, more clown fish and I was done, or at least my air was, the end of my dives on Richelieu.
As we motored away I looked back, I was sad to leave what is probably the best dive site in Thailand, and probably one of the best in the world, when it comes to life and the variance of life, the colours and the fact that you can do your stops while still seeing so much colour and beauty, it all goes to makes it a top dive site.
Dive number 12
“Dive Briefing” 6:30pm. Dive number twelve! Still another seven to go, phew! We had arrived back at Koh Tachai for our night dive, we were doing a reef off of the island rather than the pinnacle this time.
We entered the water at 7:00, its funny how things can affect you, I didn’t write down much of this dive, and I can’t remember much of it either, compared to the rest of today’s dives anything was going to be second class. I have to look at my photo’s to remind me what I saw! Parrot fish hiding within their reefs with their protective mucous bubbles, a reasonably large red crab backed itself under a piece of coral. A tiny young devil scorpion fish lie on an open piece of sea bed, and a puffer fish that didn’t swim away. I hadn’t even taken many photo’s. Oh well tomorrow is another day.
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Author: Mark Milburn
Email: info@travel-dive.com
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