Netnawee Similan overnight trip 25/01/08

So the Netnawee set out again, this time with seven divers and one snorkeler on the boat. In this particular trip it turned out to be the snorkeler Laetitia who saw the best bits, with a tally of 6 turtles, 2 leopard sharks and a black tip reef shark she didn't have a bad trip!

On most of the trips there is at least one turtle swimming around the boat at some point. They usually come to the boat as they get food, and lots of people do feed them. The turtles are not stupid and don't turn down an easy meal, on this boat we have a strict policy of NOT feeding any of the life under the surface, most of the food that you feed them is not natural for them... remember pineapples do not grow in the sea!

All the divers were praying that Laetitia wasn't going to see a manta ray instead of them at Koh Bon, and whilst one of these great creatures didn't grace our presence it didn't stop any of the divers from having a fantastic trip and seeing lots of things in the water. shown in the pictures are a porcelain crab on the left and a kuhls ray on the right.










Klaus, Becky and Tuk were joined on this trip by Oscar and Robin (shown in picture with Tuk). Robin has just come back from her recent holiday back home with her family and couldn't wait to get back into the water.



Oscar was also joining the boat for his last trip on Netnawee before he heads home to Sweden, which meant that he just joined us for some fun diving. Oscar has been working on the wicked team for the last 3 months and all his help and hard work has been greatly appreciated by the whole team. Everyone will be sad to see him go and wishes him the best of luck in cold, cold Sweden.


This trip also saw Martin and Rob gain their Advance Open Water certificate so big congratulations to them. Here they both are shown in the picture with Tuk doing their Peak Performance Buoyancy part of the advanced course. Rob is on the left and Martin on the right with Tuk perfectly demonstrating good buoyancy.



So a big thank you to everyone that joined us on the trip and hope to see you all again soon!

Khao Lak Beaches

Just a picture from our day on the beach....

Yes, it is like this



Khao Lak Diving

Similan Islands

Khao Lak Diving - Divemaster course

Today is the exciting climax of weeks of hard work by two of our Divemaster Trainee's. Anna and Melanie are both in the water as I write this doing their stress-test, the hardest part of the divemaster course.

After weeks of preparation and hard work - this is it! Walking down to the beach to get it done!



As you can see Beyla is practicing as well and looks to be finished in just a few short days...

So she is doing some of the other skills right now as well, and assisting them as they struggle through.




Marcel is giving them their tasks and a thorough briefing about expectations and standards they need to follow while doing this.



We will have a lot more information in just a few hours.






Khao Lak diving

Similan Islands


Liveaboard Guide

khao Lak weather - january, 2008

Today's weather is perfect! It has been about 32-33 most days for the past weeks, and is typical of this time of year. The afternoon thunderstorms (air-conditioning) have come in the past few days, so the evenings are cool, the days are hot and the water is warm. Seems just about right to me....

Khao Lak Diving

Similan Information

Liveaboard guide

More Drama from Phuket airport...

as before the Phuket Airport taxi drama swirls with silliness and stupidity. To avoid this madness skip Phuket based Taxi's altogether. Keep your money in Khao Lak - Khao Lak Taxi

as quoted from the Gazette....


MAI KHAO: While Phuket Mai Khao Company launched its airport limousine and minibus service at Phuket International Airport yesterday morning, some 100 drivers and other staff of the Phuket Limousine and Business Services Cooperative (PBC), which already operates limos and minibuses at the airport, staged a five-hour strike in protest of the new concession.

However, few passengers were inconvenienced as there were few incoming flights during the strike, from 7 am until noon. (ahem!)

The PBC members demanded that Airports of Thailand (AOT) allow the PBC to operate more vehicles under a new concession.

The new service operated by Phuket Mai Khao Co was able to handle most of the passenger load, with the remainder gladly served by the 42 metered taxis that maintain a booth outside the main terminal.

However, the arrival of the new limo operator at the airport offers no relief from high fares because the company is charging the same rates as those offered by the PBC.

Until yesterday, the PBC was the only transport operator allowed to have a booth in the arrivals terminal. Now, both concessionaires are operating almost side-by-side, separated only by a small kiosk.

Somboon Jumpathong, managing director of Phuket Airport Group, which runs the new service through Phuket Mai Khao Co, told the Gazette that his company had won the right to operate 20 cars and 60 vans in a public bidding on December 30.

The company launched yesterday with 16 cars and 30 vans and is awaiting delivery of more new vehicles to fill its quota, he said.

“About 30% of our drivers are employees. The remainder are drivers who have joined us using their own cars,” he said.

“We have to pay 830,000 baht a month for the concession. The contract, signed on January 17, allowed us to start today [January 24],” K. Somboon said.

He added that he would not appose any move by AOT to increase the number of vehicles the PBC would be allowed to operate.

“If the PBC is allowed the same number of vehicles [150] they were formerly allowed to operate, it would not be a problem for us. Business means competition, so we will just do our best and play by the rules,” he said.

The PBC’s former quota of 110 cars and 40 vans was to be slashed to 90 cars when the new service went into operation – yesterday.

The AOT slashed the number of vehicles the PBC was allowed to operate following many widely-publicized customer complaints that PBC limousine drivers were speeding, and that its minivan operators were stopping on the bypass road where passengers were routinely forced to wait while being pestered by touts pushing a variety of goods and services - hotel reservations, package tours, etc.

(ed. note - this is why we recommend avoiding using these taxis. They are unsafe, greedy and try to bully shops, hotels and passengers into paying commissions for simply driving someone to where they want to go. )

The PBC claimed that the latter practice ended in August last year with the launch of separate minivan services for Phuket City and destinations along the southwest coast, along with a promise by the PBC to punish any drivers who continued the abuse.

However, PBC President Niphon Piromrit told the Gazette that the strike was prompted by AOT’s refusal to give a clear answer as to whether the PBC’s quota would be returned to 150 vehicles, as requested.

“We just want our quota back at 150, but the AOT still insists on limiting us to just 90 cars. As for the complaints, we are now in the process of improving our services, but it seems the AOT doesn’t care about that,” K. Niphon said.

He added that he felt sorry the AOT did not care about the welfare of the PBC drivers. All PBC drivers own their vehicles and are subject to high co-op membership fees in order to pay concession fees, (and other internal fees!!!)K. Niphon said, adding that under the concession that ended on June 30 last year, the PBC paid AOT about 1.2 million baht a month.



So the taxi driver mafia is upset about having competition. Just avoid the drama. We can help arrange pick-up service, without any hassle's and no distractions.

Similan diving - Last Minute Special - White Manta

Last Minute Offer : 10 % Off !

MV White Manta

29 January ~ 2 February 2008

14 dives @ Similan-Koh Bon-Koh Tachai-Richelieu Rock

Cabin #2 : Standard , shared bathroom

Regular 680 USD, Now 612 USD /diver

Cabin #6 : Superior Twin , en suite

Regular 790 USD , Now 711 USD / diver

Cabin #3 : Deluxe Double , en suite

Regular 830 USD , Now 747 USD / diver

Call us now!!!!

Wicked Diving 076 485 868

Khao Lak Diving

Recent email regarding our Similan Overnight trips

Below is a great email from Our friends Pia and Claes. They joined us for our Overnight Trip a few days back and they brought great personalities and positive energy to the group. They helped make the whole trip even better for everyone else as well!

Thanks for joining us and maybe we will see you next year!

Hi Paul, Becky, Klaus, Christian and all the others aboard the Netnawee!

Thanks for a wonderful trip to the Similans, starting January 11^th. We had some really wonderful and inspiring days with a lot of exciting underwater encounters.

With Becky as our divemaster we were in the safest of hands. Her enthusiasm and calmness made our diving relaxed and filled with new experiences. (Thanks Becky for coaching me, Pia, through the nightdive!)

After the Similans we went to quite undeveloped Koh Yao Noi in the bay of Phang Nga and after that we spent some days at Phi Phi, where we did some diving. Then we realised that we had gained some diving confidence at the Similan trip and that Wickeds dive masters really are special with their enthusiasm and commitment to the environment.

Thanks again and hope to see you somewhere again!

Pia and Claes

The Swedish Silverback team

Netnawee Similan overnight trip 21/01/08

This was a trip that would prove to be special...

Firstly a big congratulations to our dive master trainee Beyla who came with us on this trip to complete the last few tests to gain status as divemaster. During the trip Beyla had to carry out a number of swim tests, involving a 400m swim, 800m snorkel and a 150m diver tow, as can be seen in the picture. In this case, for Klaus pretending to be a tired diver, the swim seemed to be even more tiring for him than for Beyla!



Beyla who has been with us for 2 months completing her divemaster course and has come a long way since first walking into Wicked. She has gained lots of experience above and below the surface and will most definately become a brillant divemaster. With only a few things left to do until her course is complete, she is almost a fully certified divemaster and everyone at Wicked wishes her the best of luck in the future.











This trip also saw Michelle gaining her open water certificate and Nicoletta completing a Discover Scuba Diving program both taught by Tuk. Michelle proved to be a fish in the water! All the other guests on the boat had an excellent trip and saw lots of great things throughout the trip. Sebastian, Stephan and Chris (in picture with Becky and Oscar) were some of the divers who joined us on this trip and saw plenty of wicked things below the surface. Some of the divers were lucky enough to have the company of a Manta Ray on their last dive at Koh Bon. Koh Bon is famous for it's visiting Manta Rays who come here to feed on the plankton in the water. It swam around with the divers for a few minutes and then shot off into the blue, a very special moment for everyone...

Overnight trip schedule

Diving Schedule for Netnawee

Day 1

9am Depart from Taplamu/ Boat briefing

11am Dive safety briefing

12noon Lunch

1.30pm Dive 1 Island #6 Eel Garden (check dive)

3:00pm Snacks

4.30pm Dive 2 Island #7 West of Eden

6pm Dinner/ check into tents/transfers to island

Day 2

6.40am Pick up from island

7.30am Dive 1 Island #7 East of Eden

8.30am Breakfast

10.30am Dive 2 Island #7 Deep Six

12noon Lunch

1.30pm Dive 3 Island #4

3pm Snacks/ transfer to island for time on the beach

5.30pm Night dive briefing

6.30pm Dive 4 Night dive

7.30pm Dinner/ transfers to island

Day 3

6.40am Pick up from island

7.30am Dive 1 Elephant head rock

8.30am Breakfast

10.30am Dive 2 Island # 9 Breakfast bend

12noon Lunch

1.30pm Dive 3 Koh Bon

3pm Snacks

6pm Arrive at Tublamu pier

Snorkeling Schedule for Netnawee

Day 1

9am Depart from pier/ Boat briefing

11am Dive safety briefing

12noon Lunch

1.30pm Transfer to island #4 snorkeling off the beach

Pick up/Snacks on boat

4.30pm Transfer onto island Free Time! Relax,
snorkel walk nature trails

6pm Dinner/ check into tents/transfers to island

Day 2

8.30am Pick up from island

8.30am Breakfast

10.30am Site 1 Island #7 Shallow Six

12noon Lunch

1.30pm Site 2 Island #4 Honeymoon Bay

3pm Snacks/ transfer to island for time on the beach/ time to snorkel, walk nature trails

5.30pm Pickup from island

7.30pm Dinner/ transfers to island

Day 3

6.40am Pick up from island time to relax on boat

8.30am Breakfast

9am Site 1 Island #8 Donald duck bay

10.30am Site 2 Island # 9 Breakfast bend

12noon Lunch

1.30pm Site 3 Koh Bon Bay

3pm Snacks

6pm Arrive at Tublamu pier

Similan Island diving for super cheap!

General: wood mono-hull motorboat...

The VilaiSamut
our ship is equipped to carry 22 passengers and an 10 man crew. It is fully equipped and stocked to make sure you enjoy the whole trip.

The ship contains 8 air conditioned cabins, large diving area and ample shower facilities allowing you to dive and relax in complete comfort.

The Vilai is able to hold 10,000 liters of fresh water, has reserve fuel tanks, a backup generator , ship to shore communication equipment, mobile telephone and a well put together medical first aid kit. The Ship also also carries emergency oxygen in the unlikely event that a diver might require it.

Trips: destinations, dives, duration, prices...

Similan, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock

For 4 days and 4 Njghts with 14 dives

Diver	20,000 Baht
Non-diver	16,000 Baht

Liveaboard

This trip departs Phuket onboard the vessel M.V. Vilai Samut at 20.30hr from Taplamu (Khao Lak's local pier). The journey takes about 54hours cruising speed to arrive Similan Islands hours before dawn breaks.

On day 1, begins with 3 day dives and 1nightdive.

On day 2, to Koh Bon and Koh Tachai 3 day dives and 1 night dive.

On day 3, at Richelieu Rock 3 day dives and 1 night dive.

On day 4, back to the Similan Islands for 2 dives, then home to Khao Lak


Cabins: cabins, berths, showers, bathrooms...
There are
4 cabins with 2 bunk beds
2 cabins with 3 bunk beds
2 cabins with 4 bunk beds
on the main deck.

Cabins have:
Individually-controlled air conditioning,
Bedding Sea-view windows
Reading lamps, Dressing table,
Mains outlet 220 Volts AC 24 hours,
No. of bathrooms/showers - 3 / 5
no hand basins installed

Facilities: crew, facilities, dive courses...

Crew comprises:
3 Divemasters
Captain
Cook
Engineer
2 Deck hands
Motorised dive dinghy —
comfortable dive deck —
Video & music system on upper deck — undeck


Food: menu, cuisine type...



Thai main meal dishes and continental breakfast. Buffet-style service on upper deck - choose from four or five main dishes with soup and salad. Vegetarian requirements can be catered for.

Operator considers food to be "good value" and of "high importance".

Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, fruits and biscuits are provided free of charge.

Soft drinks (20 Baht) and beer (50 Baht) are available.

Safety: safety support features...

Motorised dinghy
Ship to ship radio
Ship to shore radio
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Depth Sounder
Mobile telephone
Medic First Aid Box
Oxygen
Life jackets
Fire extinguishers

Layout: VilSamut

Specs: technical specifications...

LOA 26m Recreation area 6 x 10m. Beam 6m Sun Deck 6 x 4 m. Draught 1.8m Accommodation 22 persons Displacement 55 Tons Cabins (Air Con.) Speed (max/cruise) 12/10 knots 4 cabins with 2 bunk beds Engines 350 H.P. x 2 Nissan V8 2 cabins with 3 bunk beds Generators 20 kW x 2 2 cabins with 4 bunk beds Air compressore 2 electric Bauer Mariner Toilet/Shower 3 rooms Fuel capacity 6,000 liters Outdoor shower 4 spots Fresh water capacity 10,000 liters Kitchen 4 x 3 m. Dingy 4m with 25 H.P. outboard Suiting up area 6 x 8 m. Platform 6 x 2 m.

Khao Lak Diving

Similans Information

Liveaboard Guide

Similan diving - Last Minute Special - Black Manta

Last Minute Offer : 10 % Off !

MV Black Manta

22 ~ 26 January 2008

14 dives @ Similan-Koh Bon-Koh Tachai-Richelieu Rock

Cabin 4 deluxe twin, en suite

Regular 950 USD, Now 855 USD /diver

Cabin 5 deluxe Double , en suite

Regular 950 USD , Now 855 USD / diver

Master Cabin 11 King size bed, en suite

Regular 1050 USD, Now 945 USD / diver

Khao Lak Diving

Similan Island Information

Netnawee Similan overnight trip 14/01/08

Another trip!
On this - our 17th similan diving safari of the year, we were joined by Annelie and Peter, two professional freedivers.

Whilst the two of them are competitive freedivers this trip was all about fun for them! All of the scuba divers on board got to get a glimpse of them as they swam around underwater and took quite a few other divers by surprise.


Both Peter and Annelie were able to spend plenty of time under the water and see as much as all the divers did spending a few minutes down there at a time without any scuba gear at all!





Klaus, Becky (me!) and Oscar were on the trip and joined by our new Thai instructor Tuk. Tuk is a very experienced diver and him and his group were lucky enough to see a manta ray just outside honeymoon bay on a night dive! Very unusual, and needless to say the whole group was over the moon about this rare sighting.




Whilst everyone on the boat didn't get to see the Manta Ray there were plenty of other underwater treats in store for the divers. A couple of leopard sharks were seen swimming around, this is quite unusal as usually these sharks are just lying on the sandy bottom, usually they swim around at night when they are going hunting. Wally one of our fun divers and Mel our dive master in training were both very excited about this sighting as you can see from the picture.







At the end of the day before the divers are transfer to the islands there is plenty of time to relax and catch up on the days events and the different things that have been seen by everyone under the water.


Khao Lak Diving

Similan Information

Similan overnight trip - January 11, 2008

Similan Island Diving Safari with the Netnawee - January 2008

It has been a while, so here is an update on the last few trips aboard the Netnawee. This one had 10 guests on it and everybody had a fantastic time. Helene, Paul and Laz all became open water divers while Mischa, Jennie and Sofie got their Advanced open water certificate.

Boat master Klaus was of course on the boat and was joined by Kristian, our Swedish instructor, who was teaching the Open water course. He had at times some difficulty getting Helene and Paul to pay attention!











Also joining was divemaster Becky, who has just joined the Wicked family. She got off to an excellent start and showed the fun divers all there was to see beneath the surface.

The new schedule on the trip allows for more time to go and explore the islands, where you can snorkel, relax on the beach or go on a nature trail to the other side of the island and spot wildlife in the jungle on your way!

Species that you can find whilst on the island includes a number of different hermit crabs and ghost crabs which you will usually find close to the beach running into holes they have made for safety. Flying foxes also inhabit the island along with a variety of different reptiles from small lizards to a few large monitors. luckily none of the islands inhabitants pose any threat to visitors. For the more adventurous there is another trail leading up to the islands view point, where you get a fantastic view of the Similan islands. Getting there involves climbing up a steep mountain trail. Not for the faint hearted...

The whole team and crew!!!

Thanks to everyone who joined us and made this an incredible trip


-Becky!

Khao Lak Diving

Similan Information

Liveaboard Guide

Bon soong Nudies

Here's some nudibranchs I caught fooling around on top of the Bon soong wreck!
I'm a nerd for small creatures but unlike Paul, Klaus and Marcel I couldn't tell you this ones name...


-ED. Note - Chromodoris geminus (?)

Khao Lak Diving

Similan Islands

Similan Diving - Queen Scuba

The MV Queen Scuba is a 28m (92ft) vessel completed in 2003. She was built to be one of the more comfortable boats plying the Andaman Sea, and she has succeeded in that goal. One of the best things about this boat is the fact that she can take up to 21 guests--so those of you who like to travel in a fairly large group have other options now.

Master Cabin

VIP Cabin

Twin-double

Interior Saloon

Outdoor Dining Area

Large Dive deck

The boat is undergoing a slight redesign at this time, after one-year of operating in the Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock. She has one master cabin and five "VIP" or deluxe cabins. These cabins offer double-bed accommodation for you traveling couples out there. She also has three cabins with single beds down below; two of them are for two people, and one is a triple. The cabins are priced according to comfort level-lower for the below deck cabins, slightly higher for the VIP cabins, and highest for the master. The highest comfort comes with a price as on most boats.

The choices, the choices

The Master cabin is the nicest room on the boat, of course, and the owner's claim the nicest in all of Southeast Asia. That's pretty tall claim, but the fact of the matter is that you can't get much better as far as comfort goes. First come, first served! This cabin has a large king-sized bed, a large well-appointed ensuite bathroom with hot water, a DVD entertainment system with movies, a complimentary fruit basket, air conditioning, and panoramic ocean views.

The five VIP cabins all have a large double bed, a large ensuite bathroom with hot water, air conditioning, a complimentary fruit basket, and ocean views.

For you single gentlemen or ladies, the standard cabins are located below deck, but are still light and airy. They also feature ensuite facilities with hot water and air conditioning. One of the cabins take two persons, one of them takes three guests, and one of them takes four guests (perfect for a family). She takes a total of 21 persons on board.

Interior charm

The interior saloon is large en