Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock

Our home for 4 days. The MV Jazz.
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First the map disclaimer...  The travel site didn't know where the islands were so I think it put the dot on land someplace!

We spent 4 days and nights living on a boat and scuba diving in the Similan Islands.  They are reportedly "one of the top 10 diving locations in the world".  We had an absolutely great time!  The water is unimaginably clear.  You can see straight down to the bottom even when the water is 40 feet deep or more.  We of course saw a huge array or wildlife so I won't bore you with the list but the big highlight was that we saw a whale shark.  Within the diving community seeing one is kind of a "holy grail" sort of mission.  We were with people who have been diving for 10 or more years who had tried and failed to find one until this trip.  A whale shark is a giant shark that eats plankton by sucking in a big mouthful of water and then squeezing it past what is essentially a big filter before sending the water out through its gills.  Basically, they aren't interested in eating us at all and couldn't if they wanted to.  (Though if motivated I'm sure they could beat the crap out of us in the water.)  The one we saw was on the smallish side and was "only" about 13 or 14 feet long.  It was an amazing experience to be 100 ft below the surface swimming along next to this giant thing!  Thanks to the clear water there is plenty of light at that depth so it was possible to get a really good view.  We also had the opportunity to see a Manta Ray which is also uncommon and big.  I couldn't quite get as close to the manta so it is hard to judge the size but I don't think it broke any records for the species.  Maybe 10 feet from one tip of it's "wings" to the other?  Hard to say but they are big and cool to watch.  They flap their wings more like a bird than a fish to swim.  Once again, they have no interest in eating divers...

The Whale Shark! That's me on the left...
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I miss life on the boat already.  It was so amazing all the time.  Everytime we looked down we could see fish swimming around the boat or in schools below.  If we looked at the water it was light blue where shallow and a beautiful navy blue in deep water.  Looking at the islands was like looking at the tropical beach screen savers people have when dreaming of being out of their cubicle!  So much fun and so beautiful.  Being a divemaster and working a boat in the Similans is a tempting lifestyle choice!