Smiling Seahorse, Thailand

Amazing experience.

We booked the photography expedition in the Similan National Park with the Smiling Seahorse. The boat is a 3 deck dive boat with functional cabins, a mess hall, and a perfect setup room for underwater photography and general rec diving. The boat owner and leader Frank is also a photographer. He is a super friendly and fun person to be around. He was very engaged in the day-to-day activities, and his excitement about the diving and photo opportunities was contagious. He also went out of his way to give us tips about underwater photography, which were greatly appreciated. He is an amazing photographer and his presentations were engaging and informative. Our guide, James, was equally top notch, and easily one of the best dive guides we’ve had in our diving history. He was safety conscious, highly skilled, and we learned so much from him about the reef sites we were visiting, including the sea life, and tips for safe diving in general. The supporting crew was equally amazing, ensuring tank fills and gear were setup, and the meals were good. Everything was well planned out so it never felt too crowded onboard despite full capacity. What you don’t easily see is all the work the crew is doing behind the scenes to make the liveaboard the most enjoyable experience. The dive sites themselves were fantastic, with healthy reefs, corals and fish, and the dive operation is very conscious of protecting the reef. The blackwater dive was incredible and unique , and each dive site provided great variety. This was one of the best diving trips I’ve done, hands down, and the crew and boat deserve the highest praise. We will be back soon!

Recommended for

Friendly and accommodating crew, great dive sites, great photography room

11 Nov, 2023

Truly superb live aboard experience!

This was our first liveaboard diving trip so we have nothing to compare this with, however, I can honestly say that our expectations were more than exceeded in every respect. The Smiling Seahorse operation is superbly run and managed by its owner Franck, an extremely personable individual and diving enthusiast, who goes to great lengths to ensure that no detail of your stay onboard is overlooked. After being swiftly administered on arrival, Franck then delivered a welcome address to all passengers to explain how the boat functions, where everything was and then introduced all of his staff, from the captain and diving instructors to the chefs and general assistants. This was a great touch and showed how invested he is in his crew and for us to meet each and every one of the staff onboard. We were assigned our diving instructor (Mici) and dived with another couple of similar experience for the duration of the trip. Mici went to great lengths to put us at ease and explained every step of each dive we undertook but made absolutely clear that safety was her primary concern throughout. We undertook our PADI AOW qualification whilst diving and this was seamlessly integrated in to our diving programme. Some of the dives were quite challenging due to varying currents and invariably plans had to be changed underwater to reflect the conditions but at all times she had the whole group’s welfare and safety in mind. On all of the dives, the pace at which we covered the terrain was excellent and she was always attentive and keen to point out the abundant wildlife. The diving itself was varied, with Richelieu Rock providing the most spectacular array of sea life, from huge shoals of Trevally and Barracuda to amazing fan corals to name but a few. Visibility wasn’t always great and at times the currents were strong but we viewed this as positive learning and we always managed to see some incredible sights. The food onboard was simply outstanding! We are vegetarians and the chefs went to great lengths to ensure that we had an appropriate choice for each meal - the food was largely Thai inspired and was truly delicious. On one evening they even prepared a BBQ on the sun deck and this was preceded by some delicious rum cocktails, which went down very well! At various intervals Franck would make announcements to ensure all were informed or (as a keen underwater photographer) brief us on other aspects of diving (black water diving), which was offered as an additional activity. Despite the broad international makeup of the guests onboard, all were made to feel part of the ‘family’ and we made some great acquaintances during our trip. Overall, Franck’s outstanding leadership of the Smiling Seahorse and attention to detail is what made this trip so successful and enjoyable for all concerned. We would thoroughly recommend to anyone considering a live aboard and will undoubtedly be back again.

Recommended for

Boat leadership; diving instructors; food

16 Apr, 2024

satisfied

Good visibility in the first few days

Recommended for

Diving, Macro and Experience

03 Mar, 2024