Smiling Seahorse, Thailand
9.1 Superb - Nitrox available
- En-Suite bathrooms
- Family Cabins
“I would book again at any time!”
Highlights
Newly built for 2018, the Smiling Seahorse liveaboard offers fantastic dive trips to Thailand and Myanmar. The 3-night 'Best of Thailand' trip showcases some of the best dive areas in the Andaman Sea, including the Surin Islands, Richelieu Rock, Koh Tahcai & Koh Bon. The Myanmar dive trips are a fantastic way to explore this newly opened dive area and to get up close with manta rays, eagle rays, mobula rays, leopard sharks and cool macro critters such as frogfish, seahorses, and pipefish. The spacious dive deck at the back of the boat allows ample room for kitting up and gear storage and a dedicated photography room.
The Smiling Seahorse is 25m long and accommodates 16 divers over 4 decks. On the upper deck are 2 standard cabins with one double or two single beds and shared bathrooms. The 4 deluxe and 2 master cabins on the main deck have en-suite bathrooms, and all cabins feature air-conditioning. There is also an open-air dining room, a huge sun deck, and a camera station for photographers.
The experienced and professional crew of the Smiling Seahorse liveaboard offers a warm welcome. Book online today to reserve your space.
Choose your departure date
Included: VAT, Drinking Water, Soft drinks, Tea & Coffee, Beach BBQ, Full-Board Meal Plan (All meals), Snacks, Diving Package, Kayaks, Cabin Towels, Deck Towels.
Required Extras: Fuel Surcharge (฿1,750-3,150 / trip), National Park Fees ($30-300 / trip).
Optional Extras: Gratuities (฿1,000 / day), Airport Transfer, Hotel Transfer, Alcoholic Beverages, Nitrox (฿2,400-5,700 / package), Nitrox Course (฿6,000-8,000 / activity), Private Dive Guide (฿4,000 / day), Rental Gear, Scuba Diving Courses, Land Excursions, Snorkel Gear.
Book now, pay later: You can easily place your booking online. We will then hold the spaces for you and you can confirm with a payment later.
* Extra fees are shown per person.
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Drawings & Vessel Layouts
Cabin Types
Smiling Seahorse Reviews
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- 9.1 Superb
- Vessel 8.9
- Crew 8.8
- Food 9.8
- Diving 9.4
- Value 8.8
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- 10 Exceptional
- Taryn L
-
United States
Sail the Andaman Sea in a friendly atmosphere
My wife and I just spend an amazing week living aboard The Smiling Seahorse which took us through the many renown diving spots Thailand has to offer. The past 7 days, we sailed the Andaman Sea, stopping at busy Richelieu Rock by the Mu Ko Surin National Park and exploring the wonders of Ko Tachai and Ko Bon. We were amazed at the beauty of Breakfast Bend (3 trees), the imposing Elephant Rock (Hin Pusa) and Shark Fin Reef (Hin Phae) dive sites off the coast of Mu Ko Similan National Park. We were greeted by superb Oceanic Mantas at Red Rock (Hin Daeng), Purple Rock (Hin Muang) right in the Strait of Malacca and gasped at the grandeur of Cathedral (Koh Haa Yao). Last but not least, Ko Li Pe delivered schools of Fusiliers, Trevalis and Small Tooth Emperors reigning over the rest of the innumerable schools of fishes at Stonehenge and 8 Miles Rock (Hin Paad Mile). The crew on board was the friendliest and always helpful, accommodating my wife’s (many) food allergies with kindness. Speaking of the food, the chefs on board are incredible and you are in for a treat after each dives (my favorite being the post-morning dive breakfast). Our cabin (number 1) was spacious with a large bed and ample space to organize and store our luggages away. The bathroom was clean and perfect for a week on board. The entire dive masters crew was always professional, taking the time to go over the dive plan, answering any concerns and helping locate and identify the many hidden wonders discovered during each dive. We highly recommend signing up for the black water dive if this is something you have never done as Franck (the owner) is an amazing photograph and will lead you through a new way to discover our animal kingdom. Kudos to Franck and his team for organizing everything in a seamless fashion getting on and off the boat and everything in between. Thank you for having us, we’re looking forward to discovering Burma in a future adventure!
- Recommended for
- Friendly and knowledgeable crew, amazing food, incredible dive sites
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- 10 Exceptional
- Gerard K
-
Netherlands
An amazing trip to uncharted waters, with a top notch boat and crew: high quality experience!
We enjoyed our trip with the Smiling Seahorse a lot. Our hope was to escape crowded dive sites in Thailand by embarking on a trip to the Mergui Archipeligo. This worked out great: we have seen no other divers throughout the entire trip. The diving was excellent, at healthy reefs with abundant marine life. The Smiling seahorse is a well maintained vessel that has been run by the same crew for many years. The whole team works together like a Swiss clock, delivering a care free experience of high quality and maximum fun. Attention to details is massive (e.g. reef friendly soap, a water branded bottle to replace glass as much as possible, Isotoner sachets, etc.). The group was quickly split up into groups of 4 divers & 1 dive guide. The groups take turns gearing up, so the dive deck is always calm and remains spacious. Each crew member knows what to do and delivers. The dive guides are very experienced, good company and a pleasure to dive with. Special thanks to James! By choosing to go to Myanmar, a country in troubled times, the organization adds an exiting edge to the trip, somewhat exclusive and special. Their contact with the Myanmar authorities is solid and the process went pretty smooth. One special feature on our trip was the Blackwater diving. What a great experience and eye opener! We came home truly enriched in our understanding of the ocean and stimulated in our ambitions to keep on exploring. Thanks Franck and crew!
- Recommended for
- Very professional organization. Focus on excellent diving experience. Pushing for new experiences: Blackwater diving in Myanmar's waters.
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- 10 Exceptional
- Daniel R
- United States
Fantastic boat, crew, equipment, and guides!
This is a really well run operation. Our tour director Franck was on top of everything from helping us stay safe and healthy to taking amazing underwater photos. The boat crew and guides worked seamlessly together to ensure all the guests had the best possible diving experiences. Food was tasty and we always had plenty of snacks on hand after a dive. I started out as a very beginner diver (11 dives) and learned a ton from the guides and other more seasoned divers. The underwater world of the Andaman sea is amazing: I saw octopus, sharks, cuttlefish, rays, etc etc. We did night, blackwater, and cavern diving as well.
- Recommended for
- Superb crew, Clean and modern boat, smooth diving experiences
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- 9.6 Exceptional
- Rob C
-
United Kingdom
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
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- 10 Exceptional
- Craig F
- United States
Perfect introduction to liveaboard diving
This was a new experience for me, and I quite enjoyed the crew and my fellow divers. Six dives on Richelieu Rock were wonderful. It was crowded with other dive operators but big enough for us all.
- Recommended for
- Crew, food, itinerary
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- 10 Exceptional
- Jonah N
-
Germany
Tiger sharks at Burma Banks
Only dive boat in the region at that moment Fantastic landscape under and above the water great companionship on the boat playing cards with my dive buddies
- Recommended for
- excellent dive guide, professional staff, Tiger shark
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- 9.2 Superb
- Markus D
- Germany
Unique dive sites - good boat crew - great food
Good and clean boat. Great food on board. Unique dive sites walls / sandbanks / coral gardens / caves. Team was always very helpfull and attentive - great food as well.
- Recommended for
- Unique dive sites. Very attentive team. rental equipment in very good condition.
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- 9.6 Exceptional
- Katherine K
- United States
Well organized boat, fantastic diving, tasty food
We did all 25 dives on this trip and loved them all. The variety was wonderful - from nudis to cobias, from swim throughs and caverns to beautiful healthy reefs, and a fascinating intro to blackwater diving. Our guide James was our favorite dive guide ever - hilarious and so knowledgeable. This boat is organized extremely well, with every detail thought through for a fantastic diving experience (great camera room, four dives per day). The food was always delicious, and the barbecue party on the last night was super fun. Our only small wishes would have been better weather (less rain and rough seas) and an air-conditioned communal area (the dining area is open to the outside). Very competently run and joyful diving holiday!
- Recommended for
- James, our hilarious and highly knowledgeable dive guide. Wonderful variety of excellent diving. Delicious food at every meal.
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- 9.2 Superb
- Michael K
-
Israel
Great boat for diving enthusiasts
Fantastic dives.
- Recommended for
- Diving. Diving. Diving.
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- 8.8 Fabulous
- Robert F
- Germany
"Great Diving, Great Crew – A No-Frills Liveaboard That Delivers"
The dive safari with The Smiling Seahorse was a fantastic experience, offering great value for money without unnecessary frills. If you're looking for a well-organized, professional, and welcoming liveaboard in the Andaman Sea, this is a great choice. The dive team—James, Velika, Lady, and Simon—are exceptional. Not only do they know the dive sites inside out, but they also have a deep passion for the craft, ensuring each dive is both safe and memorable. The crew on board is equally impressive, keeping everything running smoothly, maintaining the gear, and assisting with effortless water entries and exits. The boat itself provides everything you need for a successful dive safari. There’s a dedicated camera station with compressed air and ample power outlets for charging equipment. Between dives, you’ll find plenty of space to relax in the shade—or stay dry if the weather turns. While the accommodations and amenities are simple and practical rather than luxurious, they are more than sufficient for a comfortable trip. Overall, The Smiling Seahorse delivers an excellent diving experience at a fair price, making it a solid choice for divers who prioritize top-notch guiding and seamless logistics over high-end amenities. If you're after incredible diving in the Andaman Sea without breaking the bank, this is a great option.
- Recommended for
- The dive guides. The crew. The organisation on board.
