Dive Review of Deep Andaman Queen in
Thailand/Similans

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Deep Andaman Queen: "Similans Liveaboard: Good Trip, Great Guides and Crew", Dec, 2015, by Mr Franklin Mah, CA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 8814 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation	N/A	Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I don't really like to spend a lot of time on a liveaboard so with most of the trips from Phuket just 4-5 nights I wanted to try it. Prices were very reasonable compared to other places and the Deep Andaman Queen seem to be a good value. I also booked and paid in September 2015 so I got free Nitrox for my Dec 5-9 trip to the Similans. I stayed in Karon Beach and I was picked up pretty much in the expected time range. It was about a 2 hour ride to the dock which is north of Phuket. First thing. Shoes collected. They will be returned at the end. Paperwork. Then setting up equipment for the next day. Sailed off during the night for the Similans. Diving began with wakeup about 6am and diving about 7am in the assigned groups. Second dive around 10am. Third dive after lunch. A 4th dive before dark. There were a few night dives not all the time. There were a couple of shore excursions as well. I did not find diving the first 2 days of diving all that interesting. This was at the Similans and were generally large boulders in the water. Different but not that much life either. Good to practice my buoyancy. The last half of the trip was much more interesting. Richeliu Rock was great and did 2 dives there. There must be whale sharks that hang around because I saw one on each dive. Other dive sights on the latter half of the trip had soft coral and more life. On last morning, did 2 dives of the Boon Song wreck. There is more fish here than any place I have ever seen. In fact, that there were too many small fish made some photos difficult to shoot because there were too many in the shot. Dive guides were great! A very international group, mostly from the UK. Steve is the leader and been here for over 12 years, very experienced. Tod has lots of experience from CA. Pam, Megan and Liam were the others. All great to talk and very nice, made the whole trip better than just the diving portion. The boat crew were very helpful and could not be more accommodating. Snacks and drinks after the dives. Soft drinks and beverages were free. Only beer had a charge. A national park fee due in cash.
Websites	Deep Andaman Queen
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Belize, Hawaii, Cozumel, Philippines, Indonesia
Closest Airport	Phuket International [HKT]	Getting There	I did not want to go to Bangkok on this trip so I flew to Singapore and from there flew into Phuket. It is also possible from Hong Kong to Phuket. Less than 30 minutes from landing to collect luggage and leave airport.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-70 Ft/ 12-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive in small groups of 5-6 divers. Signal dive guide at half tank. When someone reaches 750psi in group, starts to go up for safety stop. Time limit is 50-60 minutes.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Not really geared for underwater cameras. No table or area to work on cameras. I did it in my cabin. There were tubs at the rear of the boat that cameras were placed in after dives. Unusual for me but apparently common practice in this area...even observed on nearby boats...was that you are expected to jump into the water with your camera. It is not the practice after jumping in to return to the boat for your camera. You are expected to jump in with your group and go down pretty quickly. Going back for a camera slows this process. I even saw other boats that were moving on top of the dive site and divers were jumping in with their cameras. This was new to me.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Deep Andaman Queen in Thailand/Similans

Deep Andaman Queen: "Similans Liveaboard: Good Trip, Great Guides and Crew", Dec, 2015,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Deep Andaman Queen in
Thailand/Similans