Dive Review of South Siam IV in
Thailand

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South Siam IV, Mar, 2007, by Jon Morrow, NV, USA ( 1 report). Report 3297.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My second trip with South Siam. This time on their liveaboard that travels to Richelieu Rock South Siam 4. This operation allows maximum flexibility for divers with rigid time schedules. The boats remain in the Similans and daily speed boats take you and day divers to the boat and return you at the end of your stay. You can pick the number of days but can't get on or off the boat on the two days it is at Richelieu. We wanted to spend maximum time diving and started our trip on South Siam 3 when SS4 was up north. We made the transfer on the second day when SS4 returned. SS4 doesn't seem to have as many day divers and we had 4 of 5 days with only 9 divers on board. 5 dives are scheduled daily and you pick from 4. I recommend you skip the night dive, limited stuff to see. On the third dive of the day you will dive with any day trip divers. On SS3 this meant about 20 plus the divers on board. DM's are very knowleagable and know about finding small stuff. We saw all of the big stuff in large numbers but visibility issues made seeing anything big difficult. At Richelieu Rock visibility was at best 30' There were great macro photo oportunities of seahorses, pipefish and nudibranchs but the larger fish were almost impossible to photo due to the heavy plankton bloom. Koh Bon had large numbers of Manta's with 6 different encounters at less than 20' with them. There was a report of a whale shark but we didn't see it. Leopard sharks, Morays and turles were common with occasional reef sharks spotted on early dives. Food was plentiful but not gourmet. There was always something western and always something Thai. Rooms were basic and toilets were shared. Hot fresh water was always available in the showers. Two fresh water spray nozzles were available on the swim deck when you came out of the water. Entry was always a giant stride of the swim deck. recovery was usually to the main boat but a zodiac patrolled to recover divers or groups that drifted too close to the islands or too far away. Strong currents were commonplace during this trip along with cold water upwellings that produced 10 degree temperature changes. I was OK with a 1mm suit but wore a vest on the last 5 of 23 dives. Great diving, cheap prices, but not luxury.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Carribean, Mexico, Florida, California
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	currents
Water Temp	74-83°F / 23-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	50 Bar or 50 Minutes
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Rinse Tank available. No dedicated area for UWP

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Dive Review of South Siam IV in Thailand

South Siam IV, Mar, 2007,

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 South Siam IV in
Thailand