Thailand / Myanmar with Quest Tours & The Deep Andaman Queen Liveaboard

Immigration was a slow and fairly steady affair into Phuket - not exactly what we were hoping for after a reasonably long journey. Collecting our bags and exiting the airport was all straightforward and expeditious after immigration though.

We were greeted by the very friendly Anna, one of the dive guides, just outside the exit. We piled into a pleasant air conditioned van and off to the Tab Lamu pier to board our home for the next 7 nights, the Deep Andaman Queen (DAQ).

Thus named because of her adventures throughout the less travelled sections of the Andaman Sea, the vessel is very spacious and thoughtfully designed.

The boat briefing, conducted by the cruise director Steve, is comprehensive and thorough. The DAQ we are told, isn’t like the majority of dive liveaboards, in that she has a large dive deck at the stern of the vessel, rather than tender boats/ dhonis. There is a rubber ducky/ skiff launched as backup when diving, but this is seldom utilised.

Settling into our cabins (Quad share, Twin Share and Deluxe Double), we discovered the ensuite bathrooms quite big and the rooms well equipped. Bedding is comfortable and the noise from the engines minimal. All in all a very good night’s sleep.

As we set sail overnight to the Similian National park, the Thai crew onboard set off fire crackers to ward off evil spirits and bring us good fortune for our voyage. 

It appears to have worked - the crossing to the Similian’s was very smooth, and day dawned on the Monday to very flat seas and a sunny day.

Tachai Pinnacles (No. 2)

2nd dive of the day is about an hour after breakfast - giving us a good chance to organise camera housings etc and set up our photographic gear. Steve gives us a very comprehensive site briefing again, warns us about current and talks about using a mooring line to make it easier on us.

As we were getting close to a full moon the currents are stronger than usual - this pays off in very active pelagic fish life (cue schooling Barracudas), GT hunting anything they can chase, and a liveliness in the ocean that gives off a great vibe.

Visibility once again in the 20 - 25 metre mark. Steve was right about the current - it felt like around 3-4 knots which is a fair bit. Max depth 24.9 metres. EDT 49 minutes

The topography of the dive site allowed us to swim around with ease though - a lot of large boulders and underwater pinnacles provided respite from the flow of water.

Saw an octopus (❤️❤️), Barracudas as previously mentioned, some very cool swim throughs, giant gorgonian fans, anemones and clown fish, porcelain crabs.

Lunch was delicious - Thai fish cakes, pad Thai, rice with chicken coconut curry and salad. Delish!

Richelieu Rock (No. 3 & 4)

Perhaps one of Thailand’s most famous dive sites, this Rock protrudes just a metre above the surface at low tide (imagine the navigation hazard that posed before modern beacons)!

Dive briefing gets us buzzing - this dive site consistently offers incredible fish life and visibility. There’s always a good chance of seeing whale sharks and manta rays we are told.

Gear up, check NITROX, giant stride in and we’re underway.

There’s a small amount of current on the surface so negative entry is necessary. Down to the bottom and we see what all the fuss is about

The whole dive site offers a series of underwater pinnacles clustered together. The fish love this site - it is teeming with schools of GT, glass fish, yellow snapper, barracuda, bat fish, fusiliers. The visibility is incredible and the water is so BLUE!

Max depth 28.2m, EDT 53 mins

We’re offered a second dive here at dusk - only 8 of us decide to do it. 3 dives a day for most is enough. Boy were we glad we did that dive - the GTs became more active and the visibility cleared even more as the current dropped. The whole site was alive, twitching and turning with giant schools of glass fish blanketing every rocky outcrop. It was like diving in a silent nightclub all dancing to the same beat. Magical.

Max depth 16.8m, EDT 50 mins

We set sail for Ranong to exit Thailand (easy and very quick) and enter Myanmar (Burma - slightly more complicated and requires a VISA). It’s fascinating sitting in the channel and looking across to one side at Thailand, and the other side Myanmar.

We have a 6 hour steam ahead of us before reaching our first dive site in Myanmar 🇲🇲

This gives us a lot of time to relax, eat, log our dives etc. And for me to blog, of course!

High Rock (No. 5)

We arrive at High Rock at around 4.30pm. It’s really quite an impressive sight - sitting around 20 metres high with a single tree covered in foliage atop it. Of course we all snapped a few photos

Entering the water I already notice the vis isn’t great - 5-8 metres at best. I silently thank myself for putting my macro lens on for this one!

There were a lot of ghost nets strewn over the dive site, disappointing. Plenty of schooling smaller fish. A few Nudibranchs and a pipefish under an overhang. A bit of current around one side.

In good vis this site would be magical, with the afternoon sun streaming down through a channel in the rock. During the briefing they mentioned it would be possible to see whalesharks here. I’m not surprised, although we didn’t get to see any.

Max depth 26.2m, EDT 56 mins

Dinner time - it feels like all I’ve done today is eat and sleep! Everyone onboard is looking forward to tomorrow and 4 more dives.

Black Rock (No. 6)

Wake up call echoes through the cabins and lower decks at 6am. I’m already awake, keen for the days diving.

It’s dark as we all emerge from our beds - lights from fishing boats are scattered throughout the ocean as dawn approaches. Coffee perks me up and we all dutifully listen to the briefing. Other boats have been seeing Manta Rays here around 3-4 days ago. Fingers crossed we are lucky. I decide not to take my camera down on this dive to increase our chances of a Manta encounter!!

Good thing I decided not to - 5 minutes in as we’re settling down to around 12 metres, Steve taps on his tank (this means one of two things - Manta Rays or Whalesharks - he doesn’t tap for the little stuff).

It’s a Manta Ray. She’s huge - much bigger than the ones I saw in the Maldives. This is very exciting. I silently thank myself for not taking my camera (its good luck and MUST be the reason we are seeing a Manta 😉). She swims past our group at a reasonable distance away - she only hangs around for a couple of minutes before disappearing with her remoras off into the blue.

10 more minutes pass - a few morays, lots of anemone fish (Sonia is pleased), plenty of critters. A familiar tap echoes through the group - another Manta. Well, its the same Manta (she has a gammy fin on her left side) and this time she’s closer. It appears she’s getting more confident the longer we’re in the water.

The best part of the dive is towards the end - we’re lucky to see 2 Mantas at once around 15 minutes before we get out. Then, out of the depths a few minutes later, two more appear. Seeing 4 Mantas at once during our safety stop was AWESOME. They came right up to us. I remembered the cruise director mentioning to drop down a little so the Mantas feel dominant - this works, they approach confidently and swim right over the top of me. Such an amazing dive. And we’ve got 3 more dives here today.

Max depth 31.6m, temp 27 degrees, EDT 58 mins

During surface interval a pod of pilot whales swims past the boat - there’s around 50 or so cruising around the boat for 10 minutes. Very cool!

Black Rock (No. 7)

Back into the water for our second dive after a delicious breakfast. I used a small plate to try and force myself into not eating as much - all it did was ensure I threw food all over the table. Won’t try that again.

Only two mantas on this dive. Got some lovely video of Dave with a Manta behind him - perspective of this is great. Visibility was better in the first half of the dive than the first dive, but it got worse around the other side of the rock. Plenty of moray eels (one was at the dentist).

Max depth 32.3m, temp 27 degrees, EDT 53 mins

Black Rock (No. 8)

Our third dive of the day offers different conditions again - the visibility is much clearer and we explore further around the southern side of the rock - a long vertical wall runs along the island. There are crevices to explore and Mantas to look at throughout the dive.

Max depth 28.7m, temp 27, EDT 54 mins

Black Rock (No. 9)

I sat this dive out but reports suggest one Manta seen.

This afternoon we head south for around 5 hours to North Twin Island. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, so the sunset is spectacular and glowing on the horizon.

Tonight is the Full Blue Blood Moon (wow) - what a spectacular place to see it.

Twin Cheeks - North Twin Island (No. 10)

Chikka excitedly woke us 15 minutes early this morning at 6am, so a long leisurely coffee/ toast wake up was in store.

Briefing told us there would be current. I glanced out the back of the boat and noticed the dinghy out to the starboard side of DAQ - the complete opposite direction is should have been with the 15-20 knots of wind hitting the starboard of the vessel. Hmmm - they may be right about the current!

Negative entry was necessary for this one - the captain expertly placed us just above the reef and we headed straight down to 12 metres. The current, as predicted, was very strong. Probably running at 4-5 knots at a guess. The dive itself was gorgeous and very colorful. Heaps of gorgonian sea fans everywhere. Cute little cuttlefish at the start of the dive. Not a whole lot of fish life - probably attributed to the various fishing boats scattered around us.

Omelettes for breakfast this morning. Yum 😋

 Max depth 28.8m, EDT 41 mins, 27 degrees

Three Islets (No. 11)

This was such a cute little dive site with really interesting swim throughs and big boulders. Plenty of nudibranchs and lots of crevices to explore. There was a bit of surge during the dive but nothing us tough Aussies couldn’t handle. Huge school of baby barracudas right at the end before our safety stop.

Sonia lost one of her weight pockets on this dive. :-(

Max depth 19.7m, EDT 56 mins, 27 degrees

Square Rock (No. 12)

Lovely dive again, lots of smaller critters - we didn’t have to move very far at all to see Ornate ghost pipefish, a seahorse, a turtle, heaps of white eyed morays, and another school of baby Barracudas. Vis wasn’t the best but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Max depth 23.7m, EDT 54 minutes, 27 degrees

Rocky Island (No. 13)

Plenty of anemones and their corresponding residents on this dive. Unfortunately we weren’t graced with decent vis (5-8 metres at best) and being a dusk dive it deteriorated further as the sun went down.

Still interesting though!! Very big lion fish looking menacing. All in all a relaxing dive spotting critters. This was Petri’s (our Finnish NITROX extra in our group) 100th dive. Wendy was VERY disappointed that he didn’t dive naked. Kept his board shorts on the whole time. Bummer.

Max depth 19.1m, EDT 49 mins, 26-27 degrees

High Rock (No. 14)

The line of current was easily visible from the surface, so we knew we were in for a rough ride! As we descended, the current took us along the first half of the dive site very quickly - we weren’t able to stop to look at anything really.

Once we were around the western side of the rock we sought protection. Plenty of Nudibranchs, anemones, and a snake skin! The other group of divers spotted the three legged turtle - very interesting.

Vis wasn’t the best - 8 metres max.

Max depth 25 metres, EDT 49 mins, 27 degrees

Hard boiled eggs this morning - delicious! Now we cruise further south to Fan Forest Pinnacle. Visibility should be better here as it is further out in the ocean.

Fan Forest Pinnacle (No. 15)

We pull up at this site and we’re immediately keen for this dive - the visibility off the side of DAQ looks amazing - we can basically see the whole site from the surface.

Dive briefing gets us buzzing.

Go go go! The captain sounds his horn to signal that its time to get in. Descending down to 11 metres on top of the site we can see that the visibility is at least 20 - 25 metres, More gorgonian fans than I’ve ever seen in one area, stacks of fish life, hardly any current, coupled with what seems like millions of anemones.

I keep glancing out into the blue hoping to spot a Whaleshark - no luck I’m afraid.

Back onboard the DAQ lunch is ready. Once again, it’s absolutely scrumptious. Time for a quick sun bake and change of dive sites. We are moving only 40 minutes away and the vis should be good again! woohoo!!

Max depth 34.4m, EDT 52 mins

The Cave - Western Rocky (No. 16)

This was such an amazing dive!!! As some of you may know, I LOVE swim throughs and caves. This had both. This visibility as predicted was just as clear as the first dive (with the same warm water of course).

We swam through an incredible archway that led up to the entrance of the cave. This provided unbelievable photo opportunities!

We entered the cave (max depth 22 metres inside) and swam 40 metres through the island. Found a slipper lobster and one of those very calm, dopey box fish like in Pulau Weh.

Wendy also spotted something in a crevice. Steve jabbed at it with his knife as he thought it was a zip lock bag. Wendy took a photo. On review we all decided it was a vagina. Or an oyster. The Thai word for both of those things is the same so I suppose it doesn’t matter!

Eagle’s Nest - Western Rocky (No. 17)

Same rock, different dive site. Saw an ornate ghost pipefish - spotted by Wendy. It should be noted that this ghost pipefish was the worst disguised one I’ve ever seen - bright white and hairy (practically glowing) and hanging around a Red Sea fan. Props to Wendy though for spotting him! So cute. Octopus 🐙 💕❤️, moray eels, scorpion fish, and some bat fish. 

Wendy’s housing took her phone for a swim this dive. Which is a shame. We will transfer her photos to my iPad and throw the phone in some rice.

Max depth 26.3m, EDT 47 mins, 28 degrees

Western Rocky (No. 18)

We were woken excitedly by Chikka at first light. Coffee and toast got the cogs slowly turning. Only two dives today.

We explored further around Western Rocky for our first dive. We all enter the water and Dave exclaims he has lost his fin. Petri came to Dave’s rescue - grabbing the fin and returning it safely to its owner. Sonia exclaimed at Breakfast “Hooray for the Fin” - which is a double pun, because Petri is Finnish. Anyway.

I saw a few Nudis, including two of them mating (I think they were mating... or playing a game of tag you’re it). Lots of Morays. Plenty of yellow striped snapper. A school of barracudas. A cuttlefish.

For breakfast I didn’t feel like the large spread of cooked food. Decided on peanut butter on toast and coffee. I didn’t realize though that we had run out of crunchy peanut butter and there was only smooth peanut butter. By far the most disappointing thing to happen to me this whole year. That’s definitely going on the comments form.

We motor back to Fan Forest pinnacle for our last dive in Burmese waters.

Fan Forest Pinnacle (No. 19)

Once again this dive site turned it on for us. The visibility was AWESOME. In addition to heaps of fish life and the giant gorgonian sea fans, we saw a school of around 20 squid swimming around us, and a Zebra Eel. Very cool as this is the first one I’ve seen.

This was such an enjoyable dive, with no current, warm water (as per usual) and plenty to see. We were disappointed when our hour was up, as this meant we only had one more dive left on the trip.

We began our journey back to Kawthoung in Myanmar to complete visa formalities. We had some time to explore this border town and actually step foot in Myanmar. It was quite a bustling hub, with many Burmese people playing a local game similar to hacky sack, but with a weaved ball. They were very good at it - they invited me to play but I really didn’t want to embarrass myself/ ruin their streak. So I was happy watching.

Alcohol was crazy cheap - a 1 litre bottle of Vodka was around $20 Australian - less than half the price of it back home.

We of course had to sample some local Myanmar beer - these went for 25THB each - about $1 Aussie for a schooner. So naturally most of us had to have 4 or 5 each.

Back onboard the boat - we set sail for the other side of the channel to immigrate back into Thailand. Of course the cruise director Steve sorts this all out for us while we all laze around sunbaking, drinking beer and eating dinner.

A good nights rest awaits us and a sleep in.

Max depth 31.6 metres, EDT 58 mins

Boon Sung Wreck (No. 20)

Late start to the morning and only one dive today. We enter the water at around 10am after breakfast. This wreck was fabulous - absolutely COVERED in schooling fish, eels, porcupine fish, box fish, lion fish, stone fish. Fish soup is an accurate way to describe it.

We were lucky enough to have 15 metre vis on this dive - it can be a lot worse so we were very thankful. This wreck is easily accessed from Khao Lak on day trips, so we timed our entry to avoid other divers. There was only one other boat there so we had it virtually to ourselves.

We swam around a lovely underwater Dolphin memorial for Isma - one of the local Khao Lak dive guides who sadly passed away.

Our dive guide Steve signals to do our safety stop and we all look a little disappointed - our trip has come to an end.

I manage to blow a passable bubble ring to celebrate. Steve laughs underwater at my terrible bubble ring skills.

Max depth 18.9 metres, EDT 55 minutes.

We bid the Deep Andaman Queen and all of her staff a very fond farewell at around 2pm. Piling into a comfortable air conditioned van, we journeyed to our hotel (around 1 hour away from Tab Lamu Pier). The hotel was fine - air conditioned, comfortable spacious rooms and balconies to dry out the rest of our dive gear.

Off we ventured at around dinner time towards Nai Yang Beach for a feed and some beers. We found a nice little Thai place - unfortunately they “watered down” our food and took most of the spices etc out of it, but nice just the same. Beer was cheap, like everywhere in Thailand.

The morning of our departure day dawned sunny and cloudless - very lucky. We decided to utilise the hotels free shuttle to and from Nai Yang beach to explore, pick up some trinkets, and grab some lunch. This wasn’t a mistake - the beach was pristine and not at all crowded. Cheap massages and manicures/ pedicures were available for the girls, beers and beach relaxing for everyone, and a delicious lunch at “Sea Almond”, right on the foreshore with a very interesting view of the planes coming in to land.

After a little delay waiting for our shuttle back, we headed straight for our rooms to freshen up and pack our bags ready for our journey home.

Our brief time in Phuket was enjoyable and relaxing - a perfect decompression couple of days before returning to reality.

All in all our time in Myanmar and Thailand onboard the DAQ was brilliant - food was excellent, dive crew professional and entertaining, and the boat staff exceptional.

Quest Tours will return again for this very special charter in 2019.