Dive Review of
Ocean Rover in
Burma

Caribbean, California, Cocos, Galapagos, Hawaii, Fiji, Truk, Palau,
Solomon’s, PNG, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.

Dive Conditions

The dive masters did not enforce any hard rules; they did, however, work
with individual passengers to ensure safety.  A couple divers had physical
problems and were restricted from diving in Burma waters due to the
complexity of leaving and evacuation.  

Very good.  We had only about six “amateur” photographers and didn’t use up
half the space.  A full boat of photographers and videographers with
full-sized rigs might get a bit crowded.  

Overall Rating

This was one of the best liveaboards, and possibly the best crew ever -–
certainly we were more pampered than anywhere else.  The diving was very
good in general, but poor visibility significantly detracted from making
this a really great trip.  

The weather was generally sunny the entire trip (only one, brief shower);
the seas were calm; however, there was a 1 meter swell which rolled the
boat significantly the one time we moored in open water on a pinnacle. 
Underway, the boat was as steady as a cruise liner.

Visibility ranged from 15’ to 45’ in Thai waters to 10’ to 30’ in Burma
waters.  In addition to the expected plankton (which, after all, brings the
big stuff!), there was an algae bloom or red tide of some sort that took
vis down to almost nothing in some areas.  Never did we see any real blue
water, even in open ocean.

That said, nearly every sort of marine life was present except for sharks
such as grey reef, white- and black-tip, etc.  Some of the big stuff we
saw:  mantas, leopard (or zebra) sharks, eagle rays, marble rays, fan-tail
rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, tuna and lots of schooling reef fish. 
Macro subjects were plentiful including ghost pipefish, a comet fish (that
actually posed!), harlequin shrimp, tiger tail seahorses, nudibranchs, huge
Spanish dancers and more.

Cuttlefish, scorpion fish, octopus, sea snakes, and other photogenic reef
dwellers were plentiful.  There was one whale shark sighting, but we didn’t
see it.

The topography varied from typical coral reefs, to rock walls and boulders.
 In Thai waters, we often anchored among four to six other boats!  However,
the crew timed things well:  only on a few dives out of 35 did we find
ourselves among other groups.  Once in Burma, we saw the Mermaid on one
site then were alone.

The service was the best ever.  How about having the dive crew put your
fins on?  The crew – the entire crew (except the captain who watched the
boat) -- helped out on suiting up, boarding the inflatables, and at the end
of dives.  They were observant and watched for opportunities to help. 
E.g.: the Engineer noticed that I needed help with my wetsuit and was there
every time to help; after two mornings, the Steward noticed that I fixed
myself a bowl of muesli and thereafter had it ready for me!

I would love to dive with this crew and on this boat again; however, I
would not want to experience the same visibility issues again.
 

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