Dive Review of
Ocean Rover in
Thailand/Andaman Sea

 Cozumel, Roatan, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Hawaii, Fiji, Belize, Indonesia 

Dive Conditions

Come up with air and do a 3-5 min safety stop  

Boat designed with UWP in mind, lots of room to work on camera’s with
multiply charging stations, 110 and 220v.  E-6 processing available but not
used on this trip.  Computer available with P/S to download digital images.
 Crew very careful with camera gear, separate rinse tanks for cameras.   

Overall Rating

Our forth liveaboard trip and best by far.  Boat very well laid out and in
great condition.  Best crew hands down, valet diving at its best. 
Crewmembers were always about five steps ahead of you, especially Chai. 
They even put your fins on for you once you were in the dingy.  All diving
with the exception of one site was done from one of the two inflatables
with entry via a back roll.  Each dingy had a dive guide, Hans or Andy who
were there to point out critters but they were not there to hold your hand
and be your buddy.  This topic was covered at the initial dive briefing. 
At the end of the dive, the dingy was there to pick you up wherever you
surfaced which could be over a large area as most safety stops were done in
blue water with strong currents.  The drill at the end of the dive was to
hand up weights, BCD and fins and enter via a ladder.  All divers were
issued 8’ safety sausages, which were used on occasions by some divers. 
Once back on the Ocean Rover, the crew was there to rinse your camera and
help you out of your gear that was then rinsed and hung up to dry.  After a
quick warm water rinse on the dive deck, Pannee or Pantip the two
hostesses, were there to hand you a warm towel to dry off.   

 The time between dives was spent on the upper deck which hand both sun
and shade.  All meals were served in the lounge and were buffet style.  The
food was very good and there was always plenty to eat.  Coolers were
located in the lounge and upper sun deck and were stocked with pop, juices
and beer.  Beer and wine were available on an honor basis once you were
done diving for the day.  Also on the sun deck was an espresso machine
which was a nice addition each morning while watching the sunrises.

The diving was largely sea mounts in open oceans, which either broke the
surface or came within a few meters of the surface.  All sites had
currents, which ranged from mild to hold on to your mask.  Down drafts were
seen at some sites.    Fish life ranged from schools that blocked out the
sun (only on one dive where there was a significant upwelling of cooler
water) to macro.  Numerous mating cuttlefish each day and zebra sharks were
the only sharks spotted.  I’d rate this more of a macro spot than large
animal spot, at least on this trip.

Overall, would we go back…certainly to the Ocean Rover for the boat and
the crew and the diving is good but there are better spots to go to first.

 

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