Dive Review of
Ocean Rover in
Thailand/Phuket to Myanmar

 Thailand,Burma,Indonesia, Hawaii, california, Baja, California, British
Columboa, Galapagos, Costa Rica,Carribean, Florida Keys, Bahamas 

Dive Conditions

Surface with 500psi, They allowed solo diving  

Very good facilities. Large charging, slash setup area in salon with
abundant storage below. 110 and 220 available and boat had a good selection
of power strips and adapters. Outdoor camera tables for staging cameras
before dives, two stage rinse tanks for cameras only. Seperate rinse
buckets for dive gear and fresh water hoses.  

Overall Rating

Boat and crew were fantastic. Boat may be best
designed in the world! I have not dived Kararu but I have been on a lot of
boats. Not beautiful but functional and comfortable.

Great facilities for photographers, very comfortable and spacious cabins
with roomy ensuite bathrooms. Abundant fresh water supply due to R/O
watermaker system. A/C that actually works, comfortable beds. Salon and
dining area are comfortable. Upstairs lounging and  dining area very
spacious and comfortable.

Diving deck and whale deck very well designed and comfortable. Outdoor
camera tables (three!) with two stage rinse tanks and separate buckets for
rinsing masks and gear. Good 3000psi fills with 32% Nitrox available.
Inflatable tenders actually have a usable dive ladder and are well
maintained.

Best part of boat is an incredibly high level of service from Thai crew
and very knowledgeable divemasters. The crew really may be the best in the
world. I might be permanently spoiled! Divemasters (Mick and Hans) really
knew the sites and were great at finding critters and were knowledgeable in
their identification and natural history. Both also had an obvious passion
for diving and enthusiasm for helping guests enjoy the dives. Briefings
were accurate and not overly long. It was hard to do anything without
assistance from the crew. They were always anticipating your needs and
often there to help before you could even ask.

Weather was perfect. We hardly rocked at all, no rain, no rough weather.

Dives were great for critters (ornate ghost pipefish, frogfish, pinnapple
fish, seahorses, nudibranchs, etc.) and we had a surprising number of Manta
encounters in both Burma (Black Rock), and Thailand (Surin Islands, Ko
Bon). No whale sharks. Good schooling fish and small pelagics at Richilieu
rock. Large sharks are severely depleted in Burma and Thailand although
Leopard sharks were still common. Burma Banks is no longer a shark
encounter destination (they are all soup). A few baby silvertips and reef
sharks were seen. No large pelagic sharks.

Tsunami Damage was visible in some spots, mostly Surin Islands and
Similans. Damage we saw was mostly broken staghorn coral with and a few
large coral heads that had broken loose and tumbled down the reef slope.
None in Burma that we saw. Net damage to reefs, overfishing, and dynamite
fishing are the major threats to reefs (especially in Burma). Tsunami
damage was isolated. Guides told us reefs on a few dive sites were
destroyed but majority of sites had little or no damage.

Phuket resort area and Patong Beach are up and running. You can see
rebuilding and reconstruction in many buildings near beach but most
businesses are open. Bars and nightclubs are busy but below their usual
insane pace. Kata Thani Resort where I stayed was beautiful!There is no
reason not to visit Phuket right now. Beaches were clean and nice and
Locals were very happy that tourists are starting to return.

All in all Ocean Rover is a class act. I will make every effort to dive
with them again. I highly reccomend them.

 

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