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Dive Review of Manta Queen 8 in
Thailand/Similan and Surin Islands

Manta Queen 8: "Bucket List Thailand", Mar, 2019,

by Jeffrey Watkins, NV, US (Reviewer Reviewer 3 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 11151.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This was part of a two week trip with a week in Malaysia and a week in Thailand. You have to visit Richelieu Rock sometime in your diving career because the site is incredible. This liveaboard boat is a budget operation. It is not nearly as nice as an Aggressor-style liveaboard. The experience was fine, but I would want to try a different liveaboard if I come back here again. I would try a "fancier" boat and pay more money for a less crowded experience. The boat was mechanically sound. My room with a bath, was fine. The plumbing worked fine. The food was ok. The dive briefings were very good. The Nitrox was reliable. The dive deck was very crowded. It was hard to find space to suit up. There were 20 divers on board which was a lot. I felt rushed to get suited up on almost every dive. There is limited room for each individual to get dressed. They divided the divers into two groups to limit the chaos, but this didn't help much, because our group all shared the same narrow aisle for setting up. The diving overall was very good, but there were some low points. The first day of diving was mediocre. We got blown off one dive site due to strong current. The diving improves with each move toward the North. The diving on day 3 at Richelieu Rock was excellent and delivered the best 4 dives of the trip. The diving was done from the mothership (not a panga). Entry was via a giant stride entry. Re-boarding was via two ladders on the back of the boat. The diving was fairly regimented. The divers were divided into small teams of five with a team divemaster leading the dive. You enter the water as a team, the DM leads the team, and you finish the dive as a team. I wish that dive times could be a little longer, most were 45 minutes, but I didn’t have a lot of extra air remaining on most dives.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Fiji, Bonaire, Belize, Turks and Caicos, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Palau, Chuuk, Sipadan
Closest Airport HKT Getting There SFO, SIN, KUL, HKT

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 81-84°F / 27-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 60-90 Ft/ 18-27 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions stay with the group
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments I'm not a photographer.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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