Dive Review of Seven Seas Similan Dive Center in
Thailand/Similan Islands Thailand

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Seven Seas Similan Dive Center: "MV Camic Liveaboard Dive Trip to the Similan Islands", Sep, 2023, by Claire Rausch, HI, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 12572 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My dive buddy and I booked this 4 day/4 night MV Camic Liveaboard Dive Trip to the Similan Islands in Thailand through No Troubles, Just Bubbles Booking Agency. I guess I’m going to start with the bad and what I wished I’d known beforehand as the trip was disappointing. The Booking Agency’s responsiveness by email was good during the planning stages, but we were disappointed in some of the information we were given which didn’t happen during the trip. First of all, we had been told by the No Troubles, Just Bubbles Booking Agency staff that we would be on the MV Camic boat 5 nights/4 days disembarking early the next morning at the end of the trip after having breakfast on the boat at Tab Lamu pier south of Khao Lak, Thailand. Imagine our surprise when on the last day of diving we were asked by the other divers on the boat if we were interested in sharing transport to Phuket finding out that we would be arriving at 5 PM at Tab Lamu pier and they were all departing to Phuket, not staying overnight on the boat. By that point we were ready to get off the boat and said yes to sharing transport to Phuket, but first we had to backtrack to return to the Similan Seas Club Dive Shop in Khao Lak (North of Tab Limu Pier) to pick up the luggage we had stored there per the recommendation we have been given beforehand by the No Troubles Just Bubbles staff. I guess this actually worked to our advantage as we then had more time to scramble trying to secure a room one night early at the Phuket hotel where we had reserved a room for the following night. But with all the driving back and forth adding extra travel time we had a very late arrival in Phuket that night. Another snafu involved the reassurance I had been given by the No Troubles Just Bubbles staff that my need for a gluten-free diet, which I had shared beforehand, would easily be accommodated and which info I had also shared with the staff at the Similan Seven Seas Club Dive Shop during the Pre-trip check-in. Despite all these pre-dive revelations being made beforehand concerning my dietary restriction, when I arrived very hungry at the MV Camic this dietary need caused a flurry of confusion and concern as the boat staff had no idea of this. They offered me a meal of a “mystery meat” sandwich on a wheat laden bun and salad with dressing which was not gluten free. I was hungry enough at that point to just eat the salad without dressing until I was able to talk with the cook who offered me scrambled eggs and rice. Thankfully, the staff on the boat did seem to go out of their way trying to accommodate me that first evening and as the trip progressed my special diet needs seemed to present less of a problem at mealtimes. Eventually after a day or two, I felt comfortable that I was being given correct information about which dishes to avoid and which dishes I could eat. Another diver noted his dietary preference of being a vegetarian haven’t been given consideration, but as Thai cooking uses lots of fresh vegetables in the dishes with animal proteins he noted he was feeling OK with what was served and what he was eating. I do want to report that other than the above concerns the food served on MV Camic was very good and I got my fill of gluten-free Thai food and great fruits. The trip briefing re: boat information, routine and safety issues were adequate and dive site briefings were good. As the Covid-19 shutdown in Thailand was over nothing was mentioned about anyone showing signs of illness or testing procedures. The crew was good with tank filling and nitrox was readily available. The sun deck area could have used a few more pieces of lounging furniture. We started the trip with a motor that didn’t work on the inflatable tender boat. Another inflatable was added but the motor on that inflatable only worked in reverse and the one side of it leak so it looked pretty sad. Mostly the captain would motor close to divers on the surface or we would swim to the ladders on the back platform – neither ideal or really safe. The diving was OK, but nothing out of the ordinary; I’ve had better diving at other locales elsewhere. We didn’t get to do any night dives and never really were given an explanation as to why no night diving. Dusk dives were offered instead. The promised three dives on Richelieu Rock (the highlight of this dive trip) was reduced to two dives and we were told by the guides there were too many boats there as we motored away. At one site where we had dived earlier in the day requesting a second dive later unbeknowst to us and the guides the tide had changed and the current was very, very strong making the site un-diveable. Getting back to the boat hanging onto the mooring line in that current did not feel safe at all and I felt lucky I had not lost anything in it. Guess the guides didn't know that the current would change so dramatically. My buddy and I felt that almost the best dives of the trip after Richelieu Rock were on the Boonsung Wreck off of Khao Lak with lots of unusual critters and fish to see, many of which we had not seen on our previous dives on the trip. We could've easily done this dive on a trip from Khao Lak so seeing it from a liveaboard was anticlimatic. The dive guide to guest ration was 4:1. But my buddy’s and my guide seemed to stay close with the other couple in our dive group who had been on the boat two weeks previous not spending much time showing us any flora and fauna she might have spotted. Maybe my buddy’s and my's dive pace of poking along slowly looking for photographic subjects was not of import to her. Interaction with her topside on the boat was not effusive either, but that could have also been related to language differences. Overall, my dive buddy and I decided that you get what you paid for. We had picked the MV Camic trip based on the smaller number of guest capacity (there were 11 guests onboard) and the reasonable price. You can be sure that my buddy and I won’t use the price criteria for any future liveaboard dive trips criteria again.
Websites	Seven Seas Similan Dive Center
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Fiji, Palau, Marshall Islands, Pohphei, Kosrae, Saipan, Rota, Tinian, Guam, Egypt, Philippine Islands, Bali, Komodo Nat'l Park, Borneo
Closest Airport	Phuket	Getting There	Can fly into Bangkok and take another flight into Phuket or there are some international flights direct into Phuket
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	0-°F / -18-°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Diving with a guide who determined time and depth of the dives
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Nothing was mentioned about battery charging on the boat for those of us with underwater cameras, lights, etc.. We re-charged batteries in our cabin with adapters, converters, surge protectors. Camera gear was carefully placed in a designated dip tank upon return to the boat, but there was not any area designated for cameras work/viewing of photos/videos.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Seven Seas Similan Dive Center in Thailand/Similan Islands Thailand

Seven Seas Similan Dive Center: "MV Camic Liveaboard Dive Trip to the Similan Islands", Sep, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Seven Seas Similan Dive Center in
Thailand/Similan Islands Thailand