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Dive Review of South Siam IV in
Thailand

South Siam IV, Mar, 2007,

by Jon Morrow, NV, USA ( 1 report). Report 3297.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments My second trip with South Siam. This time on their liveaboard that travels to Richelieu Rock South Siam 4. This operation allows maximum flexibility for divers with rigid time schedules. The boats remain in the Similans and daily speed boats take you and day divers to the boat and return you at the end of your stay. You can pick the number of days but can't get on or off the boat on the two days it is at Richelieu. We wanted to spend maximum time diving and started our trip on South Siam 3 when SS4 was up north. We made the transfer on the second day when SS4 returned. SS4 doesn't seem to have as many day divers and we had 4 of 5 days with only 9 divers on board. 5 dives are scheduled daily and you pick from 4. I recommend you skip the night dive, limited stuff to see. On the third dive of the day you will dive with any day trip divers. On SS3 this meant about 20 plus the divers on board. DM's are very knowleagable and know about finding small stuff. We saw all of the big stuff in large numbers but visibility issues made seeing anything big difficult. At Richelieu Rock visibility was at best 30' There were great macro photo oportunities of seahorses, pipefish and nudibranchs but the larger fish were almost impossible to photo due to the heavy plankton bloom. Koh Bon had large numbers of Manta's with 6 different encounters at less than 20' with them. There was a report of a whale shark but we didn't see it. Leopard sharks, Morays and turles were common with occasional reef sharks spotted on early dives. Food was plentiful but not gourmet. There was always something western and always something Thai. Rooms were basic and toilets were shared. Hot fresh water was always available in the showers. Two fresh water spray nozzles were available on the swim deck when you came out of the water. Entry was always a giant stride of the swim deck. recovery was usually to the main boat but a zodiac patrolled to recover divers or groups that drifted too close to the islands or too far away. Strong currents were commonplace during this trip along with cold water upwellings that produced 10 degree temperature changes. I was OK with a 1mm suit but wore a vest on the last 5 of 23 dives. Great diving, cheap prices, but not luxury.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Carribean, Mexico, Florida, California
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas currents
Water Temp 74-83°F / 23-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions 50 Bar or 50 Minutes
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Rinse Tank available. No dedicated area for UWP
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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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