Fantasea, January 1997, Paul & Deb Nugnes, Washington, D.C. "A 1001 converted German Coast Guard Cutter, spruced up since our '94 trip. Additional head, passengers reduced to 15 or 16. We only had eight so dive deck never crowded. Cruise Director Susan Forman, has been on Fantasea for years and knows her stuff. Fill-in divemaster and his wife were shore based instructors. Early in the season so this was a small critter excursion and what a delight. . . . Similan Islands are beautiful with healthy coral and amazing variety of tropical fishes. Susan and the divemasters worked at finding reticulated eel, polka dot grouper, large variety of morays, tie dye puffers, marble rays, schooling batfish, harlequin ghost pipefish. Richeliu Rock is where you see whale sharks so the vis is usually lousy, but it was too early in the season so the vis was fabulous. Rare zebra moray on one dive. A large octopus doing a costume change, harlequin ghost pipefish, cuttle fish courtship. Stopped at two new destinations. Hin Muang and Hin Daeng, purple rock and red rock. all soft coral. Unusual and fascinating creatures; yellow moray eels at purple rock, 9 large morays together at red rock, zebra moray, third harlequin ghost pipefish, three nudibranchs. At Boulder City I petted a six foot leopard shark. . . . Dive your computer. Four dives a day the normal routine. If at anchor, night diving was offered. American/English style breakfast, eggs, bacon, ham, pastry, lots of fruit. Lunch and dinner Thai style, but with the heat lowered. Lots of fish, shrimp. Between dives fresh fruit (Thailand probably has more variety of fruit than anywhere) and snacks. Soft drinks and beer in the open dining room cooler on the honor system. Nobody pushes for tips, but they are welcome and deserved. . . . Don't go at Christmas and Chinese New Year. Thais flock to the beaches and Similan Islands. Allow yourself several extra days before you board to get over jet lag. Plenty to see in Bangkok, but horrendous traffic. Visit the gold markets, beautiful designs in 20k gold at great prices, impress your dive buddy. Or veg out on the beach in Patong Phuket and enjoy the night life. Add a week and visit the North, you'll never regret it. Fascinating country with wonderful people, "The Land of Smiles" for nothing. Swim with whale sharks in April/May."

Fantasea, February 1997, Edwin S. Seawick, Jeffersonville, IN. "Potential for good dive trip, but spent 4 days on two dive locations. (I suspect so the divemaster and his girlfriend (the assistant divemaster!) could shoot their pictures for their commercial use. Noone with the group asked what it wanted to do. . . . Thailand too far to travel for that B.S. and I really think how owners of these live-aboards, and I have been on many, should pay more attention to what actually goes on with their divemasters who bring their "other" on board. Either provide the service and be in touch with the "guests", who pay a bunch of money for their service., or choose another occupation. . . . Ship and Thailand crew great although language somewhat of a barrier. Diving okay, but for consistent visibility, Cayman much better. Currents unpredictable and encountered significant thermoclines. vis: 30­50 ft. Not for beginning divers."

Fantasea, March-April 1997, Jim Parkhill, McAllen, TX. "Ten day reunion trip of 7 divers who were onboard last year during the highly publicized event when a female diver was attacked and injured by a sailfish being pursued by pseudo orcas. Highlight was two free swimming, snorkel only, mid-ocean encounter manta rays. Our last year "injury" was the first to jump into the thick of things. Although the groups in the week preceding and following reported good whale shark activity, ours only had one distant sighting. Everything else was as good as the first trip: cutttle fish, octopi, leopard sharks, sea horses in abundance. A late p.m. dive at Sharkfin Reef found us in the midst of a sexual orgy: cucumbers, starfish and clams spawning like mini volcanoes and all kinds of reef fish in a frenzy. I was followed an entire dive by 24 squid in perfect formation like little aliens watching my every move. Viz great everywhere (70-130 ft.) except Hin Dacng and Hin Muang. water: 77-82 degrees. Richilieu Rock put on its usual good show for 10 successive dives. Divemasters Mark Strickland and Suzanne Foreman are as good as they come. The crew was efficient but the food grew tedious by the second week. Found myself stuck in Thailand with nothing but suspicious US $100 bills which no bank would accept. Fantasea management graciously bailed me out by letting me use a credit card to obtain all the cash I needed. Note: In a recent issue of Undercurrent a reader complained of crowded conditions. Fantasea responded that the reader was there during the very busy Chinese New Year. Fantasea seems to manage its scheduling at the dive sites, so that we rarely encountered other dive groups."

Fantasea, May 1997, Cirauac Eastap, El Paso, TX. "Water 83 degrees, 30-50 feet viz, no dive restrictions. Pretty soft corals but not in profusion. Trip severely restricted by the onset of monsoon. Would not recommend going to this area after mid April, until monsoon has finished - even though trips ran through May and possibly June. Boat not up to U.S. client standards in food, accommodation or service. Staff gave attention to those who might bring more business (tour leaders/ pro photographers)."

Sai Mai, Siam Dive Center, February 1997, George Tracy, Seaside Park, NJ. "Took 2-10 day trips back to back on Sai Mai II. Visibility not good; encountered one whale shark up close for one dive. Dive sites under siege by live-aboards and daytrippers. Not uncommon to wait in line to dive site or bump into 20 other divers during dive. vis: 15-50 ft. water: 75-85 degrees. Strict adherence to "Buddy System". Reefs are taking a beating. Food and personnel on boat of highest quality, except for divemaster trying to enforce the "Buddy System" on experienced divers. Scattered mantas, leopard sharks and guitar fish encountered through trip. Too many divers competing for too few sites in this area (Surin, Similan Islands out of Phuket)!"

Sai Mai, March 1997 Robert Shaklovitz, Houston, TX. "According to the operators, visibility was sub­par and currents stronger than usual. Billed as whale shark cruise; spent five of ten days diving Richelieu Rock (where they are supposed to hang out), but saw none. They were probably around, we just couldn't spot them in the 20­80 ft. vis. water: 82­84 degrees. Smaller fish life and macro action made up for their absence. I shot a 36 exposures on every dive at Richelieu. At other locations the diving varied from poor (Koh Tachai and the Surins) to pretty good (Koh Bon and the Similans). Simon and Simone Williams, the South African ex­pats who managed the boat, and divemaster Pia Knutsson, did an excellent job and provided excellent service, friendly, efficient and always safety conscious. Adept at finding interesting animals for us to photograph. The boat itself (barely) adequate in terms of cabins, the smallest I've seen on a live-aboard (about 6 ft. x 7ft.). I had a "double" (upper and lower bunks) to myself and still felt cramped. Cabin a/c was not cooling properly (low on freon), but cabin temps were still bearable. Main salon and dive deck spacious enough for our group of five, but with a full load of eight folks would be tripping over each other. Food mediocre to pretty good, but I was definitely tired of squid by the end of the trip! . . .I had a good time and do not regret going on this trip, but once is enough for the Ardaman Sea."

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