Location: Similan Islands, Thailand
After a 70 nm night passage north, we awoke this morning to the beautiful sights of the Similan Islands. The Similans are composed of 9 magnificent small islands that are decorated with white sandy beaches and large granite boulders, which create dramatic formations and impressive seascapes – PERFECT! So after we found a sweet little spot off the coast to drop the hook, we propelled our stern towards the giant boulder-ridden shore and sent Leah and Alex ashore to lasso one of those boulders, and voila, we were stern too! Nice and secure, we began to prepare for dives. Everyone got to do a fun dive, and then we did the navigation dive for those who were finishing up their advanced certification. We now have a whole boat full of advanced open water divers! In the afternoon, there was some more diving, and a few people swam to the boulders and then climbed their way across rocks and through vegetation to check out the island behind us. A few lucky members of the crew (Jack and DJ) also tackled two blocked heads with many props, and thanks to them for being willing to get messy and make the heads usable again. After a delicious dinner of chicken Parmesan, everyone is getting his or her dive gear on once again, excited for our first night dive and ready to see what lies beneath in the dark!