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Stephen Gamble
December 2007
After the longest flight I have ever taken we landed in Bangkok ! WOW !! what an Airport,
shoppers paradise !
The transfer to Phuket only took about an hour & all luggage & camera equipment made the same
journey to my relief !!
As the door to Phuket airport opened “BANG!” the heat & humidity hit us, knew I should have
worn shorts !
Within a few minutes of looking at all the taxi boards being held up we were spotted by our driver
who quickly put us in a wonderfully air conditioned luxury minibus & whisked us off to Chalong
Bay through brightly lit neon streets full of hustle & bustle.
Arriving at the Shanti Lodge, we entered a different world ! We were greeted with a wonderful slice
of paradise hidden away from the main road with an abundance of greenery hiding locally made
ornate wooden huts (with outdoor bathrooms & perfect aircon) connected by small paths and a
tranquil fountain trickling into a pool.
After a short rest & a much needed shower we were greeted by one of World Wide Dive & Sail's
owner/manager Mark Shandur & his fiancé Hanako Watanabe in the bar. They took us to a lovely
sea front restaurant for dinner & then to a great bar for quite a few well deserved beers.
The next day Mark collected us from the Shanti Lodge, graciously took us shopping for last minute
essentials & dropped us off at the Lighthouse restaurant on the seafront, & took our luggage to the
yacht. Here we met the rest of our sailing companions for the next ten days. To my surprise there
were two professional photographers Casey Mahaney & Tony Karacsonyi coming with us (yeah
free training & boy do I ask a lot of questions).
Frank Van Der Linde (owner & manager of WWD&S) met us around 2pm & after a lot of
introductions took us to the golf cart type shuttles which would take us along the extremely long
pier to our home for the next ten days.
Glorious Splendor !!!
Wow !! What a Yacht !! standing with her sails tall against the distant islands & pearl green sea,
we saw the brilliant white of the 34 metre Sampai Jumpa Lagi, newly named the SY Siren, for the
first time. What an amazing yacht built by Frank & his Father she has seven sails, an expansive
leisure deck, ten luxury cabins, full air conditioning throughout, water skiing & wake boarding,
laundry service & it's own Yacht Boutique.
Never having done a long live aboard before I was a tad apprehensive but my fears were quickly
dissolved after being introduced to all the crew, dive masters & instructors alike. One big family,
even Franks Mother & Father were aboard as it was only the Siren's fifth trip, well thats what it felt
like & never have I been made to feel more welcome.
The cabins were as elegant as the brochure that I had carried around with me for the past six months
showing off to all and sunder, perfectly laid out in dark wood with three cots, plenty of storage
space, en suite bathroom & each had brand new Vista pc workstations for downloading & burning
photographs, best of all your own fully adjustable air con.
The rest of the yacht was just as amazing the saloon had an enormous 42” flat screen tv, cocktail
bar & huge sofas & lots of chairs to lounge around in.
The dining area set aft in a horseshoe shape was great for getting to know people whilst the
spectacular views of the West coast of Thailand passed us by.
Never having been to Thailand before I was uncertain about the food ! Boy was I wrong !! Every
meal was a banquet, absolutely delicious & three times a day with snacks, cakes etc after every
dive. I actually put on weight even with all the diving!
Not to mention that all soft drinks, iced water, tea, excellent coffee & beer were all free.
The Diving !
Only being a qualified diver for 14 months, I haven't seen much of the underwater world outside of
British Waters, but have dived in the Maldives, Red Sea, Mediterranean & South Africa.
Well I can honestly say that without a doubt this was the best diving I have ever done in terms of
location, topography & diversity of sea life.
The kitting up area was very well laid out Bcd's (either rented free ((as is possible with all dive
equipment onboard))or owned) were left attached to tanks whilst between dives the crew refilled
with free Nitrox. Wetsuits were hung up & fins, masks etc placed by your gear, you even had two
drawers to place personal items. Fresh towels & drinks were brought to everyone after every dive &
much appreciated warm towels after night dives.
Photographers had been thought of too, with benches set up for the cameras & strobes with a fresh
water rinse bin just for camera equipment.
We were split into two small groups & ferried to & from dive sites by two high powered zodiacs
with excellent skippers, who could spot a SMB instantly & have you easily on board in 30seconds.
The dives themselves were awesome thirty five in total & not one in the same location. Koh Bida
Nok, Koh Bida Nai, Koh Ha Islands, Hin Muang, Hin Daeng, Koh Ha Neva & Ya, Hin Bida, King
Crusier wreck near Koh Phi Phi, The Similan Islands- Boulder City, Morning Glory, Elephant Head,
North Point, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock, Torinla Ridge, East of Eaden & Bungalow Bay
just to name a few.
I managed to see & log hundreds of different species of fish, including a Whale Shark, Manta Ray,
Leopard Shark's, Sea Horse's, Turtle's, Ghost Pipefish, Banded Sea Snakes, Moray Eels, Anemone
fish, Jacks, Harlequin shrimps, Puffer fish, Schools of Barracuda, Clown fish, Lion fish, Jellyfish,
Scorpion fish, Angel fish, Parrot fish, Stone fish, Stingrays, Damsel fish, Frog fish, Snapper,
Butterfly fish to name but a few & sea fans, jewel box urchins, soft corals & giant bommies were in
abundance.
Every dive site was different, Frank & his crew gave very good dive briefings before every dive &
knew what to look out for & best of all where to find it (total photographer's paradise for macro,
wide angle & fisheye) The dives were very relaxed, & aimed at letting you enjoy the dives
themselves taking time to see all the glorious sites & not charging around set points like I have
encountered many times before.
The last night aboard we had a small party & barbecue, reflecting over the amazing sights &
experiences we had all had.
Docking back at Chalong was quite saddening for us all, truth be told we could have all stayed on
board & never got off.
We had transport waiting for us (organized by WWD&S) to take us to our Luxury Hotel The
Mangosteen. An excellent five star hotel & spa with pools & masseuses, fabulous bungalows with
enormous luxury rooms with jacuzzis set in a tropical garden paradise.
That night we ate dinner in the Mangosteen's superb restaurant & were all then taken out on the
town in Chalong by Frank, Mark & Hanaco.
To sum it all up this trip was amazing, I completed my 100th dive, my fist night dive & my first cave
dive & saw my fist Manta & seahorse with the help of Frank & his wonderful crew.
I cannot recommend WWD&S more, the yacht is excellent & the crew fabulous, I have never felt
more relaxed & welcome anywhere & still do so many dives & have such a brilliant time.
Put it this way, I'm going again this year 2008 to do Komodo, The Andamans & The Best of
Thailand.
So if your thinking of doing a livea board try WWD&S you certainly wont be disappointed. |
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