The following is a sample itinerary of where you might dive during your holiday with us. We wish to show you the very best diving but the number of factors can determine where we visit. Weather, tides, how busy a site is with other dive vessels all play a part in the Cruise Director’s decision of which route the yacht takes. The safety of all on board is paramount and we always do our best in offering diving at alternate locations.
Schedule
Your Cruise Director will schedule up to 4 dives per day; 6-day dives and either a sunset or a night dive. The diving day has a typical schedule as follows:
- Light Breakfast followed by a briefing & Dive 1
- Full Breakfast, relaxation followed by briefing & Dive 2
- Lunch, relaxation followed by briefing & Dive 3
- Snack, relaxation, followed by briefing & Dive 4
Generally, we schedule 2 dives on your final dive day in order to allow enough time for off-gassing. To remain on the safe side, we kindly request our guests to check their own flight times and ensure that they leave a minimum of 24 hours between their final dive and their return flight. Guests are welcome to suggest preferred dive sites to the Cruise Director. He/she will be happy to accommodate guests’ wishes, providing it is possible and the schedule allows for it.
Dive sites we visit include but are not limited to:
High Rock
This is a tiny islet with a lonely tree growing on the top. Underwater, you will find a steep rocky reef with lots of tube and fan corals. Lots of critters hang around the cracks including nudibranchs, pipefish and seahorses. Visibility and currents can sometimes be challenging but it is a rewarding site.
North and South Twin & Captain’s Rock
Strong currents bring with them teams of schooling fish and with superb visibility the atmosphere on the reef at North Twin is breathtaking. Hard corals have seen damage from the rise in water temperature but soft corals adorn the reef and bring vibrancy.
In South Twin, we can expect to see an abundance of moray eels, harlequin sweetlips, and cuttlefish.
Captain’s Rock, otherwise known as Bowie Rock, is a sloping reef with huge soft coral covered boulders. Sweetlips, barracuda, a variety of angel fish and many smaller creatures including devil scorpion fish, pipe fish, shrimps and flabellina nudibranchs can be found all over the reef. Mantas may also be seen here.
Black Rock
Black Rock stands alone in the Andaman Sea 100 miles northwest of the Thai-Burmese border town of Kawthaung. The rock acts as a natural magnet for fish and other marine life. An excellent multi-level site, you can start your dive anywhere around the perimeter, depending on currents.
The underwater terrain on the south side consists of the vertical wall down to roughly 27m, where it becomes a more gradual slope. Just off the south-west corner is a particularly interesting area, where a detached rock formation rises from very deep water to about 24m. These rocks are covered with small, vibrant soft corals, and often attract schooling snappers and rainbow runners.
Back at the main islet, deeper sections are decorated with orange gorgonian fans, along with fields of corallimorpharians (they look like stony corals) on the sloping west and north sides. At the eastern tip, watch for vast numbers of magnificent anemones, especially at dawn and dusk when they show off their colorful bases. A wide range of invertebrate life can be found at Black Rock, including smashing and spearing mantis shrimp, spiny lobsters, hermit crabs,
sea stars, cowrie shells, harlequin shrimp, octopus, and cuttlefish.
During safety stops, move slowly along the eastern and western ends of the south wall to find brilliantly colored elegant hermit crabs and a variety of nudibranchs, as well as golden wentletrap snails that feed on the orange cup coral. Fish life is also abundant and varied, with a chance to see almost anything from scorpion fish and giant morays to marbled stingrays. Mantas and even whale sharks are also sometimes visitors of this site.
Shark Cave aka Three Islets
All around this site, marine life is extremely rich and diverse. There are three different rocky islets with vertical walls as well as a sloping reef. Many areas are populated with fields of anemones, which are home to five different species of anemonefish. Elsewhere, large tubastrea coral trees sprout from the rocky terrain, accompanied by crinoids, gorgonian fans, and pastel green rope sponge. Tiger tail seahorses are often encountered on the deep edges of the slope, as are many varieties of morays – often several species in the same
hole.
Cuttlefish may be found at nearly any depth, sometimes courting and mating. Ornate ghost pipefish, cowrie shells, octopus, reef squid, jawfish, porcelain crabs, long nose pipefish, and mantis shrimps are often seen at this site. Scorpion fish are very abundant, so be careful where you place your hands! Between the three pinnacles and surrounding bottom, Shark Cave easily lends itself to several dives to enjoy the diversity of the reef and to marvel in the chasm of the Shark Cave! Nurse sharks can be found lurking inside the cavern along with marble
rays, ghost pipefish and plenty of other fascinating creatures, including blue ribbon eels.
Fan Forest & Western Rocky
As the name Fan Forest Pinnacle suggests, it is a submerged pinnacle famous for the number of gorgonian sea fans. The biggest gorgonians are in deeper waters around 20 m and below.
They are very healthy and support a large variety of marine life including feather stars, cowries, hawkfish and shrimps. Schooling fish include snapper, trevally, rainbow runners and fusiliers. Moray eels and scorpion fish are also numerous.
A short trip south of Sea Fan, Western Rocky is the scene of dramatic underwater terrain on this excellent dive site, which consists of the main islet plus several detached pinnacles. Among the more striking features of the main islet is a huge underwater archway where schooling snapper often hang out.
The soft limestone island is riddled with holes and crevices, providing hiding places for hinge-beak, saron and harlequin shrimps, thorny oysters, cowrie shells, nudibranchs, spiny lobsters and moray eels.
Large gorgonian fans and lush soft corals populate many of the deeper areas, while shallow portions of the south side wall are covered with orange cup corals and colorful encrusting sponges. Fish life can include almost anything from ornate ghost pipefish to frog fish to schooling batfish. Western Rocky pinnacle is shaped like a cheese wedge covered by both hard and soft corals, lots of trevally and tuna, and if you are lucky, the elusive bow mouth guitarfish.
The Phinisi welcomes everyone from non-divers to seasoned divers; however, there may be strong currents on this itinerary. We, therefore, recommend our guests be AOW certified preferably with experience with diving in currents. Your cruise director will be able to advise you while on board, however, if you have concerns regarding the conditions of the destination you wish to visit then please contact us.
