Sunny Similans with a wide-angle lens


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antacid

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Hi everyone,

Just returned from a very fun trip to the Similan Islands. Richelieu Rock was fantastic and I'm glad I finally made it there on the third try.

All photos were taken with a canon 350D, tokina 12-24, ikelite housing + 6 inch generic dome port, DS50 and Z240 strobes.

I recall someone said the diving at Similans was no different from diving at Tioman or Dayang. Well, I hope this changes your mind!

#1 Sit back, relax, and enjoy
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#2 Streaming snappers
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#3 Giant gorgonians covered in frys
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#4 Sleeping with the enemy
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#5 Lush gardens of corals
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#6 Turtle at Donald Duck Bay
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#7 Textures of an octopus
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#8 Hanging out (my favourite for the trip)
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#9 Shy guy
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#10 Manta claus
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That's all folks! You can view the rest of the photos here: www.colouredshots.com/site/Dive.htm in either a music slideshow, or browse the album at your leisure.

It was great shooting with a DSLR, for the colours and resolution. i wouldnt imagine getting this quality with a compact. *slurp* now all i need is a macro lens for christmas!
((=
 

Any Whale Shark at Richelieu Rock ??

I was there 2 years ago..... no Whale Shark at Richelieu Rock, no Manta at Koh Bon :(
 

nope no whaleshark unfortunately. we only did 1 dive at Koh Bon. Luckily we managed to catch the manta! We saw 2 of them actually. 1 was waiting for us in the water at the PInnacle, and another one towards the end of the dive at the reef.

the one at the pinnacle came towards me and did a backflip above me when i purged my regulator. it kept coming back for more and the angmohs were glowing green...hehe
 

i came back from Similan 2 weeks ago and R-Rock definitely rocks. However, while i wouldn't say Similan is similar to Aur, I just think that there are more accessible dive sites to go with comparable (better) seascapes from Singapore.

No mantas but we saw a whaleshark. So boat were u on, Antacid?

eric
 

Hey nice "Catch" there, can't wait for the season to open again so we can go diving again :p
 

Nice pictures!! My turn in 25 days! ;p
 

Great pics mate.... it was a fun trip wasn't it ? Uploading my pics now... hehe.
 

kthan > we were on The Witch. previously known as the Really Wicked Witch. been with them for the past 2 years, and the third time didn't disappoint. pity they didnt have more local guides though. we weren't very happy with the expat guides. we ended up spotting more stuff for the customers than the guides! i've always had good luck at koh bon, so hopefully it stays! i was just telling my friend that morning before the dive that i dont expect to see mantas cos there were so many boats and divers...glad i was proven wrong.

gooseberry> yes, definitely looking forward to seeing your pics! how'd you like using the strobe? felt the bug yet? hehe
 

Octopus hanging out shot very nice. Thanks for sharing.
 

Last time i was in similans the waters was at 21 deg.. freezing my butt off.

But i love richelieu Rock, the other islands are not too bad, but got bored after a while, spotted mantas on multiple dives but no luck with the whale sharks.

how was the water temp? can't wait to go back again!
 

lovells19 said:
Last time i was in similans the waters was at 21 deg.. freezing my butt off.

But i love richelieu Rock, the other islands are not too bad, but got bored after a while, spotted mantas on multiple dives but no luck with the whale sharks.

how was the water temp? can't wait to go back again!
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Seems Manta is out at Koh Bon this year..... Just got a SMS from a friend still there, She saw her 1st Manta..... but too happy till forgot to take pics or video :confused:
 

wow... great pictures.... makes me wana go back again to try my luck to see a manta...
 

antacid said:
kthan > we were on The Witch. previously known as the Really Wicked Witch. been with them for the past 2 years, and the third time didn't disappoint. pity they didnt have more local guides though....
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Really missed the time I went on the WM at Similans with Thai guides Dang & Mood in '04.

Nice pictures you've shot!
 

thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the shots. too bad i missed the whaleshark though. was at richelieu rock on the 18th and didnt see any. seems like another group saw 2 of them over 3 dives at the same place!

sigh, 200 dives and still no big mama.
 

antacid said:
thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the shots. too bad i missed the whaleshark though. was at richelieu rock on the 18th and didnt see any. seems like another group saw 2 of them over 3 dives at the same place!

sigh, 200 dives and still no big mama.
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don't be sad.. my friend saw his first whale shark after 933 dives :)

go philiphines.. 90% sighting
 

lovells19 said:
don't be sad.. my friend saw his first whale shark after 933 dives :)

go philiphines.. 90% sighting
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Still waiting after 400+ dives.... ;p

Missed one at koh haa in 2005, it was just me a dive guide. He pointed out a nudi on a wall to me and went up ahead while i was taking the nudi. Couple of min later he came back in a hurry banging his tank and we rushed over but by that time it was too late the whale shark had already swam off.... :(
 

howeikwok said:
Still waiting after 400+ dives.... ;p

Missed one at koh haa in 2005, it was just me a dive guide. He pointed out a nudi on a wall to me and went up ahead while i was taking the nudi. Couple of min later he came back in a hurry banging his tank and we rushed over but by that time it was too late the whale shark had already swam off.... :(
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he bluff you one...i pulled that trick many times too
hahahahahaha

yup, probably philippines next year then! been wanting to go for a long long time. 933 dives? wow he keeps count huh? I sort of gave up after 100 dives...now its just a rough number based on the dive comp. heh.
 

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