First day of my 6 day liveaboard trip! We start the (early) day with a dive at Koh Ha Lagoon. There’s not that much to see here but it’s for the guide to get an idea of our capabilities, so things are kept deliberately easy
I always like these views of all the air bubbles rising up from below
Looking for things to look at
Like this
Not spectacular thise dive
The odd bit of coral
Ok, that’s out of the way, now off to more interesting dive sites, hopefully
Breakfast
Lovely morning, sunny but with a nice breeze
Our schedule for today, so we’ve done dive #1 and are on our way to Hin Muang for dive #2
I see these a lot and have as usual no idea what they are. Is it some egg? Is it a jellyfish with a tiny brain?
At least this I know: it’s coral
Pretty sure this is a Coral Grouper
Butterflyfish, with a very long dorsal fin
This fish seems interested in those ‘things’
Starfish
More colourful coral
Moray Eel
Some kind of clam (?) with a distinctive zig zag opening
A Crinoid on some coral
Another Coral Grouper
Moray Eel
Looks like grass
Coral
This dive site is indeed a lot more interesting than the first one from today
The water hear is very clear, making the coral colours really pop
A bit of a lazy fish these groupers, always just lying on something
A Spiny Cushion Star
Worthy of its name
Yellow coral
Tentacles of the Sea Cucumber’s mouth
I wish I could make a timelapse of Starfish, to see their movevement
Not sure. Shrimp? Crab? Lobster?
Occasionally you see another group of divers
Some fishes I can Google but I’m out of luck with this one
A Honeycomb Moray
A four (!?) legged Starfish. I wonder if it’s lost one or if I just discovered a new species!
I just can’t get enough of the colours of these soft corals
Pink Skunk Clownfish
Love the contrast
Christmas Tree Worm, I think these things are beautiful and if you move some water over them then jump back into the hole they live in, the entire fan disappears
Aren’t they beautiful?
They come in many colours, like these blue ones
We also saw a turtle but it didn’t want to pose for a photo
End of another day of diving. In the distance is a fishing boat, I guess the light is to attract fish?
Beautiful sky
Nice pics! Do you use iNaturalist? It’s a great site for uploading your observations and have others helping you identify species and stuff.
I am jealous! I might need to learn diving so I can see sea cucumber and stuff…
Thanks Leah! No I do not use iNaturalist. It sounds like something from apple and I dislike everything from apple with a passion. But wait, I’ll have a look…….. Ok, I had a look, it’s a website. I don’t consider myself a naturalist so I don’t think I’ll be joining them but I will keep it mind, who knows. Thanks for the tip! If you ever want to learn diving in a nice and affordable place, I recommend Phuket. Within a week you’ll be able to dive and see sea cucumbers and stuff….
Yeah I don’t know why they have to put an “i” in the front. Anyway, I find it useful if you want to find out the species but google is not good enough.
I actually looked up diving course yesterday, yeah Thailand could be great (I remember why I haven’t been to Thailand, because all Chinese go there…) Or since I am in Blenheim now, I think they have good course near Picton, which might not be bad (compare to other parts of South Island). Anyway, sea cucumbers!
There are indeed more and more Chinese in Phuket and unfortunately that’s not always a good thing. It seems like those who learned in China don’t always have the amount of respect for aquatic life that’s expected. But I think they are improving so that’s encouraging. Learning to dive in Picton is an option of course, bear in mind though that the Marlborough Sounds are rather cold and there isn’t that much to see (though there are a few wrecks). If you like sunny weather, warm water, good food, and everything affordable, I would still recommend Phuket. Like 2 weeks, 1 week to learn, 1 week to dive the cool dive spots. But if you want to learn in NZ then Picton is imho indeed the best place on the South Island,
Mooie onderwater foto’s
Dankjewel Pascal, de mooiste foto’s zijn imho van de laatste 2 dagen van de liveaboard, moet je die ook eens bekijken.