Richelieu Rock & Surin Islands 3 Days 2 Nights

The best value liveaboard for advanced divers who want to dive premier dive sites at The Similan Island, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock, & Surin Islands 10 amazing Dives

Available departure dates between 1st of November and  May 14th

Embarkation:
Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak at 8am hrs

Note that local Phuket pick-ups start at 6.00am

Easy book online, choose any start date from the options listed above, select the number of divers in your group, then click on the calendar above for the date you want to travel add national marine park fees – options from private dive master and equipment rental optional

• Day 1 = 3 dives
• Day 2 = 4 dives
• Day 3 = 3 dives

Disembarkation:
Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak at  5pm return to the hotel via minivan

The Richelieu Rock & Surin Islands visit the best dive sites in the Similan & Surin Islands national marine parks.

This diving trip is ideally suited for people who are experienced advanced open water certified divers or are intending to take the advanced adventure course while staying on board, this trip focuses on diving around Similan & Surin Islands.

Why choose Richelieu Rock & Surin Islands as a liveaboard?

The attraction of the liveaboard lifestyle often suits everyone, step aboard

The MV Koon 9 is the largest liveaboard operating in the Similan Islands, boasting an impressive 52 meters in length and over 10 meters in width. Most liveaboards in the area are between 26 and 37 meters long, making Koon 9 exceptionally spacious and stable for island crossings. Despite accommodating up to 40 divers, the boat offers ample room for guests to relax, enjoy the onboard facilities, and indulge in plentiful food.

Cabins: The vessel features 16 twin cabins, which can be converted into doubles, and four fixed double-bed cabins. All guest cabins come equipped with large sea-view windows, air conditioning, and en suite bathrooms, and some even have smart TVs. Solo travelers are paired with same-gender guests in twin cabins but often spend most of their time in the communal areas.

Onboard Comfort: The upper deck is home to a large, air-conditioned lounge with cozy sofas, armchairs, and a huge TV with multimedia and a Nintendo console. The indoor dining room offers plenty of seating to enjoy Thai and Western cuisine prepared by the chef. Snacks and drinks, including free soft drinks, are available between meals.

Sundeck: The expansive sundeck is the perfect spot to enjoy panoramic views, sip on morning coffee, or relax with an evening drink. There are sun loungers and plenty of space for sunbathing, making this deck a great spot to relax or take photos.

Diving Facilities: As a dive boat, Koon 9 provides an extensive dive platform with personal tank slots and storage for gear. The non-slip surface and organized layout ensure safety and convenience. The crew assists divers with their gear and helps them board the diving tender dinghies. Nitrox is available for certified divers, and the quality of the rental equipment receives consistent positive feedback from guests.

Itineraries: flexible itineraries Most guests join for 4D/3N starting on Wednesday evenings, covering all the best dive sites, including Richelieu Rock. However, 2D/1N and 3D/2N options are also available.

Whichever itinerary you choose, we promise an unforgettable diving adventure in the Andaman Sea!

The meals on The Boat are served buffet style inside the atmospheric teak saloon dining area that provides a wide variety and unique flavors of wonderful Thai & western style cuisine as well as various tasty dishes.

All meals, fruits, drinking water, coffee, tea. Divemaster supervision, tanks, weights, weight belts. Transfer to and from your hotel/dive vessel.

• This is a recreational diving trip. You must be licensed and certified to scuba dive.

• Open-water certified divers 18m limits.
• Advanced open water divers 30m limits.
• Deep diver training certification max 40m
• No technical or decompression diving is allowed.

The Richelieu Rock & Surin Islands

Your Cruise Director will schedule up to 4 dives per day; 3-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
• Dinner will be served either before or after the sunset/night dive

Similan Islands
The above-water scenery will provide stunningly beautiful white sandy beaches with small forested areas. Dive some of the following sites; Boulder City, Sharkfin Reef, Anita’s Reef and Honeymoon Bay. Under the surface, you may see Leopard (zebra) shark, blue-spotted stingrays, clown triggerfish, rabbitfish, scorpionfish, snappers, emperor fish, giant trevally and angelfish. The coral gardens, bommies, and boulder formations are wonderful to dive.

Elephant Head Rock, visible from the surface, is the biggest pinnacle in the Similans and has some fantastic swim-throughs. If lucky you might see some white tip reef sharks, batfish, trevally, and barracuda can often be seen on the perimeter of the boulders and if you look closely in the cracks and in the rubble you can see smashing mantis shrimp, porcelain crab, moray eels and cleaner shrimp.

Richelieu Rock
Richelieu Rock is a limestone pinnacle named by Jacques Cousteau after the character in the Three Musketeers, Cardinal Richelieu, as it reminded him of his deep scarlet cape. Purple soft corals cover most of the pinnacle and other areas are covered in magnificent sea anemones as well. Barely breaking the surface at low tide, this horseshoe-shaped outcropping, slopes steeply to a sandy bottom at 18 to 35 meters (60-120 Ft). This site offers great diversity for such a small and isolated spot. It also offers excellent multi-level diving and, because it’s a high-profile reef, there are always sheltered areas to hide from the current. The marine life is prolific and includes amongst many other things; Pharaoh cuttlefish, large octopi, all 5 varieties of anemonefish of the Andaman Sea, a variety of moray eels, ornate ghost pipefish, smashing mantis shrimps, harlequin shrimps, tiger tail sea horses, Spanish mackerel, frogfish, many schooling snappers and occasional sightings of manta rays and whale sharks.

Surin Islands
The topside scenery of Koh Surin with evergreen forests, mangroves, and small beaches, surpasses even that of the picturesque Similan Islands. Underwater the reefs of Surin have the greatest hard coral diversity in Thailand. You are likely to see Napoleon wrasse, yellow-masked angelfish, bumphead parrotfish, tomato anemonefish, and barramundi, as well as lots of turtles that still come ashore in this area to lay their eggs. Because of the remoteness, not many liveaboard boats visit these islands and you will be able to enjoy the dive sites without sharing it with tourist hordes.

Marine Life: Turtles, Napoleon wrasse, yellow-masked angelfish, bump head parrotfish, anemonefish, barramundi, Wrecks, amazing reefs, nudibranchs, shrimps, moray eels, leopard sharks, octopus, cuttlefish, ornate ghost pipefish, smashing mantis shrimps, harlequin shrimps, tiger tail sea horses, Spanish mackerel, frogfish, Manta Rays, Whale Sharks

Please read the Diving Medical Form  If you reply “YES” to one or more questions, we will need a written medical clearance that you are physically in good shape to scuba dive signed by a certified Doctor.

We strongly recommend you to read the flying after diving article on our website, as you will have to wait at least 24 hours before you can board a plane.

Maybe you just recently purchased a new set of equipment and want to try it out first then you can visit us at the dive resort our private scuba diving training resort located at kata Beach. –  If you don’t need a refresher you still have the option of a free pool dive to try out your dive gear if you wish before joining the liveaboard.

We would advise that if you have not dived in such a long period of inactivity (6 months) you take a refresher as identified by your license provider under Safe Diving Practices before taking this trip. A refresher can be a short pool session at our dive pool Kata Beach to check out the equipment fits and fine-tune your buoyancy

Our professional staff can then issue a “scuba skills update program” a digital recognition card you can access on your Phone to officially prove you as having completed the Scuba Diving Refresher program. This you can then have on your phone as proof of the refresher.

What is not Included

National Park Entry fee and diver’s fee: 1,600 Baht (for a diver) National Park Entry fee: 1,100 Baht (for non-diver) Equipment rental full set 500 Baht per day (not including torch 200 baht & computer 250bht per day) Alcohol is not included

• National Park Entrance Fees (1,600)
• Dive Computer Rental 250
• Environmental Conservation Tax
• Night Dive Torch (for night dives)
• Larger Cylinder Upgrades +300thb per day 
• Nitrox Fills + 300 per fill 
• Tipping/Gratuities
• Alcohol
• Equipment Rental
• Private Divemaster 6000 Thb

What is Included

• Meals (Full board)
• Snacks (Available throughout the day)
• Tea & Coffee
• Drinking Water
• Soft Beverages
• VAT (Included in the price)
• Weights & Weight Belts
• Standard Air Tanks
• Divemaster Services – mixed group
• Towels (Provided on board)
• Shower Essentials (Soap & Shampoo)
• Luggage Storage

The requirements for this trip is that you must be Advanced open water certified with a minimum of 15 dives the last dive should be within six months prior to departure –

Visitors must purchase a ticket to enter the national park, we arrange this for you, this ticket is not transferable please ensure that your holiday insurance covers for canceled trips as we will not be able to refund if you cancel for any last moment reason whatsoever.

Diving Insurance.

We advise every certified diver to ensure that you have adequate scuba-diving insurance for diving in Thailand for medical treatment. Please check your travel insurance policy for scuba diving coverage.

Most Thailand liveaboard diving safaris are sold by local reputable dive shops in Phuket who will then allocate their personal experienced diving guides for your trip to supervise your diving holidays.

If you are a group of 2 or more take a private guide this will make your enjoyment more fun than being in a mixed group

If you take the liveaboard trip you are avoiding hotel charges while combining your holiday, accommodation, scuba diving, and food in one package.

If you have never been on a Thailand liveaboard diving boat they are certainly the best way to dive, and we urge you to take a minimum 3 days / 2 nights. The liveaboard lifestyle has many attractions and many downsides. Most boats are mobile and provide inexpensive water access. A liveaboard lifestyle is becoming more popular with scuba divers around the world and is generally regarded as being a cheaper way to visit remote dive site.

When you make the payment  you will be required to some personal details about you and your group

• Full names of each diver / Boat passenger/student diver in your booking
• Date of Birth Day Month Year
• Nationality
• Passport number for each person Date of Birth (Day Month Year) of each person
• Dive card details/certification level
• Dive card numbers
• The last dive date of each diver
• Number of logged dives
• Do you have your logbook?
• Do you own a dive computer?

Additional information we need

• Equipment sizes (Bodyweight In Kg, height and shoe sizes)
• Hotel details, the full name, and address of your hotel

Please also advise if you have any dietary restrictions.

You are avoiding the pitfalls of booking a Similan Islands diving Liveaboard.

Thailand Liveaboards can often be sold by external 3rd party travel agents and Tour Desks that are not Licenced diving centers or people who sit at home on a laptop and don’t employ diving staff, these tour operators may not even be based in Thailand and often work alone.

It’s easy to find diving agents as they will advertise their products using Google AdWords when looking for Thailand Liveaboard or Thailand Diveaboards, Liveaboard.com, Viator or even Padi travel, you need to investigate who you will be diving with, and is website you are buying from is it a legitimate diving store, actually a Physical dive shop that in Thailand with staff to take care of you, doing your homework now and looking at the background of the company.

If you have any questions regarding the Similan & Surin Islands Thailand Liveaboard package just send us a short message and a member of staff will get back to you. Contact Us