Preparing for an underwater photography tour

[camille 6]

Hello everyone,

We just wrote this article on preparing a trip to Mergui Archipelago Myanmar as an underwater photographer.

Please do read and let me know what you think of it.

A part is about preparing a trip to Myanmar but the rest applies to all destination:

What to look for when choosing your boat, what to bring etc... 

https://wetpixel.com/articles/photographing-the-mergui-archipelago-by-franck-and-camille-fogarolo

Good reading!

[phxazcraig 123]

Good read.  May I suggest you add at least something about the most common ways to get there, via east or west?   To me, here in Arizona, it sounds like a pretty exotic location I have no idea how to get to.

Craig

[troporobo 252]

We went to Myanmar a couple of years ago (though to different destinations).  Four factors were key.  First, transit through BKK onto Bangkok Airways is always a pleasure, they are so much nicer than the big national carriers.  Second, contact hotels for airport pickup, don’t use airport taxis if they can be avoided, although they are fine in town.  Third arrange with your first hotel in Yangon or wherever to set up with a local tour operator for longer trips by domestic airlines and a private vehicle and driver at the other end, they are affordable and reliable.  Fourth, bring lots of shiny new USD in small denominations to deal with currency mismatches, many places will only take dollars and paying for tickets etc in kip is a constant annoyance.  It is a beautiful and fascinating country, highly recommended. 

Edited June 28, 2020 by troporobo

[oneyellowtang 112]

Been to the Mergui Archipelago twice for diving (first time was 17 years ago). Both times the boat left out of Phuket.

Easy to access as a starting point - Phuket can be reached from a number of the major S.E. Asian flight hubs. Both trips started with easy diving in the Similan Islands then both times made entry just over the Myanmar border where they checked passports and then added a Myanmar "host" (who spent the entire time on the boat drunk drinking cheap Thai beer). 

Diving was good to very good, however there were signs of fish bombing in a number of areas. The dive spot covered with carpet anemones was one of those locations - big fish will float up when their swim bladders are ruptured, but many of the smaller fish sink, and we found dozens of anemones feeding on smaller fish that fell into their grasp.

Silvertip Point didn't disappoint but I've heard most of the sharks are gone now, however the large cuttlefish should still be there.

The region is worth a visit, but there are now 5-6 boats making the trip (in season) every week, so not quite as "undiscovered" as it once was.

 

[camille 6]

20 hours ago, phxazcraig said:

Good read.  May I suggest you add at least something about the most common ways to get there, via east or west?   To me, here in Arizona, it sounds like a pretty exotic location I have no idea how to get to.

Craig

Hi Craig, thanks for your comment. Indeed this should have been included! Ranong at the border between Thailand and Myanmar is the best departure point if you want to do Myanmar only and not cross Similan and Surin islands in Thailand.

To reach Ranong you have several options:

- fly to Phuket and then drive to Ranong (3 hours)

- or fly to Bangkok and then fly to Ranong (1h flight 3 daily flights)

[camille 6]

25 minutes ago, oneyellowtang said:

Been to the Mergui Archipelago twice for diving (first time was 17 years ago). Both times the boat left out of Phuket.

Easy to access as a starting point - Phuket can be reached from a number of the major S.E. Asian flight hubs. Both trips started with easy diving in the Similan Islands then both times made entry just over the Myanmar border where they checked passports and then added a Myanmar "host" (who spent the entire time on the boat drunk drinking cheap Thai beer). 

Diving was good to very good, however there were signs of fish bombing in a number of areas. The dive spot covered with carpet anemones was one of those locations - big fish will float up when their swim bladders are ruptured, but many of the smaller fish sink, and we found dozens of anemones feeding on smaller fish that fell into their grasp.

Silvertip Point didn't disappoint but I've heard most of the sharks are gone now, however the large cuttlefish should still be there.

The region is worth a visit, but there are now 5-6 boats making the trip (in season) every week, so not quite as "undiscovered" as it once was.

 

WOW it must have been incredible 17 years ago! Lucky you!

I only started diving there in 2012 so I cant compare but I can tell you that one thing disappeared in the last 8 year and that's the dynamite fishing.

I did see a carpet of dead fish few times in the earliest years and that was the saddest thing to witness ... What surprised me the most about dynamite fishing was that the coral was not damaged (I had heard stories about destroyed reefs and was surprised it wasn't the case in the dynamited sites). When I researched about this fact I learned that fishermen time the blast to explode mid-water to kill a maximum of fish and that is why the coral reef survived.

But thankfully this is over. I haven't heard a blast in a long time and I believe the action of Flora and Fauna International in 2013 -17 are the ones to thank for: more on this here: https://www.thesmilingseahorse.com/conservation-project-mergui.html)

The Smiling Seahorse is not the only boat cruising the area but it is the only boat doing this exclusively and cruising Mergui every week between November and May. The boats leaving from Khao Lak and Phuket are usually running trips to Surin and Similan islands and going to Myanmar only a few times per season. And while 5 boats may be in Mergui Archipelago at the same time during a few "peak season" weeks it is still very rare to share a dive sites as the area is very large and sharing is easily avoided.