Diving the Mergui Archipelago A Northwest perspective by Keith Clements April 2004 Looking across the Andaman Sea in the evening usually revealed a spectacular sunset. Burma. The Socialist Republic Union of Myanmar. Both are names for the same country, and a rather mysterious country at that. As many countries in Southeast Asia have embraced western tourism over the last few decades, Burma has been slow on the take. While Thailand has been raking in millions of tourist dollars by catering to scuba divers anxious to explore their warm tropical waters, the Burmese have stead fast and kept their waters closed until around 1997. When I was asked to attend a regional sales meeting in Bangkok at the end of April, I took it upon myself to seek out the best dive opportunities in Southeast Asia. My initial findings on the web produced claims of fantastic world class diving off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Websites of local dive operators boasted of good visibility, 85 degree water, nice reefs, multiple species of sharks, possible whale sharks, and friendly people. As I continued to do my research and investigate the well renowned dive sites in the area, I quickly noted an inordinate amount of liveaboard dive vessels and day boats from local resorts working these sites. I had nightmarish flashbacks to diving some of the northern wrecks and reefs along the Sinai in the Red Sea; combat diving, destroyed reefs, and dozens of divers harassing a poor lone moray or passing turtle. No, this was not for me. I wanted to experience something remote and pristine. I wanted to visit somewhere I could dive and not see another dive boat. I wanted to swim with pelagics amongst unspoiled reefs and see countless colorful reef fish and corals. Burma seemed to be the answer. Burmese dive operators boasted of opportunities to dive with silver tipped sharks. Mantas and whale shark encounters were distinct possibilities. White tipped reef sharks and gray reef sharks were common dive companions. And best of all, the Burmese sites were well out of striking distance of the resort day boats. The icing on the cake was only a handful of liveaboard vessels worked this remote area.
The boat I selected was the Faah Yai (pronounced feye-yeye ), which is Thai for big sky. Although Burmese waters are now open for scuba diving, the dive boats working these waters are of Thai origin. Burma appears to lack the infrastructure, business incentives, and/or experience to run Western style dive operations at least for now. I chose the Faah Yai for several reasons: First, her sole agenda was Burmese waters. This boat specialized in diving the Mergui Archipeago off the eastern Burmese coast; second, she catered to a maximum of 10 divers at a time. Many of the liveaboard dive boats in this area handle up to 20 divers; and third, she was the only vessel running in this area this late in the season. OK, so I had no choice. Getting There Not really knowing what I was getting myself into, I flew from Bangkok to the unknown town of Ranong to meet the Faah Yai. Ranong is located very close to the Burmese boarder and north of Phuket Island. I arrived in Ranong a day early and stayed at the Ranong Royal Princess Hotel, which claims to be the nicest hotel in the area. Unfortunately, this is not saying much. The lobby was presentable and the food in the restaurant was outstanding, but it stopped there. Ranong is far from a tourist destination by any stretch of the imagination, but instead your stereotypical third world Southeast Asia port town. The next afternoon it was off to the dive boat. The charter sent a van for me that picked up passengers from Phuket (a four hour drive away), Ranong airport, and the Royal Princess Hotel. There were seven of us in total four Americans, two Germans, and a Frenchman. We cleared Thai immigration in Ranong and made our way to a water taxi that took us to Kaw Thaung in Burma to wait for the Faay Yai and clear Burmese immigration. The Faah Yai showed up about an hour after we arrived at Kaw Thaung. We bordered the Faah Yai and waited another hour for the Burmese immigration officer to come to our boat and collect park fees ($120 US per person). To my surprise, the Burmese immigration officer not only took our money, but also held our passports until we returned. I guess that guarantees we will check in when we come back. Nevertheless, it is more than slightly discomforting to be 10,000 miles from home with no passport. After we cleared the paperwork, we were finally off on our little adventure. My anticipation was three or four dives a day, conditions permitting. The Boat The Faah Yai is a 75 foot, twin engine motor yacht. Her wooden hull was constructed about 10 years ago, however she was given a major overhaul only 5 years ago. She has three decks 2 cabins and the engine room on the lower deck, 3 cabins and the dive platform on the middle deck, and the crew s quarters, pilot house, and salon on the top deck. Unlike the liveaboard I toured with in the Red Sea, the salon was not air conditioned. The MV Faah Yai. Although not a luxury vessel, she is more than adequate for a weeks diving. The boat was relatively clean and well kept. The crew definitely took pride in the vessels appearance. Decks and railing were all wiped down after each rain, the carpets were kept clean, ropes were properly stowed, and everything was kept in its place. However, The Faah Yai is not what I would consider a luxury dive vessel. She is adequate for the task she serves, but not of the same caliber as the high end liveaboard vessel that I chartered while in the Red Sea. Each of the air conditioned rooms had its own shower and head. Each shower offered instant hot water, which was nice. Some of
the rooms had bunks, others had a lone double bed. The dive platform was adequate but not quite as spacious as I would have hoped. The ladder system could have been better, but it worked. There were two fresh water hoses to rinse off with when getting back on board. The Faah Yai towed a problematic 12 rigid hull inflatable. About half the time we dove from it, and the other times we just jumped off the back of the Faah Yai. On several occasion the motor on the inflatable quit and the Faah Yai had to come get us. The motor on the inflatable was a badly abused old Yamaha. In fact, the crew accidentally dropped the motor overboard on our second day, but got it running again. One of the crew stated that they had dropped the motor overboard on several occasions. No wonder it was problematic. The Crew The crew was an interesting mix. We had a French dive master. The regular assistant divemaster was not available, so we had a substitute from the United States. The cook was Thai as was the rest of the crew, including the captain. Sunan, our wonderful cook, and her beloved cat on the foredeck on the Faah Yai. The divemaster and assistant divemaster were ultimately very disappointing. Unlike the Red Sea, the divemaster seemed to be calling the shots on the boat rather than the captain. The divemaster gave very detailed dive briefings, but once in the water we were pretty much on our own. The American assistant divemaster was more interested in her own agenda than making certain the rest of us were enjoying our dives. It could be because we were a relatively experienced group me being the second most junior diver with a mere 800 dives. All the same, my feeling is that she should have been hanging with the rest of us rather than being first off the boat, diving straight down to 140-150 fsw with her boyfriend, and getting out of the water a good 20 to 30 minutes before the rest of us. The rest of the boat crew was very descent. Almost none of them spoke English, but they were relentless in helping us with our gear, managing our cameras, keeping the decks orderly, and continually re-fixing the dilapidated outboard. The cook spoke descent English and was quite a character. In addition to being good company, she served up incredible meal after incredible meal. She offered a nice blend of western dishes and traditional Thai cuisine. No one went hungry on the boat. Like almost all the Thai people I met, the crew was genuinely friendly. Smile, and you get a sincere smile in return which is far more than you get in some areas of the world. The Weather Hot. Hot and humid. Daytime temp were in the 90s, as was the humidity. Everyone ran around in the boat in shorts, t-shirts, and bathing suits. No shoes allowed, which was just fine. Sleeping would have been miserable if the cabins were not air conditioned. We usually hung out in the salon between dives, which in my opinion needed some type of climate control. Storms rolled through the area on a regular basis. Sometimes we got lightning, sometimes we got wind, sometimes we got rain, and sometimes we got all three. The storms were usually short lived and would pass within an hour. When it rains in this part of the world, it can rain VERY hard. Most of the liveaboards working the west coast of Thailand and Burma shut down during the rainy season, which runs from May through October. The Diving
Not really knowing what to expect, I tried to keep my expectations as open as I could. I did have preconceived expectations of diving with silvertip sharks. I was also told that underwater visibility ranges between 30 and 90 feet. Other than that, I had no real idea what to expect. Even with minimal expectations, there were some major disappointments with the diving. And there were some incredibly wonderful surprises. were left behind to decide whether to push our gear through the current and huff air or fall back. After a couple of air huffing dives, I figured my most enjoyable route was to simply do my own thing; namely find some nice spot out of the current and go from there. Touching the bottom is a no-no, but the camouflage and highly poisonous spines of the scorpion fish keeps divers honest. Nemo and Marlin were waiting for us at most of the current and surge swept sites. First, let s get the let downers out of the way. Advanced diving: This area does not cater to novice divers. As stated earlier, our seven divers were very experienced and were able to handle the conditions. If my wife was on this trip, she would not have enjoyed most of the diving. In fact, she would have been downright miserable. I did not realize this area is subject to tidal exchanges of up to 18 feet. Tidal exchanges usually increase farther from the equator, but that is not the case for the Andaman Sea. The monstrous tidal exchanges inherent to this area are the result of the surrounding geography. At certain times of the month the exchanges are relatively mild. But at other times look out! I was diving Burma during one of those look out! weeks. The intense current is also very hard to predict. On about half our dives, the current was not behaving the way the divemaster expected. Many of the dives became huffers and tank burners. Unfortunately there in no real drift diving here it is more duck and cover or fight your way around the corner and hope the current is less on the other side diving. The few times our guides were with us, they would often charge off into the current. Almost all of us had bulky camera gear and Dynamite fishing: The second big disappointment was dynamite fishing. Yep, that s right, using explosives to fish. Although it is illegal, the local Burmese still use this tactic with regularity. In fact we heard a charge go off miles away while we were underwater on our fist day of diving. The locals make crude explosives with fertilizer and diesel fuel, place it in a clay pot, attach an underwater fuse, and drop it over the side of the boat by the reef. The shock wave will kill anything around. Armored in their stone fortress, moray eels seem to better survive the dynamite fishing that do the pelagic fish. Small morays of various species could be found on most dives. The guesstimates I heard is about 20% of the kill will float to the surface. The other 80% sinks to the bottom and goes uncollected. Although corals are relatively
unaffected, fish stocks have been decimated. Noticeably absent are the large schools of snappers, large groupers and other large reef fish I expect to see when tropical diving. Fish are around, but they are relatively small and sparse compared to other tropical locations. this drop-off. Our divemaster, who has been working this area for the last five years, stated that the Burma Banks are essentially a desert with very few fish and even fewer sharks. Again, the main suspects are dynamite fishing and finning. The sharks that used to hang out here have been killed or chased away. We therefore did not go to the Burma Banks. Visibility: The visibility was advertised as 30-90 feet, which is about right. However, at two of the sites the visibility was maybe 30 feet and the water was green. At the other sites the water was a deep blue and visibility was 50 to 100 feet. Lionfish of several varieties could be found at most dive sites. Lack of sharks: Some might actually think this is a benefit, but I love to dive with sharks. Diving with silvertips was the main reason for this trip. But as our divemaster put it, the day of the shark in the Thailand/Burma area appears to be over at least for now. Between dynamite fishing and shark finning (the disgusting practice of catching sharks and cutting the fins off to sell to Japan/China) the abundant silvertips I read about are history. Number of dives: The trip called for 3 or 4 dives a day for 7 days. For the first five days, we followed this schedule. On the last two days we only got in one dive each day. Although they were spectacular dives, it is hard to fill the day with only one dive. Weather was the supposed excuse, but the divemaster did not seem to have a contingency plan if the weather deteriorated. I would rather dive a shallow reef with 20 feet of visibility than do no dive at all. He did not see it that way. In all, I got in 20 dives on the trip. I was expecting at least four or five more. You have know what you are going to find lurking under a rocky ledge. At one site, we found this Jenkins ray. The Burma Banks: This trip was sold as visiting various dive sites in Burma, including the Burma Banks. The Burma Banks are where the shelf that harbors the Andaman Sea rises to divable depths just before it drops deep into the Indian Ocean. Many of the local liveaboard web sites claim that healthy shark populations routinely patrol The uniquely distinctive triangular shaped cowfish hanging out by a seafan. And now the good stuff: World-class sites: Two of the ten sites we visited were what I would consider worldclass, even with the somewhat depleted fish stocks. Black Rock and Western Rocky are simply phenomenal dives.
boasts schools of pickhandle barracuda with a few great barracuda cautiously mulling about. We also regularly found a school of large batfish hanging out at one corner of the rock. Black Rock is maybe 100 yards in length and located a good 20 miles from the next nearest landmass. Below the water, mantas await. Western Rocky is an expansive pinnacle offering spectacular corals and robust and beautiful seafans. The west side of Western Rocky sports an absolutely stunning, densely packed seafan garden running from about 90 fsw to over 130 fsw. Large shoals of tiny glass fish, fairy basslets, sweetlips, scorpion fish, blotch rays, anemone fish, and many other small, colorful reef fish compliment the seafan garden. Swimming with docile 8 foot long leopard sharks is always a very welcome experience. The leopard sharks are the star of the show at Western Rocky. A leopard shark looks somewhat like a nurse shark. Like a nurse shark, its tail is almost half the length of its body. However the leopard sharks skin is a striking gold with black spots. On my first dive, I encountered two of these docile creatures. Six sharks joined me on my second dive. I quickly discovered if I did not approach the sharks, they would eventually approach me and get very close. Barracuda anyone? These are pickhandle barracuda, but we also saw several solitary great barracuda roaming the waters. However, the draw at this site was indisputably the manta rays. These graceful giants continuously cruised by the northwest corner of the rock, which serves as a cleaning station. With the help of digital photographs we were able to identify nine different individuals, the biggest of which was about 12 feet across, and the smallest 6 feet. On several occasions I got to witness two or three manta gliding through the water together. I would sit in awe watching these graceful giants wondering if I really want witness this spectacle through the viewfinder of my digital video camera. Most of the time I opted to just take it all in and forget the video. We spent 2 days at Black Rock and did a total of seven dives. I will not be forgetting Black Rock any time soon. Black Rock was even more spectacular. Visibility was the best at this site, approaching 100 feet at times. Black Rock
end of the diving season in this area, however the seclusion was still nice and appreciated. The only other boats we saw for the entire week were sea gypsies native Burmese in 20+ foot long open boats with only a tarp for shelter. These people essentially live in these boats and making there living fishing. Ahhh the manta rays. Although we spent two days and seven dives with these graceful creatures, I could have spent all 7 days at this site. Who needs Yap? Lightning: We had spectacular lightning storms on most evenings. Sometimes we got rain, most of the time we did not. On our fifth day we set out to do a night dive on a delightful little reef that we first dove that afternoon. This well protected coral reef cascades down to about 60 fsw before giving way to a sandy substrate. We motored out to the dive site in the inflatable as the sun set. We could see intense lightning in the distance moving towards us in a hurry. The three of that opted to dive this evening had a spectacular experience with lightning illuminating the water every 20 to 30 seconds as the storm passed overhead. When the lightning would flash, it was as bright as daylight underwater. Cuttlefish: I was lucky to see a single cuttlefish during my visit to the Red Sea. It was maybe 6 inches long. During this trip, we had cuttlefish encounters on most dives. Many of these interesting cephalopods were a robust 16 in length. They tend to be shy and keep their distance from approaching and noisy divers. I quickly discovered that if I maintained a quite profile, the cuttlefish would come over and investigate my video lights. Cuttlefish are just cool. Personal encounters with curious cuttlefish over 16 in length were fairly common. Conclusion With only two exceptions, all the other boats we say the entire week were sea gypsies, local Burmese that make their livelihood off the sea. Remoteness: The dive sites we visited were remote and did not appear to be victimized by overdiving, as did many of those in the north Red Sea. The Burma area is a hard one to reach and relatively expensive. We only saw one other dive boat the entire week. Part of the reason was May is the This trip cost me the better part of $2000 excluding airfare - $1680 for the liveaboard, $120 in park fees, and a couple hundred dollars in crew tip, hotels before and after the trip, and meals. Although Thailand is typically a very economical vacation destination, I would say that this trip was a mediocre value based upon the quality of the dive operation and diving. If manta encounters were a certainty, I would be more inclined to go back again. However, they are not. I personally think it was well worth seeing this part of the world, but once is probably enough. On to the next destination!