Finding the Phuk in Phuket

The people from The Junk arranged for a van to take us from Tab Lamu Pier to our hotel, the Indochine Resort and Villas in Phuket.  Since we had been diving earlier this morning, we needed to wait until at least the next day to fly.  Cognizant of our previous vacations where we were always rushing to get to our next destination, The Wife also wanted to set aside one entire day on our trip for us to relax.  Therefore, we would be spending the next day and a half at this location.

After over an hour's drive, we arrived at the Indochine Resort and Villas in the Patong area of Phuket.  There are a ton of resort options in Phuket.  We didn't really care about staying at a place near the beach nor one near the touristy centers of town.  We did not plan on doing much sightseeing.  We just wanted a good view of the ocean and luxurious accommodations.  The Indochine Resort and Villas fit the bill for us.

The hotel's villas are built along the slope of the hills overlooking Patong Bay.  Guests can walk from the street level in the heat up to their rooms, but it was a lot easier to be transported by the many golf carts driven by the staff.

We had reserved a two-bedroom villa.  It was enormous with a full kitchen, private pool, and a separate building for the master suite.  The Kids were just happy that they would have WiFi again after 5 days with none on The Junk.   

We spent much of the afternoon doing our laundry and giving our diving equipment a good fresh water rinse.  Everything dried pretty quickly in the intense Thailand sunlight.  Afterwards, we headed back down to the street level to find a restaurant for dinner.  There are not many restaurants right next to our hotel.  We had to walk several blocks towards Patong beach to find some eateries.  We settled on a restaurant with the odd name of Duck Spicy.  The place didn't look very fancy.  There was a prominent bar serving up mixed drinks and a big screen TV showing some local soccer match.  However, the fruit juice drinks and the seafood dishes were actually really good and at reasonable-for-Patong prices.

There was some interesting graffiti
on a wall adjacent to the restaurant.

Duck spring roll

Fried seaweed glutinous rice cake

Prawns steamed with glass noodle in a hot pot

Fried crab meat in yellow curry

Blue crab with soy bean paste and coconut milk

The night was still young after we finished dinner.  The Kids were content to hang out at our villa instead of exploring the city.  There are many nightlife options in touristy Patong.  But there is one type of activity that it is most notorious for--ping pongs.  I was conflicted.  The rational part of my brain argued that I HAD to go see this type of show because we were only 15 minutes away from Bangla Street--the boisterous area where most of these clubs were located.  And when would I ever be back in Phuket again?  The more ethical part of my brain stressed that this type of activity was awful and exploitative.  In the age of scientific reasoning, whom am I to defy rational thinking.  Of course I wasn't gonna go alone.  That would be creepy.  So, I convinced my unenthusiastic significant-other to come along.  Given our medical professions, I told her that it would be for...ahem...work-related research...on, ahem...the benefits of kegel exercises.

We caught a free hotel shuttle that transported us to the Jungceylon Shopping Center located in the heart of Patong.  The traffic was terrible, the hawkers were omnipresent, and the crowds of tourists were noisy.  We were very happy that we selected our hotel which is in a much more secluded area.  We walked a few blocks along Bangla street passing numerous pubs blaring live music and  disco clubs featuring disinterested girls in short skirts dancing on tables.  We saw the occasional lady boys...at least I think they were.  They were much more flamboyant and lively compared to the dancing girls.  It wasn't all sex and rock-and-roll.  There were some virtual reality gaming places, tattoo parlors, and even a Starbucks!  

The one thing that you can't miss, even if you wanted to, are the dozens of locals prominently carrying signs for ping pong shows.  These signs list a menu of various "acts" that are included in the show.  

These hawkers are likely normal locals who are merely trying to earn a little extra cash by standing there all night holding up a sign.  I'm sure they must get some kind of commission.  So we just picked the sweetest-looking grandma that we could find and told her that we would be interested in seeing some abhorrent acts of genital gymnastics.

She led us past one of the bars with the dancing girls to a nondescript building right behind it.  We were ushered in and greeted by a man who explained to us the rules.  He said that there was no cover charge for the club.  He handed me a menu and said that we could have a seat at one of the couches, but there would be a minimum order of one drink (liquor or fruit juice) per person.  Wait, a minute.  I wasn't born yesterday.  

"How much is one drink?" I asked suspiciously,

"300," the man replied,

"300 dollars!" I shot back

"No, 300 baht" he responded, pointing clearly to prices on the menu in my hand.

Oh.  That's like less than $10 per person, I thought.  

"Yeah, we could do that." I told him. 

The waitress escorted us to a vinyl couch near the back of the room.  She correctly pegged us as the uptight, middle-aged tourists who were there out of curiosity and not to spend money.  The Wife ordered a pineapple juice and I got a Heineken.  The Wife shot me a disapproving glare because I didn't try one of their local beers.  I really didn't want to get both herpes and cholera in the same night.

The rest of the crowd was also a bunch of non-locals ranging from a mixed group of rowdy backpackers to an old Indian couple who fidgeted nervously the whole time they were there.  The ratio of women to men was a surprising 40 to 60 percent.

For the first twenty minutes, we were "entertained" by young ladies who danced topless to Western pop songs.  And when I say dancing, I mean they kind of swayed back and forth.  The glazed-over look in their eyes made it clear that they had no interest being up there.  I suspect that they spent the whole set pondering the poor choices that they had made in life.  Their lackluster performances were hard to watch.  It was so tedious and boring that I even began to think that I should have seen a ladyboy show instead.

Just as we were about to leave, the real show began.  Out came two ladies onto the stage.  They both had incredible physiques...for sumo wrestlers.  These middle-aged ladies were solidly built like tractors.  Even if I was foolish enough to drink many beers at the club, I would never consider them to be attractive.  This is awful, I groaned.

Then we were serenaded with some high pitched whistling noises.  What was that all about?!?  The ladies proceeded to lift up their skirts, revealing whistles jammed in censored.  They gleefully whistled for a few minutes which started to get kind of old.  I'm sure it's a parlor trick that not everybody can or want to do, but I would have been more impressed if they could have played a little tune.  Eine kleine Nachtmusik would have been nice.

After those maestros had finished, the next middle aged lady came on stage and proceeded to pull yards of string from censored and wrapped it around a spool.  This went on for some time as there was a lot of string!  Had she just untied the Gordian Knot with her censored?  It was a bizarre stunt, but ultimately not very entertaining.

The next troll lady to perform pulled three eager volunteers on to the stage.  She then proceeded to hand each one of them a helium-filled balloon that floated lazily above their heads.  She then got down on the floor and spread censored.  She grabbed a blowgun, and reached inside censored.  Using all of her might, she censored and popped the balloons with the darts.  It was an amazing show of might, worthy of being included in a military parade through Red Square.  The only complaint that I had was that her aim was pretty lousy.  It took her many attempts to pop those three balloons as she missed several times.  I think those tourists were lucky that none of them lost an eye to an errant dart.

The show was stopped momentarily as the club's bouncers were accosting a patron at a table in front of us.  Guests were warned that a no photography or videography rule is strictly enforced.  There is a strict fine by the club if they catch people doing it (and it is way more than 300 bahts!).  After a few minutes, the situation was resolved without anybody losing a kneecap.

It was time for the final lady to come on.  She was a fine specimen of nature with thighs the size of redwood trees.  She danced around enticingly for a minute.  Unlike the previous disinterested dancers, we could tell that this lady was a bona fide entertainer.  Her radiant smile lit up the room.  She strutted her stuff, dancing awkwardly to the music like Taylor Swift at a concert.  Her energy was infectious.

Suddenly, with out any warning, she reached down censored and pulled out a freaking bird!  The little Tweety Bird hopped around the stage, disoriented by what just happened.  The lady then picked it up and brought it over to some of the guests in the front row.  One guy kissed the bird.  EEW,  I'm pretty sure he has gonorrhea now if he didn't have it already.  One young lady in the crowd played with the bird, letting it hop up her arm.  As it came closer to her head, it looked her directly in the eye and yelled into her ear: "I tawt I taw a puddy..."  The performer then grabbed the Tweety Bird, lifted her censored and jammed the little guy into censored.  And just like that, the bird was gone.  

That last performance took no longer than five minutes.  My mouth was agape the whole time.  After this shocking performance, we left the club.  So many questions raced through my mind that I couldn't find the answers to.  That was some Penn and Teller-style magic!

We still had 45 minutes before the hotel shuttle bus would pick us back up, so we headed back to the Jungceylon Shopping Center.  I bought some food and drinks at the Big C supermarket, while The Wife loaded up on South Korean cosmetics that are difficult to find back in the U.S.

We arrived back at our villa.  The Kids were on their iPads in the exact same position that we had left them over two hours ago.  They hadn't moved at all.  I hugged The Girl and pleaded with her to never get a pet bird.

*****

Monday, December 31, 2018

*****

Today, our plan for the day would be that we have no plan at all.  We would just lounge around in our villa relaxing.  It didn't hurt that we had our own private infinity pool with a beautiful view of the bay.

We did rouse enough energy to get dressed and go down to the street level for our complimentary breakfast.  There were many dining options ranging from pancakes to mediocre Vietnamese pho.  We especially liked their fresh watermelon juice that seemed to be in endless supply.

The short afternoon rains didn't dampen our lounging plans.  When you are wet already, what's a little rain.  We didn't have to leave our premises for lunch as we had bought ramen from the store the previous night.

We really hadn't planned it this way, but our relaxation day happened to coincide with New Year's Eve.  The hotel staff had informed us that the Indochine would be hosting a special celebration dinner that was complimentary for the guests.  That was one less meal that we had to worry about.  We came down for dinner, and saw that they really put quite a bit of effort into sprucing up the place.  They also had live entertainment, as a singer crooned Western pop songs in a Thai accent.  They had a slight hiccup when a small rain shower caused their AV equipment to short out for a couple of minutes.

We had been reserved a table by the pool, providing great ambiance.  There were plenty of food options at the buffet including meats, seafood, and plenty of sides and desserts.  It was a really nice added bonus from this luxury resort.

We went back to our villa to deal with our subsequent food coma.  As the night went on, we saw hundreds of sky lanterns being released over Patong Bay.  Although historically, this is part of the traditions of Northern Thailand, it has since been adopted by the rest of the country.  It's supposed to symbolize good luck as one's problems are supposed to float away.

Close to midnight, the fireworks began.  For a five minute span, the night sky was filled with colorful explosions as the city rang in the New Year with fireworks.  It was an amazing display at an amazing setting.  And we didn't even have to get up from our lounge chairs.

Five Days On A Junk

We said our goodbyes to the friendly staff at the Khmer Mansion Boutique and headed off to the airport to take an 8:30 Air Asia flight to Phuket.  We really enjoyed our short time in Siem Reap, especially how courteous and helpful the people were.  Of course that it what is to be  expected for people in the service industry, but the folks we encountered really took it to a five star level.

Back in Thailand, we hailed a van that drove us north about an hour to the Tab Lamu Pier.  Here we would be embarking on the most nerve-wracking part of our trip--a 5 day, 4 night voyage on a liveaboard.  We knew that we wanted to dive in Thailand, but there were so many options to choose from.  There is Koh Tao which is a very popular place for new scuba divers.  However, its nickname of "Murder Island" after a string of tourist murders was a turnoff.  We considered going with an outfitter in Phuket, but most of the best dive sites were at least 1.5 to 2 hours by speedboat.

The Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea is considered one of Thailand's best dive sites.  Since it is a protected national park are far enough off the mainland to receive less visitors, the reefs are generally more pristine there.  The Wife and I looked at different ways to do diving out there including day trips on a speedboat.  We decided that the most reasonable option would be a liveaboard.  And to have enough time to reach all the top sites including the Surin Islands and Richelieu Rock (the top diving spot in all of Thailand), we would need a minimum of five days.  Although it would eat up a great bulk of the time for our trip, we went with that option.  Unfortunately, by the time we started looking six months in advance, many of the boats were already booked.  There were some less expensive options, but The Wife refused to step aboard those.

Luckily, we came across the Jun Hong Chian Lee (aka The Junk).  She is a 140 ton 3-masted sailing ship that was built in Malaysia in 1962 to haul coal.  Essentially, she was obsolete as a cargo vessel for the start.  She continued this job until 1985 when she was sold and converted into a private yacht doing booze cruises to the Ko Phi Phi islands.  In 1997, she was completely overhauled again and turned into a liveaboard diving boat which she continues on to this day.  Over this time, she has been seen in a couple of movies including the James Bond flick The Man with the Golden Gun and a John Cusack film Shanghai that nobody saw.

The Wife was wowed by photos of some of The Junk's spacious cabins.  Unfortunately, the only openings they had were four single bunk beds that are usually filled by solo divers.  They were the least desirable options, but also the least expensive and a reasonable deal especially for scuba diving.  Still it would be over $4,000 which can buy you a lot of Pad Thai in Bangkok.

We would be sequestered on a boat with nothing else to do besides diving.  There would be no shore excursions, no casino, no evening show, and no baked Alaska.  Just diving.  Lots and lots of diving.  We were concerned about The Boy who has gotten seasick pretty easily in the past.  Could he handle five days of constant nausea?  Would The Girl freak out again in the open ocean like she had done before in Costa Rica and Hawaii and spend the entire time on the boat.  And would we be at each other's throats cramped together in that small stateroom?  Despite all of our nice new scuba equipment, all of us were novices.  Would the other more experienced divers shun us posers?  Were we crazy having our young kids participating in a potentially dangerous activity.

We arrived at the pier in the mid morning, way too early for the mid afternoon boarding time.  We contacted the boat's shore manager and she allowed us to leave our luggage at the dock.  We then had several hours to kill.  We had our driver take us to the nearby sleepy resort town of Khao Lak.  We walked around the town for a short while but there was really nothing to see.

It was pretty hot so we headed over to the beach.  It was a beautiful area with soft, white sand and pale blue water.  The waves weren't too strong either.  None of us had any sense to bring our swimsuits, so we merely walked in the surf.

We decided to grab an early lunch at the Smile Thai Food Khao Lak Restaurant.  It's a small mom and pop restaurant with tasty versions of typical Thai fare at a reasonable price of less than $20.

Peak gai tod (crispy fried chicken wings with chili dip)

Kai jiew goong sub (omelet with minced shrimp)

Pad woon sen goong (rice vermicelli with shrimp)

Panang gai rue moo (Penang curry with pork)

We still had time to kill, so we headed back to the beach and found a table overlooking the ocean at a restaurant attached to one of the resort hotels.  For the next hour we sipped on mango smoothies and nibbled on desserts.  When it was finally time for us to leave, we hailed a songthaew (a pickup truck with benches and a roof over the bed that is used as a multi-party taxi) to take us back to the pier.

The previously-quiet pier was now a frenzy of activity as day excursion dive boats were unloading their passengers and carts full of gear.  The harbor itself was filled with all sorts of vessels from modern powerboats, to dilapidated fishing vessels, to Thai Naval warships.

We found our crew for The Junk and were transported to our new home by zodiac.  The first thing we did was get rid of our shoes.  We would be going barefoot for the next five days.  Living space in our cramped cabin would be an issue.  Once on deck, we separated all of the scuba gear and items we would need on the boat and stored the rest of our luggage in the hold.

Our cabins were below deck and accessed via a steep set of stairs. There were no portholes in our room so we minimized our time inside.  Fortunately, we had air-conditioning units which made it really comfortable.  Our en-suite bathroom was a bit cramped, as expected on a boat.  The toilets did flush but paper products had to be disposed of in a small waste basket.  The bathroom was essentially a large shower stall.  We would stand next to the toilet to take a shower.  A drain in the middle of the floor removed all the water.  As bad as it would have sounded to us before we boarded the vessel, it wasn't really a big deal at all.  We were given two sets of towel.  One to dry off after a shower that stayed in our room, and another to dry off after a dive, usually kept topside.

Our stateroom a couple of days into the trip

The tight light bathroom was functional, but, most
importantly, not shared with any strangers.

Once we were settled in, our captain, an American named Jonathan who has been living and diving in Thailand for many years gave us a welcoming speech.  We were introduced to the crew who were mainly Thai locals who spoke only limited English.  In addition to Jonathan, we had three other divemasters--Jerome from France, Marco from Portugal and South Africa, and Ping, a native Thai.

The other guests included a family of five from France.  We were elated to hear that the parents had started their kids at diving at age 10, making it their family hobby.  The youngest of their kids was just finishing high school and was about to reach her 100th dive.  The older siblings flew back from college in Europe to join their family for the holidays.  There were also two American high school teachers from Southern California who were taking advantage of the holidays to catch up on one of their favorite hobbies.  They had extensive experience diving in the Caribbean, so they were a good resource for us in terms of planning future diving trips.  There was one dating couple, also from France.  He had been diving for years, but she had just gotten her open water certification a few months before.  Finally, there was one last couple from South Korea.  This reticent pair were like The Wife and I with only about 10-15 dives worth of experience.

This hodgepodge of people from around the world with varying levels of scuba experience put us at ease right away.  Except for the Koreans, everybody spoke very good English and were outgoing.  We were all grouped up with our divemasters.  Captain Jonathan was battling a cold so he was out of diving commission for a couple of days.  Jerome would naturally lead the French family, Marco would lead the other six as the experienced divers were free to go on their own, and Ping would be guiding our family.  Ping was actually a loaner from the Phinisi, a sister sailing liveaboard.  Only in his mid-20's, he had already gained much experience on other liveaboards in Thailand and other areas of the world.  He had just spent the summer as a divemaster in the cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula.  Hence, he was diving with a side-mounted tank.

Jonathan explained the layout of the boat and the rules that we would need to abide by.  All food and drinks were serve yourself and included in the price of the voyage.  The only exception was alcohol.  If you wanted a beer or wine, just sign the form and they would add the charge at the end of the cruise.  Jonathan requested that passengers come to the galley whenever he rang the bell as that signaled either a pre-dive briefing or meal time.  Other than that, guests were free to do whatever they wanted.

The galley where the pre-dive briefings were held.  Some people ate their meals here, others outside.

The cooler had an endless supply of sodas, fruit juices, beer, and wine.

Jonathan explained what our daily itinerary would look like over the next couple of days:

1) Wake up around 7:30
2) Light snack, coffee, and first dive briefing
3) First dive
4) Breakfast and relaxation
5) Second dive briefing
6) Second dive
7) Lunch and relaxation
8) Third dive briefing
9) Third dive
10) Dinner
11) Fourth dive briefing
12) Fourth dive (night dive)
13) Evening snack
14) Sleep around 10-11 PM

The Thai crew-members set up our diving apparatus.  Most of our stuff was brand new, and we didn't have a chance to get it fully tested.  Unfortunately, I had only hand-tightened some of the high-pressure air hoses, leading to failure of some of the O-rings.  Luckily, the grizzled gear master had plenty of replacement parts.  He corrected me on the mistakes that I had made on our setup.

Our gear stations were all set up by the boat's crew.

Fresh water was always available to rinse wetsuits and electronics.

Most people usually kept their cameras and computers in the water to soak until they were diving.

Our ship then set off.  For the first 1-2 hours, we experienced choppy seas.  The Junk was rolling up and down pretty noticeably.  Sure enough, The Boy started feeling nauseous.  The Kids were wearing some wacky pressure point braces that The Wife had bought that was supposed to help with sea sickness.  They didn't.  We applied a shady Chinese-made scopolamine patch for The Boy.  He turned in early skipping dinner in the process.  Not a great way to start our liveaboard experience!


*****

Thursday, December 27, 2018 to Sunday, December 30, 2018

*****


By the next morning, The Boy had made a miraculous recovery and was feeling great.  His nausea was no more.    The rough rocking that we had initially encountered the night before was transformed into a gentle swaying for the rest of our trip.  We experienced no rain or inclement weather

For the next three and a half days, our days were basically the same.  We would get up early before the bell would ring and apply our sunscreen.  The captain would give us our briefing, explaining to us the topography of the dive sites and what sea life to be on the look out for.  Since we would be using the two zodiac boats, our dives were staggered.  On day one, we were the first group out.  On day two, we were the second group to go, leaving about 15 minutes after the first.  And so on.

Scuba diving can make you tired.  The increased nitrogen load in your body can cause fatigue.  To help with this and recover faster, we took a nitrox course prior to our trip.  We were the only group that was diving nitrox.  It did cost more, but it wasn't unreasonable.  Did it help?  Well, as our nitrox instructor told us in jest--yes, only if you think it does.

After each dive, most passengers headed up to the top deck which was arrayed with a couple of lounge chairs and many bean bags.  People would read, watch movies on their devices, or mainly nap up there until it was time for the next meal or dive briefing.

One of the points that Captain Jonathan stressed was that The Junk prides itself on the food they serve.  He was not joking.  My more-experienced diving friends had warned me that accommodations and food on liveaboards are usually lacking.  But the staff of The Junk can cook.  For each meal, we were provided with an assortment of options including Western fare, Thai/Asian food, and meat and vegetarian options.  Once most of the people have plowed through the savory options, dessert was also brought out.  At night, freshly baked cookies or sweet rolls were usually put out for those who were still awake.  We were never hungry.

Some of the breakfasts we had on board:

Some of the lunches we had on board:

Some of the dinners we had on board:

The first day of diving was pretty easy--mainly to make sure we had our gear sorted out and also to allow the divemasters to gauge our abilities.  The Kids would be using their new wing and backplate BCD's for the first time.  During the dive, I could tell that they were having problems as the tanks were askew on their backs.  This was later fixed by pulling their straps in much tighter.  The four of us must have looked like fish out of water as we were flopping around and kicking wildly in every different direction.  After the first couple of dives Ping gave The Kids some good instructions on proper body control and kicking.

I was having my own problems dealing with my new underwater photography gear.  I had jerry-rigged my Sony A6500 mirrorless camera to use a Tokina 10-17 fisheye lens that I won off of eBay for real cheap.  I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a fancy housing so I purchased the Seafrogs Salt line housing with a dome port.  I needed some better lighting so I purchased an Inon z330 strobe.  It's a great light, but the only problem is that it's pretty impossible to find on the market.  I was able to procure only one before our trip, instead of the recommended two.  Shadows were going to be an issue.  The camera setup did some pretty good photographs.  However, it was so buoyant that I struggled with my own buoyancy over the first several dives until I increased my dive weights to compensate for this issue.  Later, Marco would show me his compact Olympus TG-5 point-and-shoot camera that seemed so much easier to use while diving.

The following dives were offered on our trip:

Day 1 - Similan Islands
Dive 1: Koh Ha (Island 5)
Dive 2: Koh Hin Pousar (Island 7)
Dive 3: Koh Bon (Island 10)
Dive 4: Koh Tachai (Island 11) - night dive

Day 2 - Surin Islands
Dive 1: Koh Torinla
Dive 2: Koh Torinla reef
Dive 3: Turtle lodge
Dive 4: Turtle lodge - night dive

Day 3 - Richelieu Rock
Dive 1: Richelieu Rock
Dive 2: Richelieu Rock
Dive 3: Richelieu Rock
Dive 4: Richelieu Rock - sunset dive

Day 4 - Return Day
Dive 1: Boonsung wreck
Dive 2: Car park

After the first day of diving was through, everybody was really getting back into the swing of things.  The Kids' rigs were dialed in properly and I was getting a better feel of using my bulky fussy camera rig.  The Kids and I loved the night dives the most.  It's a totally different world from the daytime as we could sneak up on fish as they slept.  Furthermore, we were able to spot more crustaceans like crabs and lobsters as they were more active at night.  The Wife hated the night dives because she would stress not being able to see The Kids easily.  She resorted to having to count the number of flashlight beams waving around her.  She ended up skipping out of our second night dive on day two.

On day two, the crew did have to adjust their dive site plans as one of the Thai royal princesses was scuba diving.  Our captain explained that she will go diving once a year and no other boats are allowed in the immediate proximity.  A small naval fleet accompanies her to keep other dive boats away.

The Thai princess's yacht and her naval escorts.

The crew did take time to hoist the sails and we did some real sailing.  From my comfortable seat on the deck, I did notice that it took a lot of strength and manpower to get those large sails up.

By the end of the second day I had done all eight dives.  The Kids had skipped the daytime turtle lodge dive to take a nap.  Jonathan cautioned me to pace myself and not over-exert myself.  I figured how tired can I get when I am just floating around in the water.

On the third day, the dives at Richelieu Rock were amazing.  The many schools of fish that swam in all different directions around us was dizzying.  The downside with Richelieu Rock is that it is also very popular.  There were a many other boats all around us, so we had to pay closer attention to make sure we weren't following the wrong group of divers.  The current was also stronger there than our other dives.  By the afternoon, I was pretty tired.  The whole family decided to sit out the third dive of the day.  We were back in action for the sunset dive.  Unfortunately, The Girl lost her mask as it flew out of her hands while riding the zodiac.  Ping had an extra mask for her to use, but she couldn't get used to it and aborted that dive.  It wasn't a complete disaster as we were all planning for her to sit out the last two dives on the fourth day because they would be above her level.

A group photo of all the divers and crew.

Daddy-daughter dance time.

On the fourth day, The Boy did his first wreck dive on the Boonsung, an old tin mining ship that sank in the 1980's.  All of our previous dives were at 35-50 feet of maximum depth, comfortable enough for The Wife and I to wear our 3mm shortie wetsuits.  The Boonsung sits at about 60 feet, so she was a bit cold during that dive.  She ended up sitting out the very last dive which The Boy and I completed.  We saw our only ray of the trip, a huge stingray that was hiding under a sunken army truck.

By noon, we had arrived back at the Tab Lamu Pier.  We had an incredible experience on the liveaboard.  Four days of diving seemed like plenty as we probably didn't have the stamina for more.  Altogether, I completed 13 of the 14 offered dives, The Boy did 12, The Wife did 11, and The Girl did 9.  Our comfort levels with scuba were definitely higher, and we all agreed that we would continue to pursue this activity in the near future.

The following are some photographs that I took on the dives.  I took pictures on half of the dives and videotaped the rest.

One of the early dives where The Boy's air tank kept tilting to the side

The Girl was too vertical on many of the initial dives.

The quality of the corals was pretty good.  Jonathan explained that some of the sites had been affected by some bleaching recently.  We did see the effects of that on a few of our dives.

My least favorite dive was at Koh Torinla as the reef was full of dead coral.

Nevertheless, there was still a wide diversity of reef fish.  Many of the small ones didn't stray far from the safety of the nooks and crannies of the rocks or the corals.  However, there always seemed to be larger pelagic ones off to the sides keeping a safe distance from us.

Blackspotted puffer fish

Thicklip Wrasse

Moorish idol

Powder blue surgeon fish

Emperor angel fish

Clownfish

Clark's anemone fish

Red saddleback anemone fish

Goby

Saddleback butterfly fish

Rabbitfish

Longfin batfish

Clown triggerfish

Minatus grouper

Pickhandle Barracuda

Longnose emperor

Giant trevally

Titan triggerfish

During our briefings, Jonathan warned us to stay away from the titan trigger fish.  They can get pretty large and are very territorial.  He told of a story about one of his previous clients who angered one of these trigger fish.  The titan then proceeded to attack him and bite him in the face giving him many bloody cuts.

He also warned us about the painful stings of a lion fish and the scorpion fish.  The lion fish is not a problem as they are easy to spot.  Unfortunately, the scorpion fish blends into the rocks staying perfectly still.  More than once I almost touched or brushed beside a rock only to spot a scorpion fish at the last second.  Finally the moray eels aren't very aggressive, but we weren't interested in finding out how close we needed to get to them before they took chunk of our flesh.

Lion fish

Scorpion fish

Moray eel and friend

It wasn't just fish that we saw.  Several slow organisms also littered the reefs and ocean floor.

Sea cucumber

Blue sea star

Aquatic penis

Crown of thorns starfish

Black phyllidia nudibranch

Celestial phyllidia nudibranch

Tiger egg cowry, small sea snail with a yellow shell.

Although we saw a wide variety of fish and creatures, we were unlucky that we didn't run into any large pelagic marine life like sharks, manta rays, or sea turtles that can often be found around these dive sites.  My favorite sea life that we encountered were a pair of phantom cuttlefish at Richelieu Rock.  I couldn't believe how large they were--about the size of house cats.  Despite the strong currents, they just seemed to float in the same spot almost oblivious to the half dozen divers who were staring at them.  I could have watched them all day.

One of the best parts of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean is the sense of serenity and peacefulness that accompanies sunrise and sunset.