- King Cruiser Sinks
 You may have seen on CNN or other news programs that the inter-island ferry the King Cruiser, a 70 meter long car ferry, sunk after hitting Anenome Reef near Shark Point two weeks ago. Even though there were over 600 passengers on board, all managed to reach rescue boats safely.
The reason it sunk? Well, they seemed to be a little off course on their way to Phi Phi Island and managed to hit a well marked, well known little pinnacle that was no where near to where they should have been. This is Thailand.
The boat has sunk in 32 meters of water. As of this date, diving companies here in Phuket have been diving regularly on the wreck. Although its legal status is still uncertain, it appears that the boat will stay on the bottom where it belongs.
The boat has been cleaned up somewhat and is becoming safer every day. The masts have been cut off and the wreck has been buoyed. All three decks can be entered and the boat is a perfect multi-level dive. Only two areas are really unsafe as of this writing and they are the engine room to due limited room and lots of oil, and the main salon, as the paper roof is falling apart and visibility is reduced quite rapidly.
Now that we have a real wreck, there is little excuse not to make your next diving holiday Phuket. After all, now we have it all...
We'll keep you updated.
- Mergui in Burma, is finally opening
After a wait of almost two-years, we've finally gained permission to visit fabulous Mergui in the Southern Part of Myanmar (Burma). These untouched and unspoiled islands are now available to us for exploratory cruises. As of this writing, permission has been given to dive the offshore islands as well as some of the inshore areas, and full diving permission has been given. Also, check in procedures at Victoria Point (Kauthong) have been greatly streamlined.
Initial reports are of lots and lots of sharks, and different species of fish and coral than what we find here in Thai waters. I'll be updating my description of the area as soon as I've received more information.
Again, for you bird watchers, this area is a dream come true. There are also reports of rinos, wild elephants, and even tigers. We'll be offering Burma trips on the s.y. Colona II. Click here for more a complete schedule of trips with prices.
- Our newest schedules are available
Schedules for most of our live-aboard boats are now available for the next high season. You can find four of the boats listed here.
- Sai Mai Update
 The m.v. Sai Mai's itinerary is changing somewhat next year. We're still doing the longer trips on her as we feel these offer the highest quality and the best diving. However, we realize that not all of you can get away for such a long time, so what we've done is divide the trips into a three-day and a six-day leg. The three-day leg goes down South to Hin Daeng, and the six-day leg will travel Northwest on our regular schedule--or combine the two for a total of nine-days. So, for those of you who have been itching to dive Sai Mai but didn't have the time, here's your chance.
Sai Mai will also be doing some trips up to Burma. We'll have the finalized schedule very soon. Or, e-mail us for details.
- Our next IDC begins on July 22
After introducing PADI Instructor Development to Phuket in 1991, we're continuing to offer IDCs six-times per year. Our next 10-day program begins on July 22 and the IE will take place on August 2 and 3. For a full schedule, please see our upper-level instruction sections.
- Seraph Summer Specials
The s.y. Seraph is a 60 foot ketch rig built in Denmark in 1906 which has just been re-rigged and is now air-conditioned. Your captain, Mark Horwood, will be your expedition leader as we sail around Phang-nga Bay for 4 days and 3 nights all summer.
While on board, you'll have the opportunity to scuba dive of course, but Mark will also be giving lessons in small boat handling, coastal navigation, basic seamanship, knot tying, and large vessel sailing skills. It should be a fun trip for those of you who have always wanted to learn about the sea and the men who sail upon her. For further details, just contact us.
We'll also be visiting the Andamans again next year with Mark on Seraph.
- Our web pages are growing
Our pages have been slow to update, but as you know since you're here, we're getting there. We've had technical problems--mostly because I did not understand the limitations of HTML--and haven't managed to get much on. But, as of this time we do have full dive site descriptions under 'Sites', our 'Go Pro' section is fully operational, and Sai Mai's schedules and complete information including pictures, descriptions, and layout is available under 'Dive'. All of our live-aboard schedules are up in the 'Dive' area as well. Happy surfing.
- Newest diving guide
A new diving guide to Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia has just been released by Periplus Editions. Periplus is the company that published Underwater Indonesia a few years ago and it has become the most popular and comprehensive guide to diving in the Indonesian islands.
 This most recent book, Diving Southeast Asia features dive descriptions covering Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and of course Thailand. The Thailand section was written by yours truly, John B. Williams, and features all of the best and worst sites in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf.
Part of the book is available here on our web site, so have a peek.
The book is available for purchase in Thailand through Asia Books, Co. Ltd.; In Singapore and Malaysia through Berkeley Books Pte. Ltd.; in Hong Kong and Taiwan through Asia Publishers Services Ltd.; and in Indonesia at C.V. Java Books. Hopefully it's available in North America and in Europe as well, but I don't know where. If you would like to order it, visit our Sites section.
If anyone happens to read it, let me know what you think.
- The Andaman Islands
 Some friends in Singapore have told me that they would like to go to the Andaman Islands next year, and we think that's a good idea since we haven't been in a couple of years. We'll probably take the deluxe 75 foot yacht s.y. Parati over there and do two back-to-back diving trips to various places around these beautiful, unspoiled islands.
We'll also be going with the s.y. Seraph, which was one of the first boats to visit the area, and it's owner, Mark Horwood, knows the islands as well as anyone.
If anyone is interested, please contact me here. We're looking at the end of January 1998. It'll be fun, don't miss out!
- Season Wrap-up
The high season here in Phuket is winding down, and it's been a good diving year. We've been lucky to have had quite a few friends visit us, and even with the phone change after our breakup with the old company, most of them have found us.
Whale shark action as been great around here this year as well, and on Sai Mai, all of our Whaleshark Expeditions have produced the big guys.
I was actually diving this year in February, off a beautiful yacht named Parati, and in five days we managed to see seven whale sharks. So, Phuket remains one of the best places in the world to see whale sharks in clear water.
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