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Marco Polo
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Marco Polo, Thailand

5.0Excellent4 verified reviews
from
USD
847
per trip

Marco Polo trips include the best dive sites of the Andaman Sea in Thailand - Similans, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, and Richelieu Rock. You can get a full package and extend your diving vacations and stay at one of the boat's resorts. Nitrox is included in the price of the liveaboard trip. Dive sites feature great visibility and an abundance of marine life including sharks and amazing coral gardens.

Boat Interior

Marco Polo is rather a small boat, she has space only for 12 people in 6 cabins. There are 6 air-conditioned outside cabins with private bathrooms with a sink, toilet, and rain shower. Boat's passengers can book the entire cabin or share a twin bunk-bed cabin with another diver.
Boat's salon area has two parts. Open-air part is perfect to relax after diving and enjoy a gorgeous view of blue water and green islands. The indoor salon area has a small entertainment area which you can use to observe photos made throughout the day.

Dive Deck

The dive deck is spacious, divers will be always comfortable during the preparing for diving or water diving. It has a perfectly covered top, so your equipment and you will be always under the shade.

Safety

Marco Polo crew staff always cares for the safety on board, they know how to manage emergency situations. Also, there are necessary facilities on board like life rafts.

Friendly and Experienced Crew

Marco Polo Liveaboard has well-trained staff. Because of a small capacity, you can count on personal care. “Boat boys” are always keeping the yacht in shape, they can also help you with your equipment. Marco Polo chef will provide you with the best national food. Boat's instructors Anita Nelson has PADI and SSI certifications. They love their work and can show you a fascinating dive spots.

Itinerary

Marco Polo itinerary consists of diving on Similan Islands, Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, famous Richelieu Rock. Similans is known between divers. It’s crystal clear water promise you diving with white tip and black tip sharks, barracudas, unicornfish. It’s also coral reefs and walls. Koh Bon Island is famous for a great possibility to see mantas. Koh Tachai also features numerous canyons and overhangs covered with large sea fans. Diving safari can also include diving at Richelieu Rock, one of the most popular dive spot in Thailand for its large pinnacles and a chance to meet manta rays and whale shark.

When to Go

High season for visiting Thailand is from November until April, visibility, and other diving conditions are good at this time of the year. If you want to dive with whale sharks, then it would be better for you to chose months from February till May.

Cabins

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Double Suite Cabin
Main Deck
Double Suite Cabin
2 Guests
Boat plan
Boat deck plan

Boat Specification

Year built / Renovation
1998 / 2021
Number of cabins
6
Dive guides to divers ratio
5:1
Groups or charters
Yes
Gear rental
Surcharge
Wi-Fi
No
Nitrox
Free
Fleet/Managing company
Sea Bees Diving
Length and width
24 m / 6 m
Capacity
12
Tenders
Dinghy
Material
Wood
Languages crew speak
English, German
Power plugs onboard
220V
Generator
3 x 220/12V
Tech diving friendly
Yes
Handicapped Friendly
No
Compressors
2 x Bauer Mariner

Dive Facilities

  • Warm Water Showers
  • Rebreather Support
  • Compressors
  • Tenders for Diving
  • Tech Diving
  • Dive Deck

Boat navigation & safety

Full safety

Food & Drinks

  • Western Food
  • Local Food
  • Dietary Restrictions
  • Buffet Style
  • Hot & Cold Soft Drinks
  • Snacks All Day

Onboard Facilities

  • Air Conditioned Saloon
  • Sun Deck
  • Sun Loungers
  • Open Air Saloon
  • Indoor Saloon
  • Bar
  • Non-Diver (Snorkeler) Friendly

Marco Polo Reviews

5
Excellent
4 verified reviews
Cabins & Facilities
Food & drinks
Guiding & Safety
Service & Infrastructure
5.0
Marco Polo liveaboard – 14-18.04.2024
This was my fourth time on Marco Polo after my previous trip with them in 2020. We had two guides, Maren and Thomas who did their best to guarantee good dives considering divers with different experience levels. We had some good sightings at Richelieu Rock and Similan Islands with a large diversity of marine life, from longnose emperors and trevallies hunting, to anemonefish, leopard shark, baby white tip shark and adult white tip sharks, harlequin shrimp, mantis shrimp, honeycomb morays, banded sea snake, stingrays, plenty of nudibranch, pufferfish, etc. In the past I saw whale sharks and manta rays as well. Since the last trip on Marco Polo, they did some upgrades to the rooms, which are now more spacious and have air-conditioning and private bathrooms. These are well appreciated. The captain and the staff also did their best to make the trip as comfortable as possible. The food was great, as usual, with both Thai and European meals, fruit and plenty of snacks too. Compared to the last time I’ve been with them, there have been also some other changes to this liveaboard. The trips now start and finish from the Thap Lamu Pier in Khao Lak instead of Chalong, as they used to a few years ago. Sea Bees offer included transportation to this departure/arrival port. Also, instead of 6 nights/6 days of diving trips, they have split it into separate liveaboards, one 4 nights and one 2 nights. Personally, I preferred the old format since it had more dives in the best spots in the Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock and we also had time to do an afternoon trip on island no 8 @ Donald Duck bay. Also in these shorter trips, if something unforeseen such as any kind of issue comes up, the impact on the trip is felt more, due to the limited number of dives and the long distances to get to the diving spots. Maybe from time to time they could do longer trips like before. All in all, the Sea Bees fleet is a reliable company, and besides the Marco Polo liveaboard, they also do diving daytrips from Chalong Pier with their other boat Excalibur II, to Shark Point and Phi Phi Island. I also did daytrips with them before the liveaboard just to do some more dives and test the setup for the Marco Polo liveaboard. As to Divebooker, the experience was flawless as usual. Teresa and Karina have helped with all necessary details related to the booking and I thank them for that. I would recommend booking through Divebooker, since this guarantees the best possible experience and conditions.
Service & Infrastructure
Guiding & Safety
Food & drinks
Cabins & Facilities
2024-04-29by C. Octavian
5.0
Early March
Both the dive and boat teams where outstanding. Safety was a priority with only 4 divers per group. There was more food than you could consume, lots of choices and worked with dietaries. Even though the water is very flat, consistent currents do bring poor vis (avg 7-15m). That being said it keeps the schools of fish happy and plenty of manta sightings. If you are a photographer be sure to bring an extension bar with that has a 2m cord. There is not a lot of places to plug in multiple chargers plus personal items in your cabin.
Service & Infrastructure
Guiding & Safety
Food & drinks
Cabins & Facilities
2020-03-05by R. Matthew
5.0
Marco Polo 21 - 27.01.2020 - Similan Islands
This was my third trip with Marco Polo and I must say, it was well worth it. The boat, crew and facilities were great, as always. The staff did all they could to make the trip a successful one. The food was fantastic and it included European - German and Thai cuisine. The room was spacious. There are some rooms with air-conditioning and some with fans but all rooms have sea view. This is the great thing about this ship. Nitrox is free on this boat if you are certified. If you are not, the dive guides can help you get certified during the trip. Since most of the dives are not deeper than 30m, nitrox is great for increasing bottom time and getting the most out of the dives. The trip usually includes 2 night dives and 2 sunset dives, as well as a few morning dives at sunrise. We were particularly lucky on this trip since we saw giant manta rays on 4-5 dives. On one dive particularly, we had 2 mantas and one of them stayed with us for 40 minutes circling very close and doing flips. It was the greatest dive. We also saw lots of marine life at Richelieu Rock, trivialise and longnose emperors hunting, mantis shrimp, guitar shark, white tip sharks and even a baby white tip shark. On previous trips with them I saw also whale sharks. Therefore, I strongly recommend diving with Marco Polo and Sea Bees at the Similan Islands!
Service & Infrastructure
Guiding & Safety
Food & drinks
Cabins & Facilities
2020-02-08by C. Octavian

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