Smiling Seahorse, Thailand

A friend who had previously been on this trip recommended this liveaboard, so I had good feelings about it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the most underwhelming liveaboard I've been on. The dives were especially disappointing and the rest of the trip - atmosphere, food options, service, and facilities - didn't make up for the quality. Dive Quality: The "Burmese entry and diving fees" of 230 USD per person do not contribute to the maintenance or protection of dive sites. Most of our dive sites in Mergui were littered with discarded fishing nets and sometimes surrounded by fishing boats. On one of the dives, my buddy and I found 3 living fish caught in a ghost net. We managed to free the fish, then spent the rest of our dive attempting to remove as much of the net as we could. Aside from that, the visibility was subpar and the marine life was not that impressive to justify revisiting the same dive sites. Burma Banks had great visibility and bigger marine life (nurse sharks, marble rays) to enjoy, but the dives were short (45 mins) due to the reef being flat in the deep (25-30m). Service: This operator is still inexperienced and has much to improve in all aspects of its business. Communication before and during the trip was rushed and often felt unprofessional. On the day of departure, guests were informed to pay 1000THB each to change the itinerary to Burma Banks instead of Black Rock. The owner, Frank, was adamant about everyone using Nitrox, and my friend was pressured into taking the Nitrox course last minute. There were other instances during the trip where Frank's handling of situations and communicating felt inappropriate. Frank seemed to care about his photography above all else and even encouraged some divers with cameras to do the same. One diver in our group caused some problems because he was harassing sharks with his strobes; this diver ignored our dive guide's instructions, then later justified his inappropriate actions by saying this was allowed when he took a private lesson with Frank. So our dive group took this matter into our own hands - we showed this diver on a later dive, how to approach sharks with more caution as to not disturb it, allowing the whole group to enjoy the encounter. A reputable diving operator would encourage all divers to respect the marine life and environment. The Smiling Seahorse does not. Something else I found uncomfortable was the atmosphere on the cruise. There was lots of encouragement from staff (and other guests) to drink alcohol, with daily apéritif and free drinks offered in some instances. I noticed many divers were skipping dives quite often, some due to ear problems and some due to poor quality of dives. I think people go on liveaboards for many reasons, and if partying and occasionally diving is what you're after, then maybe this is for you. Unfortunately, this is the only operator servicing in Burma at the moment, so my options were limited. After my experience in Burma, I don't see any reason to recommend these dive sites or this liveaboard.

My cabin was on the top of the boat, so I had a bit of a hard time sleeping. But they helped me out with it as best they could. The boat spoils you with all the food, and there's 4 dives a day including some night diving which I love. Facilities are sufficient, water is hot and the water entry is seamless. Staff is very friendly and will try to accomadate you. Great boat, highly recommend.