The Underwater World of South Thailand

I joined 12 others on a diving trip to South Thailand from 24th to 28th November, 2006. We boarded MV Pawara at Chalong Bay on the southern end of Phuket Island in the evening of 24th and the boat took us south to Hin Daeng, a pinnacle about 12 nautical miles from Koh Rok which is itself about 100 km southeast of Phuket.

MV Pawara is a new medium-sized dive boat. It can accommodate about 20 divers comfortably and has been designed and equipped for the convenience of divers.

Over the 3 following days, we did 12 dives at Hin Daeng, ... (more)

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MV Pawara, one of the many live-aboard dive boats belonging to Sunrise...

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MV Pawara at sunset

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The silhuette of a scuba diver

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Divers holding on the a moor-line for their decompression stop

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A diver among a school of barracudas

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A diver observing a school of barracudas

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2 sea cucumbers busy foraging for food

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Shooting a group of batfish

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A group of batfish

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Batfish (Platax orbicularis)

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A shoal of moluccen snappers (Lutjanus boutton)

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A large school of snappers

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A large school of herrings

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A large school of herrings

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A smooth flutemouth (Fistularia commersonii)

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A leopard shark (also known as zebra shark)(Stegastoma fasciatum)

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A blue-spotted mask-ray (Dasyatis kuhlii)

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Redcoat squirrelfish (Sargocentron rubrum) and crimson soldierfish...

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A juvenile emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator)

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A banded splendour wrasse (Cheilinus fasciatus)

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A small-spotted grouper (Epinephelus caeruleopunctatus)

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A spotted coralcod (Plectropomus leopardus)

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A coral rockcod (Cephalopholis miniata)

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A black-spotted puffer (Arothron nigropunctatus)

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A starry puffer (Arothron stellatus)

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?

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A variegated lizardfish (Synodus jaculum)

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A giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus)

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A giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus)

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A spot-face moray (Gymnothorax fimbriatus)

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A curious goby poking its head out of its den

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Another curious goby

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A raggy scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis venosa)

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Close-up of a raggy scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis venosa)

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Another close-up of a raggy scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis venosa)

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2 spotfin lionfish (Pterois antennata)

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A spotfin lionfish (Pterois antennata)

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A soldier lionfish (Pterois miles)

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A spotfin lionfish (Pterois antennata)

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A spotfin lionfish (Pterois antennata)

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A zebra lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)

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A common lionfish (Pterois volitans)

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A common lionfish (Pterois volitans)

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A common lionfish (Pterois volitans)

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A common lionfish (Pterois volitans)

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Magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica) with a western skunk...

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A magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica) with a Clark's...

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A magnificent anemone (Heteractis magnifica) with a Clark's anemonefish...

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A beaded sea anemone (Heteractis aurora) with an adult and a juvenile...

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A beaded sea anemone (Heteractis aurora) with a Clark's anemonefish...

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A close-up of a beaded sea anemone (Heteractis aurora)

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A cluster of magnificent anemones (Heteractis magnifica) with 2 Clark's...

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A magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica)

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An octopus

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An octopus

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An octopus with many hinged beak shrimps next to it

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2 octopuses in courtship

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A spiny lobster hiding in a rock crevice

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A spiny lobster

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An orange shrimp with long white whiskers

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A banded shrimp

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Banded shrimps

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A banded shrimp

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A few hinged beak shrimps

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Can you see the transparent shrimp?

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A nudibranch (Glossodoris hikuerensis)

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A nudibranch (Ceratosoma sp.)

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2 Ceratosoma nudibranchs in courtship

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A very small nudibranch

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A sea slug belonging to the family Phyllidiidae

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Another sea slug in the family Phyllidiidae

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Yet another sea slug in the family Phyllidiidae

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A sea slug in the family Phyllidiidae

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A sea slug in the family Phyllidiidae

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A sea slug in the family Phyllidiidae

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A murex shell

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A cowrie shell (Cypraea sp.)

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Close-up of a giant clam

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Another close-up of a giant clam

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Close-up of a giant clam

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Close-up of a giant clam

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Close-up of a giant clam

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A sea cucumber foraging for food

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A crown-of-thorns starfish

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Close-up of a crown-of-thorns starfish

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A yellow worm among the thorns of a crown-of-thorns starfish

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Close-up of a crown-of-thorns starfish showing its anus

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The underside of a pin-cushion starfish

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A single starfish "finger" with regrowth at one end

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A beautiful sea urchin species

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A sea urchin

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A sea urchin

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A sea urchin

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A sea urchin

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Close-up of a sea urchin showing its anus

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A sea urchin

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A sea urchin

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A sea urchin

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A tube worm

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A soft coral (Tubastrea sp.)

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A soft coral (Dendronephthya sp.)

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A kidney-shaped soft coral

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Bubble soft coral

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A top-shaped hard coral

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A hard coral

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Gorgonian seafan

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Gorgonian seafan

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A giant gorgonian seafan

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A mysterious transparent ribbon-shaped thing wriggled past me as I was...

article published 11/30/2006

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Thanks so much! for all your wonderful diving pictures! Sitting here in boiling Arizona, it really cooled me off, quite a bit!!
— Eleanor Robb, August 1, 2009

diving off Phuket island
Hi Mee Poon, wow! that's all i can express.so painstakingly done with all the labels and such beautiful pictures that has been captured by your lens.Great job, man!I can certainly see your passion in this! i really enjoyed it very very much, Thanks alot for sharing! happy Diving ee hooi
— soon ee hooi, December 5, 2006

Superb macros
Very impressive close-up shots of scorpion, lion-fish. Love the beaded sea anemone (haven't encountered one before). Couldn't see the transparent shrimp - species Shrimpus invisibilitii? And the "mysterious transparent ribbon-shaped thing" looked to me like a jellyfish.

Still haven't made it to Hin Daeng yet, wasted my AirAsia ticket to Phuket in Nov. because of clash with Nepal trip...sigh.

Cheers,

Chee Weng
— Yeoh Chee Weng, November 30, 2006