Diving in The Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar ( Burma ) 2000

by David Maxfield

After A long and very dark winter, I decided a trip to somewhere exotic was in order, so with the help of Linda Duffy (a fellow club member), I booked on a ten day trip to the Mergui Archipelago, Burma.
Heathrow, Bangkok and then on to Phuket where I arrived mid-morning and was transferred to the Coral Amari Beach hotel in Patong Beach. I had the afternoon to have a quick look around the town, which is center on the beach itself. Then it was off to bed for an early start in the morning.

The day started at 8 a.m. rounding up the other four divers that would be on the yacht Crescent with me. As it happened they were all British and were making a video on declining shark populations in SE Asia and had been out in Thailand for two weeks already. All assembled we got in the minibus for the four and a half hour drive to Ranong where we could cross the river into Myanmar.

The countryside was breathtaking with the odd elephant to be seen hauling lumber at the side of the road. Once we had cleared immigration at Ranong all the gear (and there was plenty of it) was transferred into a long tail boat for the journey across the delta to Kaw Thaung or Victoria Point, as it was known. The river is exceptionally turbid and there has been an increase in Bull shark attacks which they say like turbid water you have been warned!
The Crescent was moored in the estuary and once all the gear had been stowed we had to pay a visit to the Myanmar immigration officials who were meeting us in a hotel in town. No sooner had we landed than we were beset by some of the local kids who decided to adopt us for our brief stay. On arrival at the hotel we were informed to keep cameras out of the way. The reason, the cost of the visa is $140 US - the cost on the actual immigration document is $20 US - its good to see that bribery and corruption aren't dead and that government officials don't want to be recorded on the take! This is the norm and if you do visit don't be perturbed when they hang on to your passports. SEAL (our hosts) were the first dive operators to be granted a licence by the Myanmar government and are well known to them.
The town of Kaw Thaung is like nothing you've seen before - very smelly, very dirty. However all the people are very friendly and my whiter than white legs attracted a lot of smiles, that and my dashing good looks of course! One of the most frightening things you 'll see is people with bloody teeth - it 's the result of chewing something called 'bing' which is made of crushed palm leaves and who knows what else. The palm leaves basically cause your gums to bleed but I am assured that after a few weeks on this stuff your teeth will always be white?
After a short delay while Crescent lent their tender to the Myanmar customs and a brief but very warm tropical storm, we motored out of the delta for an overnight run to the first site at Stewarts Island

Crescent is a 70ft ketch with one double berth (mine) and six singles. Two electric compressors are mounted at the rear of the wheelhouse and you have the skipper, a chef and two boat boys to ensure the only exercise you do besides the dive is to get up the ladder. The food onboard was Thai and was exquisite especially when livened up by a catch of fresh fish by one of the boat boys.

Day 1 - Stewarts Island / In Through the Out Door.
The basic plan for the week was first dive of the day at 07.30 followed by breakfast and then another dive followed by lunch then another dive followed by dinner depending on the location. Stewarts Island was used as a check out dive - and what a check out it was! The swim through was an absolute animal but stunning. The return to the boat was quite interesting too. As we came over the shoulder of the reef at one end of the island a 4-5 knot current ripped us off the reef and plunged us back down - 15 m to 30m in about ten seconds. Because of the visibility (35m+) it just seemed perfectly natural and we all enjoyed the ride.

Second dive of the day was at a site called In Through the Out Door. A stunning site with amazing life - coral rock cod, long snout pipefish, trumpet fish, black banded coral nakes, yellow tail barracuda, cuttlefish, moray, octopus and lionfish. This was my first dive with a camera and as you can see first efforts weren't too bad.

Third dive of the day was at the same site but along a wall - amazing fans, sponges and soft corals, and a pair of mating cuttlefish.

Day 2 - Black Rock
An overnight steam saw us arrive at Black Rock at about 6.00 am. Black Rock has a reputation for sharks and rightly so. We dropped down to 40m right on the edge of the reef and were rewarded with some patrolling Oceanic Blacktips on the edge of the blue. Further encounters included three Leopard sharks.
The third dive of the day was even more rewarding. While kitting up, a long process when there are two still cameras and two video cameras to be handed, sharks were seen 100m off the bow leaping out of the water after bait fish - an amazing but unnerving sight. The dive resulted in mantis shrimp, white tip sharks and some large morays.

Day 3 - North Eastern Little Torres / Khun Thee Island
In the water by 8 and instantly rewarded with a 2-3 m bull shark followed by two gray reef and later a blue spotted stingray. A force 7 storm that came out of nowhere made life a bit interesting on the second dive as only two of us were in the water - the other two were just about to enter - that's how quickly it came in!
After the excitement of the storm we motored to Khun Thee island where we did a little exploring on land and then I suggested a night dive in the bay after dinner and got the privilege of naming this virgin site. So there is now a Yorkshire man's Reef in Burma - Nora Batty would be proud.

Day 4 - Black Rock
Lots more shark encounters - white tips, leopards and a pair of eagle rays as well.

Day 5/6 - Silvertip Reef, Burma Banks
Obviously from the name you can tell that this site is known for its sharks. We did three feed dives over the two days and were rewarded with several nurse sharks, lots of white tips and a large! Silvertip. Sitting with your back to a coral head in water that you 've just filled with the blood and flesh of three day old dead fish watching a 3 m Silvertip swim towards you is probably one of the most stupid things you can do - but if you get the chance I couldn't recommend it more highly.
The steam to South Twin rewarded us with the company of a pod of about fifteen dolphins for about half an your. This was followed by a night dive into the blue. Basically we hung six UK 400 s on the end of a rope at 35m and left them there for half an hour. Quite an interesting experience - all we saw was a small shoal of squid and a lot of phosphorescence when we turned the torches off, but it's very unnerving when you re in 30m of water in the middle of the Andaman Sea - you do get the feeling you're being watched!

Day 7 - South Twin Island
The dive site for all four dives was named by the skipper - White Man Walk Home after a fiberglass cruiser played chicken with the reef, very ominous for the last day of diving? During the four dives there were no sharks to be seen but caught a glimpse of a manta ray, unfortunately we were at 25m and he was at about 10m and as it was the last dive the thought of DCS happily kept us from him.
All in all, seven of the best days I've had so far in my life - the relaxation, the stunning scenery and the sense of adventure made this into an unforgettable experience. I still had three days left and therefore on my return to Patong Beach I booked a three-dive trip with the dive operation in the hotel for the Sunday, allowing me a 36 hr defizz before flying home.

The liveaboard was with a company called South East Asia Liveaboards (SEAL) run by two British guys -a very slick operation with three yachts, which runs trips to the Mergui archipelago, the Andaman islands and the Similan and Surin Islands. My main reason for choosing Mergui was the fact that it had only been opened up to foreigners in 1997 and therefore would become an increasingly popular destination so I thought I'd get in quick before it followed so many other dive destinations.

South East Asia Liveaboards Co., Ltd.
225 Rat-U-Thit Rd, Patong Beach,
Phuket 83150 - Thailand.
www.seal-asia.com
TEL: 001 66 76 340 406.
Fax: 001 66 76 340 586.
Email: info@seal-asia.com