Koh Bon and our search for mantas came up short but we still enjoyed multi-bar pipefish, napoleon wrasse, banded sea snake and devil scorpionfish. Also the ridge itself than comprises the main part of the dive site is beautifully covered in soft corals.
The best dive of the day had to be the sunset dive on Koh Tachai. As soon as you start descending you can see the site is covered in a blanket of fish. Barracuda, tuna, trevally, batfish and rainbow runners all found cruising around the top of ‘The Dome’.
Next morning and dive on Koh Tachai again. Some of the fish had disappeared but it still didn’t disappoint. One group got video of 200 or so trevally cruising past them. Then after breakfast its off to Richelieu Rock. Waves had picked up a little and when we reached the site we could see it had affected visibility a bit. Even though we couldn’t see as far there was more fish in water than normal especially schooling; highlight of the day for my group was swimming right in the middle of a school of yellowtail and pickhandle barracuda. The wind subsided and the last two dives on Richelieu were calm and easy and of course filled with pipefish, shrimp, moray, cowries, and everything in between. Also one group found a frogfish hanging upside down in one of the cracks! Good Spotting!
Last day and dives on Koh Bon Pinnacle and Boonsung Wreck. Boonsung is always a treat to finish the trip on and this was no different. Lots of nice nudibranch as well as ornate ghost pipefish, freckled frogfish, spearing mantis made this a dive to remember. Well done to all the people passing their courses (Open Water, Advanced Open Water and Nitrox).
Hopefully see you in the future. MQIII