MV Scuba Adventure South  1st March – 4th March 2014

This South Andaman trip on MV Scuba Adventure was a reunion trip of previous customers with a few more joining us. Kath, the tour leader was so happy to see Peter, Hannah, Andre, Matthew and Gareth who had dived with us previously. They were joined by Atle, Kristin, Liina and Orjan.

MV Scuba Adventure left Chalong Pier with flat calm seas and headed to Phi Phi where the first dive was going to be as a check dive.

Phi Phi

The first dive of the day was Koh Bida Nok. We were woken early so we would miss the day boats from Phi Phi. As we dropped in along the NW side we saw a leopard shark just sitting on the bottom. The customers were able to take their photos easily and then we continued the check dive. We really enjoyed this dive as there is so much to see on Bida Nok. This dive site offers a diverse topography and marine life, so macro is great as well as looking out into the blue to see trevallies and other predators hunting their prey. Dive 2 was on Koh Bida Nai, a sister Island to Kho Bida Nok. So the topography is virtually the same. A few minutes into the dive we were graced by the resident black tip reef sharks. We had 2 swimming around us. Three sharks in two dives…..must be a good luck omen!!!

Leopard Shark

After the dive we headed for Koh Haa. We were going to dive Koh Haa Yai (The Cathedral). When we arrived the National Park boat came to us to collect the money. As they were alongside we heard Captain Pu screaming that there was a Whale Shark and we should jump in and snorkel. Kath jumped in first, but unfortunately it went deep. It was seen by everyone from the surface. Fingers crossed that it would return. We did the caves at Koh Haa and then continued the dive along the reef. The soft corals here are stunning with a spectrum of colours. A great dive site for macro. Andre and Onjan were so lucky that they saw the whale shark on the safety stop.

The Cathedral Koh Haa – Cedric Saveuse

The night dive on Island 2 was just as exciting. Kath had found Harlequin Shrimps a few weeks ago so she was on a mission to show the divers these rare crittiers and she did. Gareth managed to get some fantastic shots which we hope we will see later. Liina did her night dive for her AOW and Matthew completed his

Night Dive Speciality. The rest of the group surfaced and then Matt and Kath had lights out for 3 minutes. A very enjoyable experience….lots of sparkles in the water.

Hin Muang

Day 2 and we headed out to Hin Muang and Hin Daeng . Our first dive on Hin Muang was a lovely dive with minimal current and then surprise a manta cruising by. The manta didn’t return and it did look as if it was on a mission!!! Gut reaction was that it was heading to Hin Daeng. Dive 2 with flat calm seas and the sun beating down…need to get into the water. We started the dive along the wall and then…..MANTA!!!! Kath briefed about a cleaning station on Hin Daeng and low and behold the mantas were there all 4 of them. What an incredible sight. Words will never express the experience the divers had. One manta just hung for 20 minutes above a rock whilst being cleaned by cleaner and moon wrasse. The divers were able to take photos and witness something they may never see again. The tour leader was blown away!!! Reluctantly we had to end the dive but we were hoping for more on the next dive and it delivered!!!

Hin Daeng

Next dive on Hin Daeng and a few minutes in the water and then MANTA…sorry no MANTAS all 4 of them just circling on the sloping reef. No need to go any further. The mantas were amazing!!!!! What a fantastic experience. Who needs to see the rest of the dive site? We came for this and Hin Daeng delivered!!! Pete, Hannah and Kath did the safety stop with mantas surrounding them. It has to be the longest safety stop on record. How can you end a dive when there are 3 majestic creatures playing with you? Time to end was when Peter was on 10 bar…..

Manta Rays

The last dive of the day was Koh Haa Neau. Here there is diverse topography from the limestone to the plate reef. There are copious amounts of anemones here and at sunset they start to close like cocoons showing their beautiful colour. There is a huge school of resident 5 line snappers and twin spot snappers which is a sight to be seen. The reef is lovely offering big eyes, lion fish, moray eels and we also saw 2 banded sea snakes. Part of the group turned back at 100 bar to do a leisurely dive back to the limestone area where the chimney was. Kath, Andre, Matt and Peter did the chimney. It goes from 16m to 7m and opens up into a chamber full of big eyes. A lovely experience for divers.

Koh Haa – Cedric Saveuse

Day 3 and first dive on King Cruiser Wreck. It has now become a lovely artificial reef with lots of soft corals and marine life. Nudibranch are prolific on the walls and the honeycomb moray eel has been seen here, which is quite rare in Phuket waters. The current was minimal and the dive was great. Next dive was Shark Point. Oh my, what a current…we flew around part of the pinnacle, but then we had calm. Each and every diver was looking at the finer things in marine life. Garth found a nudibranch Kath had never seen before on one of the lines on Shark Point. Shark Point ha such an abundance of marine life. The corals and barrel sponges are stunning. A beautiful dive site even in strong current. Final dive at Koh Doc Mai and a wonderful one it is for macro. We  had an easy drift checking out nudibranch, banded coral shrimps, white eyed moray eels, yellow margin moray eels and so much more. Gareth found a nudibranch that Kath had never seen before.

Nudi – Koh Doc Mai

Kath has done the South trip many times, but this was her best yet. Hannah described it as  a  “WOWZER” trip ………………..Kath would totally agree with that!!!!!! Let’s hope that manta madness doesn’t stop in the South

SIMILANS, KOH BON, KOH TACHAI AND RICHELIEU ROCK 7^th Feb to 11^th Feb 2014

Thank you Kath and Nicolas for a great trip on boat MV Scuba Adventure to the Similans this week

What a fantastic trip.

On board for the 4 days 4 nights were Steve and Jo, repeat customers of Scuba Cat Diving, last time they were on board MV Scuba Cat where Steve proposed to Jo underwater. That was 5 years ago as well as Wendy, Andreas, Mikkel and John.

MV Scuba Adventure – photo Steve Willett

After a very successful check dive on Anita’s Reef, Island 4 in the Similans they headed straight to Koh Bon as Captain Pu had heard reports of a giant manta sighting.

Similan Islands – photo Steve Willett

Needless to say, a couple of hours later they were there enjoying the moment with the manta and 30m visibility. Very lucky indeed, they had the manta to themselves.  During the second Dive on Koh Bon the manta made came back and joined them all to say goodbye!

Manta Ray

The next day Richelieu Rock had fantastic visibility with so much action. Many glassfish being hunted by their predators, school of barracuda’s, bent stick pipefish, cleaner pipefish and SO much more including the tiniest sea horse sitting on a sea fan. They did 3 dives there with minimal current.

Ghost Pipefish – photo Steve Willett

Back to Koh Tachai, for the sunset dive. “Just like being in another world” quoted Jo Willett. The huge school of barracudas were there for the duration. Kath’s favourite dive site delivered with the trevally feeding frenzy, snappers, napoleon wrasse & marble groupers. This site was repeated the next morning and the highlight saw 2 large schools of barracuda merging together. Thankfully Koh Tachai was also kind with almost no current.

Sunset Dive – photo Steve Willett

Koh Bon, for the third dive of the day and yet again…. Mantas!!!!

The gangsters of the ocean, the Trevallies were feeding on glassfish and for good measure a Napoleon wrasse graced them with its presence.  When they surfaced there were many other liveaboard boats, the decision was made to leave the manta experience on a high and head back to the Similans, Christmas Point on Island 9 to enjoy the unique swim through’s. Amongst other things Kath spotted a white tip reef shark as it swam straight across her.

Feeding time

Next West of Eden, Island 7…. they didn’t need to go diving! A teeny-tiny whale shark came alongside MV Scuba Adventure, 2m maximum! (Doesn’t sound tiny does it!) The lucky customers were kitting up on the back deck when it came to say hi.

Whale Shark

Day 4, Deep Six for the morning dive. Hoping to see the whale shark as it was in the area the day before. Great swim throughs and a white tip spotted again by Kath at 27.5m. Unfortunately, no one else saw it. Many fusiliers and banner fish.

The last dive of the Northern trip was on Shark Fin Reef, declared as “incredible” with 40m visibility. It was like diving in an aquarium. The neon fusiliers were like a train that never stopped!!! They were very fortunate to see a bump head parrot and an eagle ray. What a treat!

Huge Congratulations to John who completed his Advanced Open Water on board Scuba Adventure.

Some lucky customers were staying onboard to continue their Andaman Sea adventure with us to Hin Dueng, Hin Mueng, Koh Haa, and Phi Phi

South Andaman Sun Set – photo Steve Willett

After 20 years of being based only in Patong, Scuba Cat has decided to open a shop in a new area, NaiHarn.

Naiharn Shop

Two years ago was a big change for Scuba Cat with the closing on the beach road shop and the premises moving to the Kee Plaza and Soi Wattana shops.

During this time we noticed that many of our return customers just came into the Soi Wattana shop to see us again, and so we decided to close the Kee Plaza shop and move out to a new area of Phuket to offer a better service covering a larger area.

So for the first time we are now out of Patong……..

Naiharn at the south of Phuket Island is an quieter area with a what most people think is the best beach on the island.

The bay is surrounded with Palm tree’s and there is the famous sunset viewpoint of Prom Thep Cape close by. There is also the lagoon area behind the beach which is great for children to swim and paddle in all year around.In the green season it is sometimes possible to surf in the area too.

Prom Thep Cape

The area has many good restaurants and cafe’s all along the main area and there are hotels and guest houses to suit all budget and taste, but it is not a big party area, more a chill out place. There are some good bars if you want but people tend to visit just 1 or 2 in a evening rather than many as is the case in Patong.

Rawai is very close to NaiHarn, and although there is no beach there, this area also has good restaurants on the shore area. The Sea Gypsy’s have been resident in Rawai for many years and have small market area where trinkets and fresh sea food are for sale.

Rawai

Along the shore line there are many local long tail boats which offer trips to the close coral island for the morning or afternoon.

The whole area is not really know for the shopping or markets, but these can be easily visited in Phuket Town or Patong with a short taxi ride.

Our new shop is located on Sai Yuan Road opposite the popular Da Vinchi Italian restaurant.

The shop is newly built and has a retail area, fully equipped classroom and office. We will be conducting all courses from both Naiharn and our Patong shops, so you can choose either depending on the location of your hotel.

Classroom

One more improvement we want to offer is free transfers to and from the boat that will now include the Naiharn and Rawai area’s and the hotels along Visit Rd to the pier at Chalong.

Book now for high season 2013/2014 pay in full and receive 10% discount, this includes courses, Scuba Adventure Liveaboard and Scuba Fun daytrips.

Daytrip dive packages now start from just 2 days on MV Scuba Fun

5% for 2 daytrips

10% for 3 daytrips

15% for 4 daytrips

20% for 5 daytrips

ALSO

Do 2 or more days fun diving and get 10% discount on any retail dive equipment.

Dive Computers

Buy any dive mask and get a scuba cat mask strap free or half price flex pulse snorkel

Buy mask and fins and get free flex pulse snorkel

Buy any BCD and Reg set and get an aqualung sports dive bag free

Spend 10,000thb on retail get 10% discount

Why wait, contact us now on info@scubacat.com.

Family name: Antennariidae
Order name: Lophiiformes
Common name: Frogfish or Anglerfish
Scientific name: Antennariidae
Frogfish are very misunderstood and very little is known about this unique underwater lie-in-wait predator. They live generally on the ocean floor around coral or rock reefs throughout tropical and subtropical waters. Most species live in shallow water although some species are deep dwelling. Recreational divers in Asia are most likely to spot certain species including giant, clown and painted frogfish.

Around the Andaman we have seen frogfish in the Similans, Richelieu Rock, Koh Tachai, Koh Doc Mai, Phi Phi, Racha Yai and Noi.

Frogfish, are named because of their squat resemblance to the common amphibians, they range in size from around 5cm to the giant frogfish’s 40cm. The resemblance to frogs is that their fins are more like legs, which they use to walk slowly over the sea bed and on top of sponges and corals to lie in wait for their prey.
Colour is often not much help in identifying different frogfish since they can change this to allow themselves to camouflage and blend in with the environment they are in. Depending on the species, this change might take seconds or weeks. Some frog fish’s skin is also covered by bumps, flaps, hairs and tassles which further allow for mimicking the nearby seabed, corals, sponges or weeds. This also explains how divers can often cruise straight past, not noticing their presence.

There are not many other fish that you could mistake for a frogfish but it can be exceptionally difficult to distinguish between the sexes or species. Unless you get out your scalpel, there is no way to tell male from female. Since colouration is not a method of identification for all but the most rare species, you should be looking out for species-specific features such as what form the lure takes (maybe it is mimicking a worm or fish), the number of eye spots and the number of spines.
Frogfish move very slowly but they have the fastest strike speed of any other animal on earth. They move by gulping water with their massive mouth, then forcing the water through the gills, this allows them to move about the reef or bottom.

As the frogfish is scaleless and unprotected camouflage is an important defense against predators. Some can also inflate themselves, like pufferfish, by sucking in water in a threat display. In aquariums and in nature, frogfish have been know to when moved from their hiding spots and are clearly visible, to be attacked by clownfish, damselfish, and wrasse, and even to be killed.
It is the feeding approach of anglerfish that makes it such interesting creatures. They are perfectly camouflaged and lie in wait for any prey. The lure may be used to attract prey in a variety of different ways, depending on the species.

They can also use a chemical attractant so sometimes they just lie in wait for some unfortunate creature to venture too close. When the prey is within grasp the attack takes place. The frogfish expands its oral cavity engulfing the prey with a reflex that instantly sucks it in by creating suction pressure inside the mouth. Taking no more than around 6 milliseconds.

Frogfish have also been seen stalking their prey by sneaking towards their target along the sea bed.

They eat mostly small fish, shrimps and crabs but their prey sometimes being up to twice their own body size. As they are toothless the frogfish swallows its prey whole, allowing digestive enzymes to do the rest. The prey can often be seen twitching and writhing against the walls of the its stomach until they no longer are alive. Frogfish have also been observed to eat lionfish; the poison appears to have no effect on them.  In addition to expanding their mouths, frogfish can also expand their stomachs to swallow animals up to twice their size.

What eats anglerfish? the main answer is another frogfish, they are known for being cannibalistic. However considering that they are designed more to catch fish swimming in the water column, this is a rather rare phenomenon. Moray eels have also been witnessed eating frogfish, but again, this is an uncommon sight.

Learn more interesting facts about the local marine life to Phuket by joining us on a Naturalist or Fish ID specialty course.