In 2008, I was working on the
live-aboard boat to
Similan islands. I had an old couple, the lady was 67 years old and her husband, I can not remember his age. They were so sweet. Both of them were
AOW divers with good buoyancy.
We were at Similan Islands on the first day, and
Koh Bon and
Koh Tachai on the second day. We did the first and second dive of the third day at Richelieu rock, and dive number three at Tachai pinnacle. We had mild current, and visibility was about 10 meters. We went to 22 meters to look for leopard shark, they lie on the bottom to rest during day time. We did not see any leopard sharks. But the corals were so nice and there were small fish every where. After 25 minutes, we came up to 15 meters. I turned around to ask my customers for air. And I saw a big fish appear closer and closer behind my customers. I showed the hand signal to tell them to look behind. The lady made a lot of noise and moved her arms up and down. Her husband did not show any sign of happiness but I knew that he was very glad to see the whaleshark. It was about 3 meters long. It looked calm and curious. We did not swim after it. It came very close, only a few meters away. The giant swam away after a few minutes.
We swam to the top of the pinnacle at 12 meters and met one of the other groups. I signaled to them that we saw a whaleshark. The leader of that group showed the hand signal that her group did not see it. My lady was jumping up and down like a small kid and gave me a hug when we got back on the boat. "I'm very old, if I didn't see it today I might not have seen it at all in my life", she said. The husband said thank you to me with a big smile on his face. The three of us were very happy. Too bad the other groups did not see it. This is one of the most impressive diving experiences I have had.
Visit Richelieu rock and Koh Tachi pinnacle by daytrip boat and live-aboard boat with Khao Lak Scuba Adventures from 15 Oct - 16 May
www.khaolakscubaadventures.com
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