Sunday, March 17, 2024

Thailand - Koh Lipe part 1

On Thursday, January 25th, after a bit more than a week on Lanta Yai, we travelled to our next destination. In the morning we were picked up at the hotel and were brought to the pier where we boarded the ferry or rather a big speed boat to Koh Lipe. The departure was scheduled at 10.30, but at 11.30 we were still standing on the pier. It was really hot and very windy and waiting wasn't pleasant. And we knew the ride wasn't going to be pleasant either. We boarded the boat at nearly noon and next three hours were quite rough. Strong wind whipped up the sea and boat was pounding and jumping from one big wave to the next. All the side windows had to be closed because the waves were getting into the boat (the crew only closed the windows after a dozen of people got thoroughly wet) and so it was very hot inside. Luckily no one was really sea sick, but we were all very relieved when it was over. 
Shortly after disembarking we were picked up by a small truck and were brought to our hotel. The view from our room immediately made it up for the rough ride.
Our room was in the bungalow up on the hill and the lady at the reception said: Your room is on the hill, but view is great and when you finish vacation, you very fit.
That afternoon we were too tired to do much, we went for a short swim in the sea and then had the best ever green curry in a hotel on the next beach.
Next morning the weather was great and sunny and the views from our balcony were even more beautiful. Our room was facing to East towards Langkawi, that we could see in the distance.
Again there were many birds in the trees chirping and singing and entertaining us. We would probably be sitting on the balcony much more if it wasn't so hot during the day, it was about 35 Deg C, and in the evening there were a few mosquitoes around.
There is quite a difference between low and high tide there and in low tide it was not possible to go snorkelling as the corals were almost sticking out of the sea. Our days followed the similar pattern - after great breakfast at our hotel (yum, we had curry already for breakfast!) we figured out when to go snorkelling - when the water was high enough and it wasn't too hot. The hottest time of the day we spent in our room (really no problem with such a view) and in the evening we walked to the village, some 10 minutes away, and found another restaurant with delicious food.
 I was very surprised how much fish and sea life was even in the shallow water where all the tourists were. Only problem was that there was lots of sand suspended in water and the visibility wasn't the best. But couple of hundreds of meters away was a small island where the visibility was better and the sea life even richer. 
There were plenty of colourful Parrot fish here as well, even near the shore in murky water. I checked several resources but didn't find the name for this one.
Near the island I found these three young Circular batfish (Platax orbicularis).
This small fish was defending its territory and constantly swimming towards me. I think it is a White Damsel (Dischistodus perspicillatus).
And this is very probably Honeycomb coral (Gardineroseris planulata).
Occasionally we would spend time on the hotel beach in beach chairs, watching the sea, people, birds... This is the view from our beach towards the island where we were snorkelling many times.
And this is the view to the North along the island, with many colourful long tail boats. In the back there is a neighbour island, Koh Adang.
We usually went snorkelling once a day and Tomaz usually accompanied me. Each time we discovered pretty things. This is a Gold-saddle rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus).
We know Moorish idols (Zanclus cornutus) already from our previous snorkelling and diving trips to Maledives.
There were big schools of Tropical Silversides (Doboatherina duodecimalis) here as well.
There were many healthy corals there, although we've seen many people walking or standing on them. These are the Blue corals (Heliopora coerulea).
And here are the Leather corals ((Sarcophyton family).
This bright green algae is the Turtle weed (Chlorodesmis family), I also found another name - Maidens hair algae.
The Parrot fish eat algae off of coral reefs (here the Hump coral or Porites lobata) and there are the marks of their teeth on lots of corals. When snorkelling, one can hear the grinding of their teeth. 
These colourful beauties are the Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus).
Another Leather coral ((Sarcophyton family).
There were plenty of Boring giant clams (Tridacna crocea) around, in all possible colours - brown, blue...
This pretty thing is the Iridescent scallop (Pedum spondyloideum).
We saw plenty of wrasses as well, of different colours and patterns - this one is a Zigzag wrasse (Halichoeres scapularis).
After so much colours one is surprised to see the fish that is just plain black and white - this one is a Freckled goatfish (Upeneus tragula).
I didn't see many blennies and gobies in Thailand, maybe with all the colours and shapes around me I just didn't notice them. This one was smiling at me from the Sea grape algae (Caulerpa lentillifera), it could be a Brest-spot Blenny (Salarias guttatus).
This might be another Zigzag wrasse (Halichoeres scapularis), with a bit different colouration than the one above.
This guy didn't attract our attention with the colours but the shape - it is a Blackspotted pufferfis (Arothron nigropunctatus). When in danger it can blow up and looks pretty much like a ball. 
These two are the Melon butterflyfish or Rip butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus).
These are the Moluccan cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus moluccensis).
And here are some iconic Clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris).


Saturday, February 17, 2024

Thailand - Koh Bida

On Tuesday we went on a whole day snorkelling trip with Hidden depths divers again, this time we were going to Bida islands near Phi Phi islands. Many many years ago we were already diving at Bidas, while we were vacationing on Phi Phi Don and doing our Padi Open Water and Advanced Open Water diving courses there. But I would be lying if I told you I could remember much from then, besides that it was exciting to learn to dive and that all the dive sites we visited were very pretty and that we had a great time.
We were again picked up at our hotel and after a breakfast at dive shop we sailed away. This was our Captain on speedboat, always in good mood and joking.
Tomaz had to take the photo of details of the boat as well.
Here is our snorkelling guide Moo (I hope I'm spelling his name correctly).
And this is the boat with all of us. This time there were not just divers and us, there was another snorkeler there as well.
The Bidas are quite close to Phi Phi islands, behind Koh Bida Nai (behind Tomazs head) you can see Phi Phi Leh on the left, where the famous Maya bay is.
Our first stop was at Koh Bida Nok. The bay was already packed with boats and the water was crowded with people. There are several Black tip sharks living around the islands and they are one of the main attractions there, but looking at all the boats and people our Captain was not optimistic that we would find any. He said they all swam out to the see to avoid the crowd.
We started in the shallow bay and it was very pretty in the water, one just had to be careful not to swim into other people. But the Banded sea krait (Laticauda colubrina) didn't mind any of us.
We also saw many colourful Parrotfish, this one could be a Redlip parrotfish (Scarus rubruviolaceus).
It is really hard to identify different species of parrotfish, there are so many colour variations among one species, but I think this might be the Greenthroat parrotfish (Scarus prasiognathos).
Then suddenly Moo pushed me forward and pointed to the shallow - and the shark parade begun. There were several Blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) circling in and out of the lagoon.
Here the shark is a bit in the background because the Crocodile needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus) wanted to be in the front. We were very happy to see that the sharks were still there.
After watching sharks for a while we moved along the island to the East. This to me is just as big a trophy as sharks - these are two nudibranchs, the bigger one is Phyllidia Varicosa and the smaller could be Phyllidiela nigra (both names are from seaslugforum.net ). Update: the smaller nudibranch might also be Phyllidia Varicosa, there are photos of specimen with such colours, and colours of Phyllidiela nigra are in fact more violet on black than white on black.
And just around the East corner there was another group of Blacktips, Tomaz said there were some dozen of them. These were even less shy and came quite close.

Pinkfin shark named Tomaz....
These are some pretty sponges, I guess.
Here are some anemones with Skunk anemonefish (Amphiprion akallopisos).
And some more Bubble corals.
This is the prettiest Triggerfish of them all, it is a Clown triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillum). This one was the only one we saw and this is the best photo where you can also see its belly.
This one looks very much like Java Rabitfish or Streaked spinefoot (Siganus javus).
After a break on the boat and some delicious snacks and drinks we moved to the next spot, to Hin Bida. It is a bit further East and it's not an island but just a submerged rocky outcrop with its highest point just sticking out of the water at low tide.
This pretty coral is probably one of the Pocilloporas, surrounded by Diadema urchins and guarded by black Threespot damsel (Pomacentrus tripunctatus).
I love how delicate these Diadema urchins are. Except when their long spines are stuck in your foot...
And this was another highlight of the day - the Leopard or Zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum). We saw it only thanks to Moo. It is not the best photo, but we didn't want to get too close and spook it, so that other divers could also see it.
We saw plenty of these fish, hanging in the water in groups. Unfortunately I couldn't find their name. Update: the Silver moonfish (Monodactylus argentus) looks almost identical to these guys, but it's silver with yellow fins. It is frequent at Koh Bidas. So I'm wondering if it is just the colours that are a bit off on my photos, maybe because the sun, depth, my camera...
And here are some more Fussilliers. 
Snorkelling was really great, lots of healthy reefs and lots and lots of fish. Which really surprises me every time, since one sees soooo many fishing ships out at sea every evening. We again didn't see any Whale sharks, I guess I will have to make another plan how to finally meet them.
After snorkelling we sailed back to dive shop and had a delicious lunch there. And our evening was spent at the hotel pool and then with a delicious curry and a few drinks.