Highly Recommended!


Here are a couple of our favourites… You can click on the links to go directly to their websites.


Jonathan Cruiser – The Similan Islands (leaving from Phuket, Thailand)

The Jonathan Cruiser is a very special boat that does 5 or 6 day cruises around the Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock.  The owner, Thomas, believes that the trip should involve adventure, quality service and no large crowds. 

The Jonathan Cruiser is one of the smaller live-aboards and takes a maximum of 14 guests.  Even when full, you feel very smug as you look at other boats filled with 20 or more divers.  Thomas’ staff have been with him for years and are featured on his website.  The reason they remain is that they are happy working on this boat, and we can see why!  Although they are all fantastic, the stars of the show are Mama Lek (cook) and Yai (Divemaster).  Mama Lek makes simply fantastic food, which is almost as important as the diving of course.  If you are lucky enough to see manta rays she makes a special surprise!  Yai is a brilliant Divemaster who knows the dive sites like the back of his hand.  He manages to find the smallest of creatures and you wonder how he does it. 

The diving around the Similan Islands is exciting, and you can find plenty of information about that on many other websites.  Many people go to see the whale sharks or the manta rays.  They are not guaranteed of course, but there is a reasonably good chance that you will see one or the other (or maybe both).  If you don’t then you won’t be disappointed; there is so much else down there and the dive sites are diverse and varied.  Non-divers are not able to learn to dive on the boat and we would recommend inexperienced divers complete the PADI Advanced Open Water, Deep Adventure Dive or similar qualification before heading out on this trip so you can dive the deeper sites. It's probably best to contact Thomas via his website to ask if you are unsure.



We are very impressed with both the diving and the service that Thomas and his crew offer.  They turn a great dive trip into an unforgettable experience. Anke and I met on this boat a few years ago and so also went out as our honeymoon. You can download an avi video of the diving on the trip we met on by right clicking here and saving to your computer. The download is quite big at 75mb but there is some fantastic footage from our 2004 trip. At the end of the movie is some manta ray footage from previous years. A smaller wmv photo-video (6mb) can be downloaded here. It wasn't made with this website in mind, but if you're curious to know what the trip is like it may help you. Just right click and save to your hard drive before viewing. Or view below...




Sundive – Julian Rocks (Byron Bay, NSW, Australia)

Sundive operates from Byron Bay in Australia and runs trips to the local dive site ‘Julian Rocks’.  The quality of the service is high and the staff are professional and knowledgeable about the site and marine life.  It’s a busy shop so don’t expect the lengthy debriefings you get at Watercolours, but you certainly won’t be disappointed!

After kitting up your gear you get a briefing on the procedures and a little about the marine life they expect to encounter.  Everyone then climbs into Toyota Landcruisers for the short journey to The Pass, where the boat (RIB) will be reversed into the surf.  Everyone jumps on the boat (ladies first!) and the skipper expertly manoeuvres the boat out of the breaking waves and to the rocks, which are just a short distance away. 

Sundive generally plan their dives to 1 hour (air and tables permitting) and you will definitely see plenty to fill up your logbook.  There are many wobbegongs (carpet sharks) and turtles.  A large loggerhead is resident on the rocks and regularly spotted.  The Sundive staff know where the ghost pipefish are hiding, and there is quite a diversity of life due temperate and tropical waters that meet at this special place.  In the winter months when the water temperatures of colder (18 - 22 °C) the grey nurse sharks are resident.  This aggressive looking species is completely harmless yet still exhilarating to dive with.  If you are lucky you may be in the water with around 20 individuals.

In the summer months the water temperature has increased and ranges from 20 to 25°C.  The grey nurse sharks have moved south at this time, but then the leopard sharks arrive.  It’s the seasonality, as well as the mixing of cold and warm currents, that make this site so interesting.

When you are diving look out also for the occassional visitors that are sometimes passing through.  Many divers have been lucky enough to see manta rays, hammerheads, leaf fish and much more.  We dived with Peter, who is a very experienced German Instructor  with a permanent position at Sundive.  Although all their staff are good, we guarantee Peter will show you the most interesting animals that can be encountered…

p.s. If you’re heading up the coast and want a dive of a lifetime then you have to visit the Yongala.  Diving from Ayr is the best option as you get to the wreck in reasonable time and can therefore have a decent surface interval before the second dive.


Any more?

If you have a diving operator or diving destination that stands out from the rest then we'd really like to hear from you. We're always looking for new places to visit during our monsoon month break...