Ever since getting back from Thailand, I've been struggling to catch up with correspondence, meetings and general life stuff. Things have a way of piling up, and I dread facing the mountain of tasks after every trip, but in the grand scheme of things...it's not so bad.
While in Thailand, I was fortunate enough to spend a bit of time in Phuket. I visited the Similans, Richelieu Rock and nearby islands for the first time in about ten years. The visibility in the Similans was fantastic, and as I remember from before, there were tonnes of fish around.
I was on one of the first few trips on the new boat MV Dive Asia 1. It was so new that it even "smelled" new, like when you get in a brand new car. The boat is spacious, especially the rear dive deck. The food is terrific, and true to world-famous Thai hospitality, the crew was fantastic. Check out their website if you're contemplating a visit to Phuket.
We had German, Austrian, Welsh, Thai and Japanese guests aboard, so it was an international mix, as is often the case on dive boats. After the trip, I squeezed my way into a photo with two of my fellow divers, Tina and Ulrike from Germany. Being a photographer, of course, I managed to look away from the camera at just the right instant. Is it just me, or do all photographers screw up photos that they're in? Thank you Tina, Ulrike and everyone else on the boat for being great boat-mates!
While on land, I also visited a few friends and made some new ones. One of the places I visited was Hotwave Wetsuits, which makes custom wetsuits (and other stuff too) for shops and individuals. Though it was the first time I met Khun Pachara, who owns the shop, we hit it off right away, and had a lot of fun.
Besides normal wetsuits, Khun Pachara has a lot of unique stuff, such as hoods with devil's tails (one of my personal favourites), and she can make just about any design. I saw several photos of people who had made wetsuits to transform themselves into well-known superheroes and such.
Cool, eh?