Nautica Liveaboard Price Reduction

I'm glad to announce that Nautica liveabord prices have been dropped for this season. Responding to a reduction in the price of fuel the company has been about to cut about 6% off the price.

A four day Similan trip now starts at 30,400 baht (down from 34,000 baht) and a seven day Andaman safari now starts at 53,200 baht (down from 56,000 baht).

Nautica is one of the more luxurious boats on the market and even with these reductions there are still many cheaper boats available for the budget diver. But in the current economy we are all a little more price aware and it's good to see Nautica adapting to that. It should be noted though that Nautica reserves the right to add a fuel surcharge if fuel prices rise significantly.

Nautica schedule here

SCUBA Action Man

I found this in the attic.

1970's Action Man is happy to carry tanks. He'd make a great Divemaster Trainee.

Similan and Surin National Park Rises?

According to this article posted in the Bangkok Post entrance fees to Thailand's National Parks are due to rise from October. That will include our favourite dive locations like the Similan Islands Marine National Park, Surin Islands Marine National Park and Phi Phi Islands Marine National Park.

Local dive operators have had no official confirmation of the new prices which will be different for Thai nationals and foreign tourists.

The current national park entry fee for Similans and Surin national parks is 400 baht and is said to be rising 50 to 100 baht. The current diving fee is 200 baht per day and there is no indication that this will rise.

We are also still waiting for information on how the extra funds raised will be used in the national parks. Common feedback from our diving customers is that they are happy to pay national park fees anywhere in the world if they can see those fees being used to protect the local marine environment. But in Thailand they are often disappointed to see fishing boats within national boundaries and fishing nets on reefs.

More information as soon as we have it.

Single Cabins on Thailand Liveaboards

MV Hallelujah has slightly reconfigured it's cabin arrangements for this coming season by adding a VIP single cabin on the upper deck.

Hallelujah Single Cabin

This is noteworthy because so few boats have dedicated single cabins. Most boats have cabins in twin bed format (two single beds, either bunks or side by side) or Double bed format (one large bed). So if you want a private cabin you get it by paying for both berths in a two person cabin. You can have the second berth at the non diver rate which is usually 10-20% cheaper than the diver rate. So that means the single supplement is +80-90%.

To use MV Hallelujah as an example, a cabin is 31,800 baht per diver based on twin sharing. To get a private cabin you pay 31,800 baht plus a single supplement of 27,030 baht (31,800 minus 15% non diver discount) giving a total price of 58,830 baht. Or you can book the single cabin for 51,800 baht.

A couple of other boats are more generous to solo travelers who want a private cabin. LeMahe offers single use of a double/twin cabin for 32,000 baht.

Oktavia has a lower than usual single supplement of 33% so you can have single use of a twin/double cabin on a 5 day Similan trip for 33,782 baht or the Master (en-suite) cabin for 47,082 baht.