MV Sea World I

MV Sea World I is a Burma liveaboard operating from the Thai port of Ranong. Diving cruises run to the Mergui Archipelago, and there are also a number of Similan island trips.

Up to 22 divers can be accommodated in a range of cabins, all with sea view windows so you can enjoy views over the remote waters and islands of Myanmar.

A compact liveaboard of 22m in length, Sea World I features an upper deck with open-air saloon and dining area, plus a large sun deck. In the saloon you can enjoy TV, DVD, music and a library of reading material. If you prefer to get out of the shade and bask in the sunlight you can head to the sundeck, where you can work on your tan. There are also 4 bunk bed rooms on the upper deck, with all the others, including the 3 VIP rooms with ensuite bathrooms, situated on the main deck.

You will dive either from the dive deck or from a tender. The dive deck has access to a toilet and shower for your post-dive comfort. Nitrox is available so you can maximise your time on Burma’s reefs. MV Sea World I is by no means a luxury option but is an affordable, no-frills option and works well as a divers’ liveaboard.

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Notes: Please note that, for Myanmar trips, the bookings will be closed 3 weeks before the trip departure date to allow time for immigration procedures.

Dive experience: Open water license with a minimum of 10 logged dives prior to the safari is required.

Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, soft drinks, hot drinks, dives (as detailed in the trips above), experienced English-speaking divemaster (4 divers per DM), tanks, weights and weightbelts, torch, local hotel transfers.

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment (USD per day), transfers to and from Ranong. Similan and Surin park fees at approximately USD 6 per day, with an entry fee of USD 14 per park. Burma government fees: USD 200 for 5 nights or USD 220 for 6 nights. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash or credit card).

Optional extras: Alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (if you provide advance notice), dive computer, dive insurance. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival.

How to get there: MV Sea World I departs from Ranong at 1:30 pm. Many guests fly in and out of Ranong on short direct flights to Bangkok. A Ranong hotel pick up is available at 11 am and boarding is at noon. A minibus transfer from Phuket to Ranong is also available on request and takes around 6 hours. Alternatively you can fly to Surat Thani from where you can take a bus (3 hours). The last dive of all trips will be at around 12:00 noon on the last day of the trip. The boat arrives back in Ranong at 4 pm. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.
For Mergui Archipelago trips, if you are already in Myanmar, you can be picked up and dropped off in the Kawthuang area, the border post where the liveaboards make immigration checks at the beginning and end of each tour. For the Myanmar immigration crossing, you need to come prepared with:

• USD 200-220 in crisp, new US dollar notes for the Myanmar entry fee and national park fee;
• 3 passport size photographs each.

The authorities may refuse to accept the equivalent amount in Thai Baht and any US dollar notes they deem to be too old and/or thin! It is advisable to bring only large denomination notes like 50s or 100s. For more information see our travel information section. We will help you apply for an entry permit beforehand. Read more details on Burma entry requirements.

Non-diver rate: 20% off the published price.

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travellers may choose to share a cabin or pay a supplement of 50% of the published price.

Dive clubs and group discounts: Pay for 8 guests and 1 additional person can join a Standard cabin free of charge (total 9 guests).

Whole boat charter rate (per night): Pay for 16 guests and 2 additional persons can join the cruise in a Standard cabin free of charge (total 18 guests).

Burma South (7 Days / 6 Nights - 22 Dives)

Trip highlights: whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Secret Lagoon, Western Rocky, McLeod Island, North and South Twin, Shark Cave, Nga Man Island, High Rock and Black Rock

Day 1
Guests usually meet at the Sea World I dive shop in Ranong at around 12:00 hrs. There you can try on any rental dive gear that you need. Once all the guests are gathered, a vehicle takes everyone to the liveaboard, where you will receive a scented towel and an ice cool fruit juice. Officers from Thai immigration will come on board and stamp everyone's passports out of Thailand. A short cruise to Kawthaung to get your visa for Burma and all the paperwork is finally sorted. At sunset there will be a delicious dinner, that features fresh fish purchased from local fishermen, served in the air-conditioned dining area. There will also be a fantastic barbecue the night before returning to Kawthaung. Diving will start on the next morning.

Days 2-6
After a good night's rest, wake up with a pre-breakfast followed by the 1st dive of the day. Prepare to be surrounded by schools of barracuda, dogtooth tuna, batfish, unicornfish and trevallies. Big pelagics such as mantas and whale sharks also visit these waters in the south of Burma, but encounters will probably more often be with grey reef and whitetip sharks. Shark Cave, High Rock and Black Rock are dives that you definitely don't want to miss on your safari as they never fail to surprise divers with their abundance of marine life.
A cooked American breakfast will help refuel energies as you get ready for the 2nd morning dive. Burma is also a great place for lovers of smaller stuff. The list of creatures include pipefish, frogfish, seahorses, harlequin and boxer shrimps, and an endless variety of form and colour of nudibranchs.
The waitress served lunch is influenced by having a Thai chef on board: khao pad kai, pad thai kung, and other well known Thai dishes. Fresh fruit and salad will restore any necessary fluids that you might have lost due the hot weather and the diving.
The 3rd dive in the afternoon is followed by snacks and hot drinks, while the night dive (sometimes it might be replaced by a sunset dive) will get you hungry enough for dinner.

Day 7
2 dives after breakfast, before heading to Kawthaung where the authorities will stamp you out of Burma. Lunch will be served on the way. You can also do some local shopping while waiting for the stamp in your passport. Sail back to Ranong and get a new Thai visa, before disembarking from this amazing cruise.

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Similan, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai & Richelieu Rock (5 Days / 4 Nights - 14 Dives)

Trip highlights: whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Koh Tachai, Koh Bon, Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock

Day 1
Guests usually meet at the Sea World dive shop in Ranong at around 12:00 hrs. There you can try on any rental dive gear that you need. The boat leaves port at around 14:30 hrs and might do a quick stop at Koh Payam to pick up other guests. If not, it will head straight to Koh Tachai which will be the location of your first dive tomorrow morning. At sunset there will be a delicious dinner, that features fresh fish purchased from local fishermen, served in the air-conditioned dining area.

Days 2-4
After a good night's rest, wake up with a pre-breakfast followed by the 1st dive of the day. Prepare to be surrounded by schools of barracuda, dogtooth tuna, batfish, unicornfish and trevallies when diving at Koh Tachai and Koh Bon. Big pelagics such as mantas and whale sharks also visit these waters. There is a good chance to see turtles, schools of parrotfish, reef sharks, Napoleon wrasse, plus lots of unique small critters while diving around the famous Similan Islands, home to beautiful coral reefs and reef fish. There will also be an afternoon visit to a beautiful sandy beach to take some amazing pictures on land.
A cooked American breakfast will refuel energies as you get ready for the 2nd morning dive. The Thai Andaman Sea is a great place for lovers of small stuff too. The list of creatures include pipefish, frogfish, seahorses, harlequin and boxer shrimps, and an endless variety of form and colour of nudibranchs.
The waitress served lunch is influenced by having a Thai chef on board: khao pad kai, pad thai kung, and some other well known Thai dishes. Fresh fruit and salad will restore any necessary fluids that you might have lost due the hot weather and the diving.
The 3rd dive in the afternoon is followed by snacks and hot drinks, while the night dive (sometimes it might be replaced by a sunset dive) will get you hungry enough for dinner. There will also be a fantastic barbecue the night before returning to Ranong.

Day 5
You don't want to miss the 2 post breakfast dives on the last day, as the best of your cruise is about to happen. Richelieu Rock might just look like a remote rock located in the middle of nowhere, but once you jump in the water it's like entering into an aquarium. Anything can be seen here on a good day: whale sharks, manta rays and other sharks are quite common. And if the big pelagics are not there, the schools of fish and critters that you can encounter here will leave you speechless nevertheless.
Lunch will be served while cruising back to Koh Payam and then to Ranong, arriving at around 18:00 hrs.

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[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].

There are 3 VIP rooms on the main deck with private en-suite bathrooms. There are also 2 Double bed rooms and 6 Bunk bed rooms all sharing 3 bathrooms. 4 of the Bunk bed rooms are on the upper deck; all other rooms on the main deck.

All the rooms have: No. of bathrooms / showers - 5 / 5 - hot water

The crew of 11 comprises: Motorised dive tender - 50m² dive deck & platform with rinse tank, hot water showers & toilets - 16m² saloon with TV, DVD player & music system - Movie library, general books & magazines, fish ID books - Satellite telephone - 40m² open-air dining area - 40m² sundeck with chairs & mattresses - Water dispenser

PADI scuba certification courses available including Advanced Open Water Diver and Rescue Diver.

The dining experience begins each day on Sea World I with a pre-breakfast before the first dive, followed by a cooked American breakfast. Later you can enjoy a Thai lunch and European dinner, all served in the upper deck dining area. The menu includes international cuisine plus Burmese, Thai, Chinese and Indian specialties. Fresh fish is often bought locally and barbecued during the trips.

• Thai, Burmese and international main meals - 3 choices per sitting.
• Waitress served dining in the upper deck dining area.
• Pre-breakfast, breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner.
• Coffee, tea, soft drinks, fruit, drinking water, toast and biscuits are provided free of charge.
• Beer is available for purchase.
• All dietary requirements can be catered for, please send advanced notice.
• Dining service begins with dinner on the first evening of the cruise.

Example dishes - Barbecue on the final evening of the safari ...