MV Daranee

Daranee is one of the best low budget scuba liveaboard options in Thailand. It is popular with young travellers from all over the world and this makes the Daranee a fun and laid back boat to dive on and to make new friends.

The Daranee's service encapsulates all that is best about Thai culture. Our customers repeatedly tell us that the crew is the friendliest around, always ready with a smile and a joke, and always available when help is required.

Being a Thai-owned liveaboard boat, the food on board is delicious and authentic Thai, and is served buffet style on the upper deck saloon area, where the crew sits and chats with their guests after a busy day's diving.

The large cabin size, together with the large sliding windows, lend a light and airy feel. You can have the cabin windows open if you like the fresh sea air, or you can close the windows and turn up the air conditioning to really cool down.

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Dive experience: Participants are recommended to have PADI Advanced Open Water or Adventure Deep Dive certification to get the most from the trip. Open Water certified divers must have a minimum of 20 logged dives prior to cruise departure date.

Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation with air-conditioning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, hot drinks, return transfers to the boat from hotels in Kata, Karon, Patong Beach and the airport in Phuket and from hotels in Khao Lak, dives (as detailed in the trips above), experienced English-speaking divemaster(s) (4-5 divers per DM), tanks, weights and weightbelts, torches, all taxes.

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment (US$ 18 per day), dive insurance, Similan and Surin park fees at approximately US$ 6 per day, with an entry fee of US$ 15 per park. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash or credit card).

Optional extras: Soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, dive computer, torches, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (approx. US$ 11 per tank, must be ordered in advance), 15 litres tank available for rent (approx US$ 9 per day). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival. Note: prices of items purchased onboard are subject to change.

How to get there: Daranee's liveaboard cruises depart at 8 pm from Tap Lamu, Khao Lak in Phang Nga, or from Patong Beach in Phuket. Boarding is at 7 pm. A minibus service from all hotels in Phuket to and from the boat is provided (approximately 2 hours transfer to Khao Lak).
The last dive of the trip will be at around 11 am and the boat arrives back at the pier at 2 pm. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving. For more details, including airlines, see our Thailand travel information section.

Non-diver rate: approx.12% off the published price.

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): Add 80% to published price.

Dive clubs and group discounts: See whole boat charter rate below.

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

Similan Islands & Richelieu Rock (5 Days / 4 Nights - 14 Dives)

Trip highlights: whale sharks, manta rays, turtles

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: Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock

Day 1
The departure time from the Andaman Divers office in Patong is at 17:00 hrs. You can meet there or they can pick you up either at your hotel or at Phuket International Airport on the way to Tap Lamu pier. Sit inside the air-con minivan and enjoy the scenery that unfolds around you. Board the popular MV Daranee and receive an ice cold welcome cocktail and info about the boat, its crew and the schedule for the next few days of diving that are about to begin. The tour leader will show you to your cabin then ask you to set up your dive gear on the dive deck. The boat leaves port after dinner, at around 20:00 hrs. Diving will start on the next day.

Days 2-4
The waters around the Similan Islands are rich with nutrients, hosting around 250 species of soft and hard corals and more than 800 species of marine life. Seasonal plankton attracts large marine animals such as manta rays and whale sharks which are always high on the wish lists of divers. The underwater geography of the Similan Islands National Park goes to depths of more than 50m with granite boulders, swim throughs, canyons and caves that create a great playground to explore during the dives. Dive sites on the east side of the islands are naturally protected from the monsoon weather, featuring beautiful coral reefs teeming with reef fish. Richelieu Rock is a limestone horseshoe-shaped pinnacle that rises from depths of 35m to break the sea surface at low tide. A great diversity of marine life such as cuttlefish, barracuda, seahorses and even whale sharks can be spotted here, making it one of the most famous dive sites in Thailand.
4 dives a day will be the best way to explore these amazing sites, with the last dive of the day being a night dive on the 1st day of diving and then a sunset dive for the rest of the tour. A light breakfast (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fruit and biscuits) followed by a bigger breakfast (cooked as you like - eggs, ham, cheese, toast and spreads) during the 2 morning dives, then lunch, an afternoon dive, afternoon snacks and then dinner after the last dive. Enjoy a variety of healthy and delicious Thai food and western dishes, buffet-style service on the upper deck, with 4 or 5 main dishes to choose from, hot soup and fresh vegetable salads. Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages are also available.

Day 5
2 morning dives will take place on the way to Khao Lak where you will disembark at around 14:00 hrs, just after lunch. One of the dives is scheduled to be at the Boonsung Wreck that sunk in 1985. It is now colonized by clouds of snapper, fusiliers, batfish, and trevallies. Crocodilefish, stonefish, scorpionfish, lionfish, ornate ghost pipefish and different nudibranchs can also be found on the sandy bottom which is quite shallow, at only 20m. After the dives, you will be returned to your Phuket hotel or the airport.

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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 7 twin bunk cabins and 1 quad bunk bed cabin on the main deck.

All the cabins have: No. of bathrooms / showers - 3 / 3 - cold water - no hand basins installed

The liveaboard crew comprises: Motorised dinghy - comfortable dive deck - Video & music system on upper deck - Sundeck on top of captain's cabin without sun matresses

No saloon.

PADI certification courses available including Advanced Open Water Diver.

Customer reviews:

"They were very good. I felt that this boat was a great value for the money. The liveaboard boat was well maintained and clean. The food was abundant and good. The staff was friendly." - Dee A Klein, South Africa, 5 January 2010 ...

"Great hardworking crew, clean ship, excellent food and refreshments, great knowledgeable dive masters and an excellent atmosphere." - Wolf Schmidt, United States of America, 2 January 2008 ...

"The Thai dive boat crew were excellent, the service was excellent and they did everything to assist divers. The guides were also excellent, efficient and friendly." - David Williams, Australia, 2 January 2007 ...

"Awesome boat crew, divemasters who were knowledgeable and excited about diving. Great boat, excellent captain. Good food. All round good scuba diving." - Thierry Gazagnes, France, 13 January 2006 ...

"Staff and facilities were excellent, Warren Murray was our divemaster, very professional and very very helpful. Boat fantastic much larger than expected." - Julie Green, United Kingdom, 13 January 2006 ...