Chartering the Mergui Archipelago

Mergui Archipelago

Comprising some 800 islands north and east of Burma Banks, the Mergui Archipelago is the secret jewel in the Andaman Sea. It's here that you can cruise hundreds of unexplored islands, undisturbed by the passage of time and the tourist masses of neighbouring Thailand.

You don't need to apply for a tourist visa beforehand. You will be issued entry permits (which includes a 30 day visa) on arrival in Kawthaung (the southernmost port of Myanmar). A user fee is charged by the Myanmar authorities to enter and dive the Mergui (Myeik) Archipelago. All boats enter and depart via Kawthaung (Ko Song or Victoria Point are other names for it), just west of Ranong, Thailand.

For departures from Ranong, you can choose to join Kemana IV either by minibus from Phuket, or you can fly by float plane direct to Ranong, on Destination Air.

There are four types of diving environments in the archipelago: shallow, inshore fringing island reefs where visibility is often poor but the diversity of marine life is unsurpassed; offshore fringing reefs where the visibility is considerably better, and the coral much healthier; pinnacles and small rocky islands which rise from the depths and attract larger marine life such as sharks and rays; and banks which rise up from depths of over 300 meters and attract different types of marine life altogether. All in all, the Mergui Archipelago contains some of the most diverse and interesting marine ecosystems in the world.

Far inshore, the islands are lush with vegetation and primary jungle, and contain some of the last jungle cats and other large mammals to be found in Southeast Asia. For those who are interested in more than diving, jungle walks and river trips can and should be considered as part of your trip. Bird watchers and observers of terrestrial life will be thrilled.

Further offshore, the islands are drier and lie in deep enough water to afford good visibility. Here the corals, sea fans, and fish life are similar to that found in Thailand, but with much more diversity of species. This makes the diving better and more exciting than in the waters to the east or to the south.

Whales are occasionally seen and at least nine species of sharks have been reported in Burma, including bull, tiger, hammerhead, gray reef, nurse, mako, and one of the most beautiful sharks, the spinner shark: If you’re Australian, you’d call it a black whaler. At the Burma Banks, whitetip, tawny nurse, and silvertip sharks are the ones to watch for.

The sharks one sees inshore at the islands are different from the sharks at the Burma Banks. Gray reef sharks, powerful and beautiful and a little bit scary, are seen often. Known to be aggressive in some waters around the world, in Burma they are shy and stay for the most part just on the edge of visibility. However, if the diver pays attention, he can often be rewarded with a close encounter, a thrilling experience.

The Mergui Archipelago has something for everyone, and although the dive sites here can often learn towards the advanced, even intermediate divers will love the place as long as the dive sites are picked carefully.

Probably the most spectacular site with the most potential for big stuff in the archipelago, Black Rock is a rocky island approximately 100-meters long, located about 50-nautical miles north of North Twin Island. Here is the closest you’ll come to having a true wall dive, with depths to over 60-meters and a dramatic drop off in most areas. Although visibility can change dramatically here due to strong currents at certain times of the month, there is plenty to see here and many dives are possible on this one site. The currents can also make this an advanced dive, with up and down currents–not to mention the sideways ones–causing all kinds of fun and games for divers. Be careful of your depths, and try and stay close to the rock itself to duck out of the currents.

It’s best to start the dive in deeper waters, watching the currents, and keeping a look out for larger life including manta rays and their smaller cousins, mobula rays. Gray reef and other species of shark are seen here regularly. Whale sharks as well. If larger animals are sighted, it’s best to just hang out and wait for them to come around you. As you’ll be doing more than one dive here due to its remoteness, if you see large marine life, keep looking. Leave later dives for watching the smaller marine life that is the main attraction here.

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