From December 11, 2001 - January 5, 2002 we were in Thailand again. This time we decided to choose live aboard trips,  a 3 day trip on board the “MS Mermaid 2” to Hin Daeng / Hin Muang and a one week trip on board the “MS Marco Polo” to Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock in the Andaman Sea. After an 11 hours flight from Frankfurt we  arrived at Bangkok. The climate in December was absolutely recommendable - not too hot and not too humid. The temperature ranged from 27°C (80°F) in the night up to 32°C (90°F) at noon. After this short stopover in  Bangkok we flew to Phuket where we started our first live aboard safari. The 3-day trip brought us to the top dive sites Hin Daeng and Hin Muang, 2 outer reefs 5 hrs. south of Phuket. There we had the impressive  opportunity to meet Manta Rays at 3 following dives. These gentle giants came very close to our group, sometimes up to 3 m distance. So I had a lot of options to make some very spectacular recordings with my video  camera. On the way back we had some dives around the Phee-Phee Islands which were not comparable to the first ones. Before we started our second dive safari we discovered the countryside of Phuket. We were amazed  about the natural landscape away from the overcrowded touristic paths. Our next trip brought us to another famous dive spots of the Andaman Sea. This one week live aboard surpassed our first trip. A much more  beautiful underwater scenery with untouched hard and soft corals and a fantastic variety of marine life motivated us to join 3 to 4 dives a day. But the absolute highlight on that trip we had at Richelieu Rock. 2  times we met a Whale Shark moving around this coral rock. With about 6 m (18 feet) length he wasn’t fully grown. Adult animals can be grow up to 14 m (42 feet)! On the way back we met further attractions like  Leopard Sharks, Sea Turtles and an Octopus. The water temperature was around 29°C (84°F) and offered a good basis for long dives.