The Phinisi

• Built in 2007. Relaunched in Thailand in 2018
• Length 34m, breadth 8m, draft 2.4m
• Max 18 guests in 7 air conditioned cabins.
• 3 double/twin bed cabins
• 2 twin bed cabins
• 2 quad (bunk) bed cabins
• Hull material: Wood
• Engines: 1 x 380 hp
• Generators: 2 x 50x
• Compressors: 2
• Nitrox available upto 32% (extra charge applies)
• Tanks are 12 litre aluminium. 1 litre tanks are available for an extra charge.
• Tank valves are DIN and INT fitting.
• Safety equipment: 2 x life rafts, EPIRB, VHF radio, EFR trained crew, First aid kit, emergency oxygen, sat nav, depth sounder, satellite phone, smoke detectors.
• Cruising speed: 8 knots
• Crew: 12
• PADI dive courses available.
• 2 x inflatable dinghy tenders for quick pick ups after the dives and for taking guests on beach excursions.
• 1 general equipment rinse tank and 1 camera rinse tank.
• Camera table.
• Deck towels provided.
• Electricity: 24 hrs. 220v. 2 pin round sockets.

 

The Phinisi price

Prices Oct-Dec 2023

4 nights

• Twin bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 56,881 (USD 1,660) per diver
• Double bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 56,881 (USD 1,660) per diver
• Quad (four share) cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 42,489 (USD 1,240) per diver

6 nights – Similan Islands, Surin Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock

• Twin bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 85,321 (USD 2,490) per diver
• Double bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 85,321 (USD 2,490) per diver
• Quad (four share) cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 63,734 (USD 1,860) per diver

10 nights – Best of Thailand

• Twin bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 142,201 (USD 4,150) per diver
• Double bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 142,201 (USD 4,150) per diver
• Quad (four share) cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 106,223 (USD 3,100) per diver

Prices 2024

4 nights

• Twin bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 59,622 (USD 1,740) per diver
• Double bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 59,622 (USD 1,740) per diver
• Quad (four share) cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 44,545 (USD 1,300) per diver

6 nights – Similan Islands, Surin Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock

• Twin bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 89,433 (USD 2,610) per diver
• Double bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 89,433 (USD 2,610) per diver
• Quad (four share) cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 66,818 (USD 1,950) per diver

10 nights – Best of Thailand

• Twin bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 149,054 (USD 4,350) per diver
• Double bed cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 149,054 (USD 4,350) per diver
• Quad (four share) cabin with private en-suite bathroom: ฿ 111,363 (USD 3,250) per diver

10% discount for non diving partners

Price includes: Dive guide, tanks, weights & belt, all meals, soft drinks, fresh coffee, towels, round trip transfers from Phuket main beach hotels, Khao Lak hotels and Phuket international airport.

Price excludes: Equipment rental, dive computer rental (diving with a computer is compulsory), alcoholic drinks (beer and wine can be purchased on board), marine national park fees, dive insurance (mandatory).

Minimum dive certification and experience: Divers wishing to join this itinerary are advised to have Advanced Open Water certification*, or equivalent, with a minimum of 10 logged dives and experience in currents.
*Advanced Open Water course can be completed on board
It is a mandatory requirement for all divers to have insurance which covers scuba diving activities, including emergency evacuation and recompression chamber costs.

The Phinisi schedule

May to Oct – season closed

Dates	Itinerary	Start / Finish
25 Oct-3 Nov 2023	6 nights Similan/Surin	Khao Lak / Phuket
5-15 Nov 2023	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
15-19 Nov 2023	4 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Khao Lak
20-26 Nov 2023	6 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Khao Lak
26-30 Nov 2023	4 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Khao Lak
1-6 Dec 2023	5 nights Koh Lipe	FULL
6-16 Dec 2023	10 nights Best of Thailand	FULL
17-27 Dec 2023	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
29 Dec-8 Jan 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
9-19 Jan 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Khao Lak / Phuket
20-30 Jan 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
31 Jan-10 Feb 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Khao Lak / Phuket
31 Jan-6 Feb 2024	6 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Phuket
6-10 Feb 2024	4 nights southern Thailand	Phuket / Phuket
11-21 Feb 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
22 Feb-3 Mar 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Khao Lak / Phuket
4-8 Mar 2024	4 nights Similan / Surin	Phuket / Khao Lak
8-14 Mar 2024	6 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Khao Lak
15-25 Mar 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Khao Lak / Phuket
26 Mar-5 Apr 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
26-30 Mar 2024	4 nights southern Thailand	Phuket / Phuket
30 Mar-5 Apr 2024	6 nights Similan / Surin	Phuket / Khao Lak
6-16 Apr 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Khao Lak / Phuket
17-27 Apr 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Phuket / Khao Lak
28 Apr-4 May 2024	10 nights Best of Thailand	Khao Lak / Khao Lak
4-8 May 2024	4 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Khao Lak
9-15 May 2024	6 nights Similan / Surin	Khao Lak / Phuket

The Phinisi itinerary

The Similan and Surin Islands, Thailand

Itinerary – 4 Nights and 6 Nights
• Arrival airport: Phuket International Airport (HKT)
• Departure airport: Phuket International Airport (HKT)
• Embarkation Point: Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak at 19:00 hr
• Disembarkation Point: Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak at 14:00 hr

When you fly in on embarkation day, you can book our free transfer from Phuket Airport that goes once a day. Please ensure that you arrive on time for this transfer. On the last day, we
schedule 2 morning dives followed by disembarkation at 13.00 hr. Phuket airport is about a 1 hour drive from the embarkation/disembarkation point. Please allow at least 2 – 3 hours for
international flight check-in and 1.5 – 2 hours for domestic flights.

Minimum dive certification and experience:
Diving conditions in and around the Andaman Sea are generally suitable for all levels of divers.
Divers wishing to join this itinerary are advised to have Advanced Open Water certification*,or equivalent, with a minimum of 10 logged dives and experience in strong currents.
*Advanced Open Water course can be completed on board
Guests who do not fulfil the minimum certification and experience requirements may be denied participation in some or all dives.
It is a mandatory requirement for all divers to have insurance which covers scuba diving activities, including emergency evacuation and recompression chamber costs.

Number of scheduled dives:
• 4 nights: Up to 14
• 6 nights: Up to 19
This itinerary involves some long distance travel and, whilst we attempt to ensure the number of planned dives is fulfilled, bad weather and sea conditions can affect the boat’s ability to
reach a specific dive site in good time and may impact on the number of dives that are possible.
Safety and dive briefings are conducted in English. If you, or any of your group, do not speak or understand English, please contact us.

The following is an example of the day-to-day itinerary.
Day 1: Embarkation at 18:00 followed by lunch and briefings. If time allows there may be a check dive scheduled but diving on embarkation day is not guaranteed.
Day 2-4 (4 nights) or Days 2-6 (6 nights): Your Cruise Director will schedule up to 4 dives per day; 3 day dives and a sunset or night dive.

A typical diving day is scheduled as follows:
• Light Breakfast followed by a briefing & Dive 1
• Full Breakfast, relaxation followed by briefing & Dive 2
• Lunch, relaxation followed by briefing & Dive 3
• Snack
• Briefing for Dive
• Dinner

Day 5 (4 night) or day 7 (6 night): Following breakfast, usually 2 morning* dives before the vessel commences the cruise to port. Disembarkation is scheduled for 14:00.
*We kindly request that guests check their flight departure times to ensure that they leave a minimum of 24 hours between their final dive and the departure of their flight.

 

Similan Islands
The above water scenery will provide stunningly beautiful white sandy beaches with small forested areas. Dive some of the following sites; Boulder City, Sharkfin Reef, and Honeymoon Bay. Under the surface you may see Leopard (zebra) shark, blue spotted stingrays, clown trigger fish, rabbit fish, scorpion fish, snappers, emperor fish, giant trevally and angelfish. The coral gardens, bommies and boulder formations are wonderful to dive.

Elephant Head Rock
Visible from the surface, this is the biggest pinnacle in the Similans and has some fantastic swimthroughs. If lucky, you might see some white tip reef sharks, batfish; trevally and barracuda can often be seen on the perimeter of the boulders. If you look closely in the cracks and in the rubble you can see smashing mantis shrimp, porcelain crab, moray eels and cleaner shrimp.

Koh Bon
Koh Bon is a dive site where manta rays may be seen. You are likely to see Napoleon wrasse, sweetlips, octopus, blue fin trevally, giant moray eels, great barracudas, fire dart goby, popcorn shrimp, spiny lobster and nudibranchs of many types. The dive sites vary from wall diving to gently sloping reefs and from submerged boulders to coral gardens.

Koh Tachai
Koh Tachai is famous for its pinnacle dive site and more relaxed reef diving. Normally, leopard sharks, marbled whip rays, turtles, barracuda, pipe fish, and nudibranchs can be found here. There is also a chance to see bigger species in this area like manta rays and whale sharks, especially by late January till April.

Richelieu Rock
This limestone pinnacle was named by Jacques Cousteau after General Richelieu, who was an important Danish officer in the Thai Navy. There are gorgeous purple dendronepthya soft corals covering most of the pinnacle and other areas covered in magnificent sea anemones as well.
Barely breaking the surface at low tide, this horseshoe-shaped outcropping, slopes steeply to a sandy bottom at 18 to 35 meters (60-120 Ft). This site offers great diversity for such a small and isolated spot. It also offers excellent multi-level diving and, because it is a high-profile reef, there are always sheltered areas to hide from current.The marine life is prolific and includes amongst, many other things; Pharaoh cuttlefish, large octopi, all 5 varieties of anemone fish of the Andaman Sea, variety of moray eels, ornate ghost pipefish, smashing mantis shrimps, harlequin shrimps, tiger tail sea horses, Spanish mackerel, frog fish, many schooling snapper and
occasional sightings of manta rays and whale sharks.

Surin Islands (6 nights only)
Topside scenery of Koh Surin with evergreen forests, mangroves and small beaches, surpasses even that of the picturesque Similan Islands. Under water the reefs of Surin have the greatest hard coral diversity in Thailand.
You are likely to see Napoleon wrasse, yellow-masked angelfish, bumphead parrotfish, tomato anemonefish and barramundi, as well as lots of turtles that still come ashore in this area to lay their eggs. Because of the
remoteness not many liveaboard boats visit these islands and you will be able to enjoy the dive sites without sharing it with tourist hordes.

Khao Lak Wrecks
There is a choice of easily diveable wrecks between The Similan Islands and Khao Lak. The Boonsung and the Premchai are old tin miners that were sank 25 or so years ago and are a treat for underwater photographers as well as lovers of life of all kinds!! Only in 18m of water they are covered in nudibranchs and shrimps as well as large numbers of the unusual honeycomb moray. There are also huge numbers of schooling fish as well as rays that can occasionally be seen. Sea Chart 1 is a slightly more challenging dive and lies between 40 and 25 metres. Sunk during a storm in 2009 with a full load of teak, she is relatively new but already hosts an abundance of schooling fish.

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10 Nights Best of Thailand itinerary

4 nights south of Phuket at Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Koh Haa, Phi Phi Islands. Shark Point, King Cruiser wreck. Then 6 nights Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock

Nearest airport: Phuket International Airport (HKT)

There are three possibilities for embarkation and disembarkation for this itinerary. Please be
sure to confirm your embarkation/disembarkation points when you make your booking.

Phuket to Thap Lamu
• Embarkation Point: Chalong Pier, Phuket at 18:00 hr
• Disembarkation Point: Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak at 10:00 hr

Thap Lamu to Phuket
• Embarkation Point: Thap Lamu Pier, Khao Lak at 18:00 hr
• Disembarkation Point: Chalong Pier, Khao Lak at 10:00 hr

Phuket to Phuket
• Embarkation Point: Chalong Pier, Phuket at 18:00 hr
• Disembarkation Point: Chalong Pier, Khao Lak at 10:00 hr

Transfer between Phuket Airport, Phuket hotels, or Khao Lak hotels and The Phinisi on embarkation and disembarkation day are included in the liveaboard price for all departures, regardless of embarkation and disembarkation point. Transfers from and to hotels and resorts outside of these areas can be arranged for an additional charge.

Minimum dive certification and experience:
Diving conditions in and around the Andaman Sea are generally suitable for all levels of divers.
Divers wishing to join this itinerary are advised to have Advanced Open Water certification*,or equivalent, with a minimum of 10 logged dives and experience in strong currents.
*Advanced Open Water course can be completed on board
Guests who do not fulfil the minimum certification and experience requirements may be denied participation in some or all dives.
It is a mandatory requirement for all divers to have insurance which covers scuba diving activities, including emergency evacuation and recompression chamber costs.

Number of scheduled dives: upto 33

This itinerary involves some long distance travel and, whilst we attempt to ensure the number of planned dives is fulfilled, bad weather and sea conditions can affect the boat’s ability to
reach a specific dive site in good time and may impact on the number of dives that are possible.
Safety and dive briefings are conducted in English. If you, or any of your group, do not speak or understand English, please contact us.

The following is an example of the day-to-day itinerary.

Day 1: Embarkation at 18:00 followed by lunch and briefings. If time allows there may be a check dive scheduled but diving on embarkation day is not guaranteed.

Day 2-8: Your Cruise Director will schedule up to 4 dives per day; 3 day dives and a sunset or night dive. A typical diving day is scheduled as follows:

• Light Breakfast followed by a briefing & Dive 1
• Full Breakfast, relaxation followed by briefing & Dive 2
• Lunch, relaxation followed by briefing & Dive 3
• Snack, relaxation, followed by briefing & Dive 4
• Dinner (if Night Dive, it will be after dinner)

Day 9: Usually 2 morning* dives before The Phinisi commences the cruise to port.

Day 10: Following breakfast on board, disembarkation is scheduled for between 09:30am and 10:00am.

*We kindly request that guests check their flight departure times to ensure that they leave a minimum of 24 hours between their final dive and the departure of their flight.

 

Koh Phi Phi
With mini-walls and shallow coral gardens predominating, there are a host of dive sites to choose from around the Phi Phi national Park. Hin Bida, Koh Bida Nok, Koh Bida Nai, Pilay Wall, Hin Dot and Ao Maya all offer something
special. Wildlife is hugely varied across the sites with black tip reef sharks common, tigertail seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, cornet fish, octopus, scorpion fish, blue fin trevally, barracudas and more.

King Cruiser Wreck
The King Cruiser was a car ferry that used to travel between Phi Phi and Phuket. In 1997, ‘the cruiser’ hit Anemone Reef on her crossing and sank a short distance away. No lives were lost, but divers were left with a great wreck dive! While she is largely broken up now, she is covered with soft corals and hides some wonderful gems, as well as being home to several large schools of snapper. While currents can be strong and visibility sometimes challenging, this is a great site to dive.

Shark Point and Anemone Reef
These pinnacles are part of the same reef system and are only a very short distance apart from each other. Both sites are covered with colourful soft corals and anemones with a variety of fish to suit all divers. From barracuda to seahorses and for the lucky ones of course, the iconic leopard shark!

Shark Point and Anemone Reef
These pinnacles are part of the same reef system and are only a very short distance apart from each other. Both
sites are covered with colourful soft corals and anemones with a variety of fish to suit all divers. From barracuda
to seahorses and for the lucky ones of course, the iconic leopard shark!

Koh Haa
Possibly some of the most underrated diving in the whole of Thailand, Moo Koh Haa (literally ‘five island group’) sits almost halfway between Hin Daeng and Phi Phi and is part of the Ko Lanta National Marine Park. There are actually several dive sites around Ko Haa but the highlights are Ko Haa Lagoon, Ko Haa Neua, and Ko Haa Yai. Around these amazing islands you can see pinnacles, walls, boulders, caverns, and swim-throughs.

Ko Haa lagoon is ideal for night dives, courses, and snorkeling, while The Chimney and The Cathedral offer things that you cannot see on other Thailand liveaboard itineraries with caverns, swim-throughs and chambers littering the sites. Ko Haa has varied marine life too, with ornate ghost pipefish, morays eels, octopus, hawksbill turtles, sea horses, marble rays, and sometimes even leopard sharks.

Hin Daeng & Hin Muang
These two sites are pinnacles (translating directly as Red Rock and Purple Rock) in open ocean, reaching down to
over 70m, and are best known for manta ray and whale shark encounters but, whether they are sighted or not, the sites also offer giant moray eels, pharaoh cuttlefish, schooling rainbow runners and snappers, barracudas, groupers, fusiliers and blue fin trevally. On the pinnacles, there are fields of magnificent anemones, walls of Hemprics soft corals, and huge gorgonian sea fans.

Top Side
Along the route there are some incredible views from the boat including Phi Phi’s famous beaches and limestone karsts climbing vertically form the ocean. There will be opportunities to leave the boat and take a sight-seeing trip on the dinghy.

*itineraries are subject to change.