Rob: I have had 2 friends Martin and Mark doing 3 days of fun diving. The day they decided to take a break and relax by the pool (which I was lucky enough to Enjoy also ) was the day I get a text message saying Whale Shark Koh Ha!. We all couldn’t believe how unlucky we where to choose this day off.

We where very happy tho for Tom and Chompoo who had just completed the Open Water Course and on there 5th Dive where lucky enough to witness the Whale Shark which was said to be around 4 meters long. ( Life really is not fair )

The next day the boat was heading to the same dive site Koh Ha but this time we where all aboard including my other friend Penny.

Obviously we decided to drop in the same area where everyone saw the Whale Shark the day before. Could we have the same luck?

With in 10 minutes of the dive we where all gobsmacked! as this impressive creature came swimming around. How great to see it but also how great to dive with 3 of your closest friends who had never witnessed one before. The Shark swam past us all a couple of times and we maybe got to experience its grace for 15 minutes.

The Whale Shark was around 4 meters long. All though it was still pretty small in comparison to an adult it was still very big and long compared to me. I can’t believe the adrenalin rush you get when diving next to one. My air was sucked dry in 45 minutes.

On the 2nd dive of the day we dived in the same area of Koh Ha. I was with Vera the boat manager. As we came round a corner my big screams and tank banger alerted him to another Whale Shark. This one how ever was not staying around and in the video you will see Vera swimming frantically to keep up in the current.

Rob: Koh Lanta has an amazing mix of cultural people who simply seem to get a long. This is particularly portrayed when they staged the Laanta Lanta Festival in the Old Town which started on March the 7th.

Picture looking down Laanta Lanta Festival in the Old Town.

The Old Town is transformed for the 3 day festival which is an evening event . Many bamboo lights are erected over the main road giving this incredible warm glow. All along you will find many stalls selling a cross between Thai fine crafts, art, clothes, hammocks also authentic food stalls with local cuisine and drinks and a play area for the children.

Two big stages are built where you will find a variety of traditional Sea Gypsy music to Reggae and also Thai dancing in beautiful Thai costumes from the past.

Thai Band enjoying the ouside gig.

Found around these arenas you will find many of Lanta’s Resorts and Restaurants who decorate there areas with there own flare. You can choose from a massive selection of food. Pimalai who served great chicken kebabs, Bajean with there excellent Pizza’s but the best for me was the Tavern and Koala Bar teaming up together with a very delicious inexpensive burger and chips and cool beer.

It really is a very relaxed affair for all the family and age groups of every culture to enjoy and draws crowds from all over Koh Lanta.

Rob: It has been a great week for diving this week with Chris returning to Koh Lanta and joining me on 2 days of diving. Its not only great to see him again but it is great to watch his face when we encounter Ghost Pipefish, Harlequin Shrimps and Octopus all on the same dive at Koh Ha and he realizes again how good the diving is in the South of the Andaman Sea around Koh Lanta.

I took my camera on the 2nd day and we went diving around the koh Bida Islands. They are situated just under 2 hours from Koh Lanta and although the visibility had dropped in recent weeks it was still pretty good.

The first video I took was at the start of the dive on Koh Bida Nai. We had dropped in on the usual place where we got to see a Juvenile Bluering Angelfish, followed by a Sea Horse. Then as we started our dive we encountered this Sea Snake.Wow what an experience watching it move and seek out food. It is very poisonous but luckily it can’t open its mouth wide enough to bite us so we are in no danger.

The 2nd video is at the end of the dive. We where swimming with this turtle for around 10 minutes. It kept eating the Bubble Gum coral swimming off to another one but soon returning to the same one. Maybe it tasted sweeter.

Its so cool to experience the multitude of different species underwater but its even cooler when you witness something so poisonous and something so gentle.