 SEAL Asia, living aboard the Gaea.
Category: Divecenter (By Gurt on Tuesday, April 27, 2004)
Was there: Mar 2004
Arranging details and Itinerary with Adam (one of the owners of SEAL Asia) was a breeze. They were very flexible in providing us with a full 5 day/6 night dive package on the Gaea, a trimaran. The boat was accomodated to host 8 guests and 5 crew, but we were with only 6 guests, so there was plenty of room. That is to say: on deck. Due to the size restraints that a sailboat brings, and moreso a trimaran, the space below deck in the huts was very limited. But since you spend all your non-sleeping time above deck or in the water, this poses no problem.
After having arranged all the customs formalities at both the Thai and Burmese border, we were set to go. At that point it became clear that not everyone was up-to-date on the itinerary, and final agreements had to be made over the phone. The itinerary was ambitious, but the captain and divemaster were willing enough to go along and during the trip the plan was changed several times according to the diving conditions we encountered.
These were not always perfect and because of this we probably have missed some cool stuff underwater like (more) Mantas and sharks. I say "more" because we did see them on one occasion. Other than that we saw a lot of nice "small" stuff. Please note that the conditions are ofcourse beyond control of SEAL, so this does not influence my opinion on SEAL as a company.
The crew were excellent and special mention should be made of the cook, which was the wife of the captain ("Bear"). Everyday she prepared a feast for us with fresh fish, nice curries, fruits, pancakes etc.
With the boat being small, and having one dive bottle each, it was unavoidable that the compressor on the rear deck would disturb the quiet in between dives. Our recommendation would be that SEAL would double the number of bottles and try to refill the empty ones during the dives, when we would be underwater.
The boat itself (Gaea) is everything you need to relax. There are cushens to lay down on and nets to hang in. There is plenty of shade, but also plenty of room to turn yourself into a pink lobster. For the video freaks, there is a TV set with DVD player and a bunch of movies. The CD player is hooked up to speakers on deck so bring your favorite CD! There is plenty of fresh drinking water on board, next to the soft drinks, beer and wine that they bring. Bring some peanuts, crisps or other snacks to accompany your drinks when you're lying in the nets, enjoying the sunset, feeling like starring in a "Bacardi commercial"!
All in all a very good trip and definitively a thumbs up for SEAL Asia. |