Update Phuket Thiland and Fantasea Divers - Ocean Rover Cruises

Thank you for your report.
The people I was looking after were not in Surin at the time of the
tsunami after all.


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DeepThought


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Thank you for your report.
The people I was looking after were not in Surin at the time of the
tsunami after all.


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DeepThought


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Thank you for your report.
The people I was looking after were not in Surin at the time of the
tsunami after all.


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DeepThought


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Thank you for your report.
The people I was looking after were not in Surin at the time of the
tsunami after all.


--
DeepThought


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Thank you for your report.
The people I was looking after were not in Surin at the time of the
tsunami after all.


--
DeepThought


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Fantasea Divers - Ocean Rover Cruises was not affected by the earthquake
off-shore Sumatra and the subsequent tidal waves in Phuket. Ocean Rover is
currently in Myanmar's Mergui Archipelago and did not experience any large
waves. All passengers and crew are fine. The captain is proceeding very
cautiously and will remain in Burmese waters for most of the cruise. Crew
are on a constant lookout. So far they have only experienced calm weather
and beautiful diving. In fact, conditions in the Mergui Archipelago are so
nice that, without modern-day communication, the people on board Ocean
Rover would not have known about the disaster.



Phuket was struck relatively hard, but due to the better infrastructure here
than in other places, damage could have been far worse than it turned out to
be. The people who were killed or injured were on the beach or close to
shore at the time the wave hit, as there was little or no warning. As far as
we know, there have been no accidents at sea involving divers. Most of the
dive boats have reported that they are safe. However, a group of day-divers
from Pi-Pi Islands died while diving in the popular Emerald Cave. This
particular divesite is not part of Ocean Rover's itinerary.



The three tidal waves that hit Phuket were caused by the shifting of plates
which caused the initial 9.0 force earthquake. Subsequent aftershocks,
although powerful in their own right, have not caused further waves. Our
heart goes out to the many families who have lost loved ones. Phuket's
island community, Thai and expatriate, is working hard to help the wounded
and the bereaved.



The repeated images you see on TV are horrifying but please understand that
most of Phuket island is unaffected. The island's infrastructure is largely
intact but the telephone system is overtaxed due to the many calls from
concerned people overseas. Therefore, please do not try to phone us unless
there is no other option. You will have to dial may times but eventually
you will get through.



Many of the resorts and hotels in and around Phuket have been able to clean
up most of the mess and are accepting guests. Our next scheduled cruise is
to the Andaman Islands, which was badly hit by shocks and waves. At the
moment we are unable to communicate with the island's authorities. Ocean
Rover is part of the Andaman Sea Rally fleet during this cruise and the race
organizers have informed us they plan to go ahead with the event. They wish
to show support for the Andaman Islands and proof that marine tourism in the
Andaman Sea region has the ability bounce back quickly from the disaster.
Ocean Rover will carry relief supplies to the islands as well. If you are
a booked passenger on this cruise please contact our Reservations Department
at info@ocean-rover.com.

Do you happen to know if the Surin islands in thailand were hit?


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DeepThought


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I have no direct reports or information, hwever I suspect that the damage,
if any, will be significantly less than Phuket or Khao Lak

"DeepThought" <DeepThought.1hxtvy@forums.deeperblue.net> wrote in message
news:DeepThought.1hxtvy@forums.deeperblue.net...
>
> Do you happen to know if the Surin islands in thailand were hit?
>
>
> --
> DeepThought
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> DeepThought's Profile:
> http://forums.deeperblue.net/member....nfo&userid=963
> View this thread:
> http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthr...threadid=57410
>

10q for answering. Please update if you get around that information.

John Deknatel Wrote:
> I have no direct reports or information, hwever I suspect that the
> damage,
> if any, will be significantly less than Phuket or Khao Lak
>
> "DeepThought" <DeepThought.1hxtvy@forums.deeperblue.net> wrote in
> message
> news:DeepThought.1hxtvy@forums.deeperblue.net...
> >
> > Do you happen to know if the Surin islands in thailand were hit?
> >
> >
> > --
> > DeepThought
> >
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > DeepThought's Profile:
> > http://forums.deeperblue.net/member....nfo&userid=963
> > View this thread:
> > http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthr...threadid=57410
> >


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I was on a dive boat at Ko Tachai between the Similan and Surin islands
(a little south of richelieu rock) when the pressure wave came through.
After that (and at the time in ignorance of what was going on) we moved
south to Ko Bon where the water still looked like a washing machine.
There was no wave damage to the islands since there's not really any
south facing beaches to generate waves and they're surrounded by deep
water. However, the current force of the water was phenomenal and
likely to be massively damaging to marine life and dive sites in the
area which are predominantly soft and delicate corals. I've since seen
Thai TV footage of sites (though not sure where) which have been
devestated. I'd check closely with any tour operators on the state of
sites to make sure they're okay.

I was diving with Coral Grand Divers on the Queen Scuba boat. The boat
is excellent and the dive staff superb. Alas the latter have now left
Thailand since the season is over for them, but I gather the boat will
be running from Phuket again in some capacity shortly. Nothing is
currently running from the Khao Lak (Thap/Thab Lamu) docks.. it's
unsafe with too many boats on the bottom of the harbour and general
damage to the dock facilities. Khao Lak itself has been totalled and
most operations running from there lost all their facilities. Many
liveaboard boats have since relocated to less damaged or un-damaged
areas near Phuket but it still appears a little un-cordinated about
what's going on with them. In terms of the general area - it's
relatively untouched once you're 300-500m inland and rebulding in the
damage zone has started in earnest already. There won't be any real
issues with facilities in the areas near Phuket if you are travelling
in that direction.. though it's worth making some extra effort with
accomodation planning if you're not staying on a boat. Talk to the dive
centre's for their recommendations and local knowledge of what's going
on.

Christian
(occasional u.r.s reader)


>> I have no direct reports or information, hwever I suspect that the
>> damage, if any, will be significantly less than Phuket or Khao Lak
>>
>>> Do you happen to know if the Surin islands in thailand were hit?