See yesterday’s Guardian newspaper in the UK…

As I kayaked down the Mekong river, a couple of humps slunk out of the water about 10 metres ahead. Then a couple more to the left, and more to the right, before I finally realised that I was at the centre of a pod of Irrawaddy river dolphins, one of the rarest species on the planet.

Read Andrew Spooner’s full article on the Guardian website here

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25% off for confirmed bookings on the lovely Tambora sailing pinisi on any of the following cruises, Indonesia:

Ask Symbiosis to book your trip!

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Letter from Jennifer Lee 05:55 AM Aug 10, 2010

ABOUT two weeks ago, a concerned Hong Kong citizen saw a Citibank (Hong Kong) promotion advertising discounted shark’s fins.

Read the full article in today’s Today Online.

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Phu Quoc Beaches

Thirteen new tourism projects have been licensed on Phu Quoc Island, the largest island in Vietnam, located in the Gulf of Siam facing the Cambodian coast, with a combined investment totalling approximately USD 154 million.

The projects include a luxury retreat with leisure, entertainment and business facilities, a high-end hotel and recreation complex, a resort complex with conference facilities, plus many more exciting developments.

To date, eight projects have become operational covering an area of more than 17.2 hectares.

We, at Symbiosis, suggest that you get there quick before this stunningly beautiful island goes the way of many of Thailand’s once beautiful places!

There will soon be a direct boat connection to Phu Quoc from Cambodia’s so-called “riviera” town of Kep.  But even without it, it is a lovely trip to make – and a great cycle ride, if you are up to it – from Phnom Penh down into the verdant, watery world of the Mekong Delta to catch the local boat to Phu Quoc. You can fly from there to Saigon.

Contact Symbiosis to start planning!

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Early booking special. 20 % off if you book one of these dive liveaboard cruises on the beautiful, brand new, sailing pinisi the Mandarin Siren before the end of August 2010 (while spaces last!):

• 24 Jun to 05 Jul 2011, 11 nights – North Sulawesi – 2500 Euro less 20% = 2000 Euro
• 30 Jul to 10 Aug 2011, 11 nights – North Sulawesi – 2500 Euro less 20% = 2000 Euro

Check out the details here.

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Malaysia is renowned for its wonderful marine world and nearly half a million divers come here every year to admire some of the world’s most popular diving sites. The attention is fantastic as it helps raise awareness of some of the problems associated with global warming, yet on the other hand, such an amount of divers continuously returning to a few spots has a very negative impact. Due to the rising sea temperature (from 27°C to 29°C), the corals have started to develop a condition known as bleaching. Between 60 – 90% are already affected and without a ‘rest’ they will surely die.

The Department of Marine Parks has been very clear about necessary actions to be taken in order to give the corals a chance to recover; twelve most frequented and most threatened sites around the islands of Tioman, Redang and Perhentian have been ‘closed’ until the end of October 2010. That way, no divers will come anywhere near them and the stress will be at least limited. Even though the increased temperature is the main cause of coral bleaching, divers often accidentally touch or brush over the corals, raise sand from the sea bed and generally damage the corals. One or two would not make a difference, however, half a million divers undoubtedly does.

The Department of Marine Parks as well as environmentalists hope that the corals will have time to regenerate naturally and with a bit of luck will survive. Fortunately, they are prepared to fight uncontrolled tourism and protect their marine world as fiercely as possible in order to preserve its fragile beauty.

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More supreme diving. This is definitely the most extensive and superb diving I have yet discovered, and the topside is quite stunning too.

Max took me for a microlight flyover on the last day revealing a vast number of unspoiled islands, lagoons, sand banks, forests, etc. there are only a small number of tiny fishing villages sprinkled around the islands producing minimal impact. From the air we also saw several Dugongs – including one mother with her calf  -pods of dolphins, turtles and more. In some estuaries of Waigeo Island there are crocodiles too!

Islets off Pulau Gam, Raja Ampat, West Papua

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A mixed day today.  We headed out west to dive Melissas Garden and Anita’s garden, named after Max’s daughter and wife, respectively.  Melissa’s Garden was a blaze of colour with thousands of smaller, colourful reef fish and many coral species I have never seen before. I also had the thrill of having a wobbegong shark swim right at me, eventually passing just underneath me. This is the first time I have seen one swimming, rather than lying half hidden, and on its own volition, instead of poked by a diver to make it move!   Sadly the first part of the dive also revealed some dynamite fishing damage, despite it being a protected area.

Following the dive, we took the boat to a group of stunning karts limestone islands surrounding a lagoon. Awesome. then we moved towards dive no 2 at Anita’s Garden. However, en route, our dive guide, Luis, spotted a boat hidden on a small sandy beach. We pulled up and found on board the catch from dynamite fishing and some crude fertiliser bombs.  The owners had fled into the island. We confiscated the boat and catch and called up the police on the radio. Success – if only it had been before the catch. We decided not to dive Anita’s in case the rogue fishermen had another boat and more bombs!  We didn’t want to be the next casualties!

Instead we stopped and dived around a tiny stack island where the corals were splendid and the reef life vibrant…. despite more evidence on one side of dynamite fishing.

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What can I say about today. Glorious sunshine and the islands look even more pristine. And as for the diving – 5 manta rays swirling around my head for a whole hour. Sometimes they get up to 30 at a time here and almost never fail to find at least a couple. This place is divers’s heaven!

S[pent the surface time on a tiny little white sand fringed island with a tiny village on it. the villagers have just built a homestay for visitors, but have not yet received anyone. And all along the beach they have planted mangrove trees. Brilliant.

Dive 2: 4 or 5 types of coral I have never seen before. Really pretty leafy things. And yet more Mantas!

Dive 3: The twilight dive on Cape Kri when all the day time species are about to go in for the night and all of the nighttime creatures have just woken up and come out. Ablaze with action. More black tip sharks, barracuda, Bumpheads and loads more. Nice wall full of colour. Finished off with a flying race across the top of the coral at about 3 knots – whoosh!

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Day 2 we spent much of the time looking for a WWII sunken plane wreck that a local fisherman claims to have found. By laying a huge loop from weighted rope, we hoped to be able to drag the “snare” until it caught on the wreck, which was believed to be lying in a huge sandy floored bay separating the islands of Waigeo and Gam. No luck. when the divers went down to follow the rope, it was found that the floor of the bay was deep mud which was thick enough to stop the rope from drawing along the bottom! Plans are now affot for a second attempt.

Meanwhile, I was pared the job of following the rope into the murky depths (vis about 15 cm!) and went for a dive in the passage that separates the two islands. Eerie and very different from the first day’s dives. lost of nudibranches and weird little critters, cuttlefish and, much to my pleasure, 3 wobbegongs.

Back for a very late lunch and then just one afternoon dive which was another spectacular dive. plenty of black tip reef sharks, barracuda, trevally and glorious coral.

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Moana is offering a special Komodo/Sulawesi combination cruise for the end of the year. The cruise will start its first 4 days into the Komodo National Park (from 30 Dec 2010 – 04 Jan 2011). From 04 – 11 Jan, the cruise will continue to Karomba-lompa – Kakabia – Batuata – Karang Koka – Hoga – Butung, and end it in Kendari South-East Sulawesi.

It’s possible to join only one part of this cruise or the whole 13-days trip.

Special Offer Komodo AND Sulawesi: 30.12.09 – 11.01.10 (13-days cruise), includes unlimited diving for ONLY € 1.875/per person. You SAVE € 800! Non-divers: @ ONLY € 1.480/per person. You SAVE € 600!

Contact Symbiosis for more details

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Started at the end of 2009 the Elephant Hills Elephant Experience is just that, a chance to get close to these amazing creatures, feel their thick skin and interact with them during one of our unique experiences.  Chop, prepare and feed the elephants one of their daily feeds, learn about their handlers, help scrub and clean and watch them bathe in our giant elephant bath. Feed them dietary supplements that help with digestion and general well being and help to plant some of the giant grass used for next season’s crop.

A truly unique experience in the rainforests of Southern Thailand.

Interested? Contact Symbiosis to find out how to include this in your Thailand visit. And, if you can come in September, you can get a fantastic 2 for 1 deal. Kids receive a 75% discount valid right up until April 2011….

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Just completed my first 2 dives here at Kri Island in Raja Ampat, indonesia. Having dived all around South East Asia over the past 20 years, I have not seen such an abundance of reef life before… Perhaps at Sipadan 20 years ago, only! But this area is huge… and I have only done 2 of the nearest and easiest so far.  Can’t imagine what is in store for me. Will update each evening.

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The curfew that has been in place on Bangkok and 23 other provinces within Thailand has been lifted by the Thai Government. The State of Emergency however, remains firmly in place.

The curfew was introduced after the Thai military moved in on the red shirt protestors in the centre of the capital city. At first, the curfew was from 20:00 to 05:00 but that changed a few times, finishing as a 00:00 to 04:00 curfew that ended on Saturday, 29 May 2010.

I will be in Bangkok on Wednesday to have a look for myself and to feel how things really are.

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One of our favourite Eco lodges in Southern Thailand, Elephant Hills Nature Lodge, a luxury tented camp located in the rainforest on the edge of Khao Sok National Park in Southern Thailand, surrounded by dramatic, karst limestone mountains, has a great green season offer for the months of June and September 2010.

• 2 for 1 on all luxury soft adventure nature tours.

Also… and valid right up until April 2011 – a 75% discount for all children aged 15 and under on all luxury soft adventure nature tours.

Contact Symbiosis to see how you can include a visit to this beautiful place in your Thailand trip

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