Yes. Thailand. Or more specifically, the Mergui Archipelago off of Myanmar, near the Thai border. I have booked my self on a dive liveaboard in March. What can you see in those waters? Check it out!
http://siamdivers.com/thailand/dive_sites/mergui_archipelago/underwater_photos.php
I tried to get on a trip in February with the Marine Megafauna Foundation, but the boat was full…at least, full enough that a single traveler (me!) could not have their own stateroom. I am taking the same boat, however, the Andaman Queen out of Phuket. The trip was for Manta Ray research, but hey, I get to go in March! Mantas, Whale Sharks, cuttle fish, lionfish, incredible coral formations, nudi branchs, and…..banded sea snakes. Banded sea snakes are the most poisonous creatures on the planet (if I am wrong, correct me, please). They are reportedly very shy, and since I have seen numerous photos of them, I am assuming they do not bite every diver they see. As far as I know, this has not happened…I want to see them, but not too close up. After all, I am the person who trips over pet gates and falls on flat surfaces, and has Great Whites slam into her cage…I do not want an accident with a banded sea snake.
March sounds so far away. It feels far away, too. Of course, the holidays are around the corner, and I know how busy that will be…especially with my husband home and still not completely self-sufficient from his lung transplant. Of course, I have other trips on the burner too. A road trip in April which will reach Napa? A couple of weeks this summer in Lake Tahoe….and two weeks in Ecuador in September with Dr Andrea Marshall and her team from Marine Megafauna Foundation, to research mantas. I’m also thinking about throwing in a quick dive trip to Roatan, Honduras.
Well…part of the fun is planning to travel, right? I am always planning!
I am terrified of sea snakes. We don’t have them here 🙂
Nope. They are Pacific based, though the Lionfish used to be only in the Pacific and Indian oceans as well. Hopefully they won’t make it over here….they aren’t popular in an aquarium, thank goodness!
Hi, I am a friend of Simon Pierce and through a FB post and curiosity i ended up on this page. I think either the box jellyfish or the blue-ringed octopus or the Geographic or Map cone snail have the most potent toxin.
There are plenty of sea snakes in Papua New Guinea, notably on Loloata island where they come onto the shore before sunset, to court, mate, lay eggs, digest food, and shed their skins. They don’t bite divers though as, apart from being shy, their jaws and fangs are too small to bite most parts of a diver.
Very good to know! I was always told they were the most venomous creatures on earth…but as you said, there are plenty of animals with toxins! They go on land? I’d never heard that. Now I am off to do some research on them!