Western Rocky, Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar ------ 10-130 feet
A small limestone island with several adjacent rocky outcroppings, this site would take days to cover completely. We only made it part way around the main island on two different dives since there was so much to see. How about three mating cuttlefish, anemone crabs, lionfish, two nudibranchs cuddling or mating, crabs, puffer fish, many species of moray eels, scorpionfish, urchins, clownfish, hawkfish, blennies and gobies, and the list goes on. These islets are honeycombed with crevices that provide superb cover for marine life. A large tunnel runs completely through the island and some of our shipmates swam through and surprised a sleeping nurse shark. There are several small caverns and a huge archway. Sharks are known to patrol this area, as well as schooling jacks, fusiliers, and more.
Three Islets, Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar ------ 10-90 feet
This scenic area is one small island and two large rocks that rise well above the surface. Each is a separate dive site, and it would take many dives to cover all this area has to offer as well. The variety of marine life here is sensational. The main island has a sloping, rocky side and a sheerer wall side. We only made it part way around this one too, just too much great stuff to see and the current was running, so we hid out as best we could. The rocks and crevices were alive with hinge-beak shrimp. These cute red and white critters were thick as fleas everywhere we looked, as were moray eels and scorpionfish. The highlight of this site was probably the two Harlequin shrimp on a gorgonian, one eating part of a starfish arm! We also saw mantis shrimp, Shultz's pipefish, a white frogfish, cleaner shrimp, and jewel box urchins, four or five species of moray eels, hawkfish, blennies, banded snake eel, crinoids, and orange cup corals. There is a large canyon at the north end of the main island that is usually home to several gray reef sharks.
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