Blue Dolphin is a new Thailand liveaboard boat which does 4 day diving trips in the Similan Islands, the location of Thailand’s best diving. Here’s my review after two trips on the boat.
Blue Dolphin liveaboard
Blue Dolphin is the new Similan islands liveaboard launched by Big Blue Diving in December 2022. Big Blue is one of Thailand’s oldest and largest dive operations with operations in Khao Lak and on Koh Tao. (You can read the history of the company here).
Blue Dolphin liveaboard
Liveaboard Overview
The TL;DR on Blue Dolphin is that it’s a solid mid-priced choice for a Similan liveaboard – it’s new and custom built, it’s efficiently and safely run by an experienced team, and has the liveaboard essentials you would expect: decent, plentiful Thai food, hot showers, comfortable beds.
Having only 16 divers maximum on the boat makes a big difference too, giving more space on the dive deck, dining area and camera table. It’s also great to see a new Similan liveaboard launching after Covid forced several Similan liveaboards permanently out of business.
You can check pricing and availability for Blue Dolphin on their website and on Liveaboard.com
Master cabin, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
A quick overview of the liveaboard setup:
- 16 guests total
- 7 cabins, all with their own aircon units
- Cabin types:
- Upper Deck master cabins with en suite bathroom
- Lower Deck master cabins with en suite bathroom
- Lower Deck Quad cabin – shared bathroom
- Lower Deck double cabin – shared bathroom
- 14 dives over 4 days. 3 full days of diving (4 dives a day) and 2 dives in the morning on final day.
- Breakfast, Lunch, mid-afternoon snack, Dinner all included. All day snacks of crisps and fruit available.
En-suite bathrooms, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Dive Deck
The dive deck operates with four groups of divers (4 divers maximum to 1 dive guide) taking turns to gear up so the dive deck never gets too crowded.
Dive deck, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
Nitrox
Nitrox is available for all dives and generated by the on board compressor. This didn’t fluctuate much percentage wise over the course of the trip.
Camera shelves, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Camera Table
In the centre of the dive deck is the camera table. This has secured crates underneath it to store camera rigs. The table is big enough to hold 2 to 3 big DSLR camera rigs or 6 to 7 compact camera setups. There is a small perspex enclosed area at one end of the table for opening up cameras and swopping out batteries and memory cards etc with shelter from the wind. (The perspex shelter was added after these photos were taken). There is a rinse tank at the other end of the camera table.
Camera shelves, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
There’s also a communal charging station – 5 shelves of surge protected power strips for charging camera batteries etc.
Sun deck, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The camera area is fine for smaller cameras, but I preferred to take my bigger camera back to my cabin for the usual faffing about between dives. The table also tends to be a catch-all area for dive computers and other paraphernalia to be deposited. I missed the dedicated camera room that you find on my other favourite Similan liveaboard, the Smiling Seahorse.
Corridor, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Chase Boats
2 inflatable rib chase boats to take divers to and from the liveaboard (as of 2022 it’s illegal for divers to enter the water off the back of liveaboards). These are both competently handled by the boat boys who are very helpful at pulling in your dive gear and handling cameras. It’s a standard fold-down ladder to climb back into the chase boat and backroll entry.
Outdoor dining, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Dining Area
On the upper deck, there’s an open dining area that can sit all 16 guests and crew, with an enclosed tv room / briefing room / lounge. There’s also a spacious sun deck above – sun cream most definitely required.
Outdoor dining, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Food
An excellent array of Thai food dishes for lunch and dinner, with Western breakfast of bacon and eggs as well as congee. There is the afternoon snack too. Beer and wine is available to purchase, including a few craft beers.
Master cabin, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Cabins
Because Blue Dolphin is a new liveaboard, the cabins have the shiny glow of new paintwork, fixtures and fittings. The design of the cabins shows some nice thoughtful touches – the toilets are angled at 45 degrees to give more room sitting down, the beds are arranged with two singles below (which can be a one double bed) and 1 bunk bed above. The general decoration vibe is muted grey and white with some light wood veneer – it’s like Muji meets Ikea. More importantly, everything feels like it’s well-organised and has its own space.
There are USB charging points for phones on a small shelf behind the bed’s headboard which is useful, along with dedicated reading lights. The cabins work so that they can be configured into double or twin setup, with the second single bed above the first to give more space.
Standard bunk cabin, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
The Boat Crew
The staff on Blue Dolphin are great – the kitchen team crank out consistently great food from a tiny galley, the boat boys are excellent at handling the inflatable chase boats in both rough and calm conditions and are also adept at picking up divers post-dive and handling camera gear.
Standard bunk cabin, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
Takeshi Omura, Big Blue’s director, is present on most of the liveaboard trips to take care of Big Blue’s Japanese clientele, along with cruise director Steve Boot who oversaw the construction of the boat. That means they are both keeping an eye on everything running efficiently and have an intimate knowledge of how the boat works as they designed it and put it together. It does make a difference when the boat owner is on the trip.
Quad cabin, Blue Dolphin liveaboard
Conclusion
The Blue Dolphin liveaboard is definitely worth considering for a mid-priced Similan Islands dive trip. It’s nice being on a boat that’s brand new. It gets the essentials right – good boat crew, sizable dive deck, not overcrowded with too many guests, good food, clean cabins. The thought that’s gone into the cabin design gives it a modern, contemporary feel. My only gripe is the relatively small space for big cameras, but for most divers that won’t be an issue.
Batfish and divers, Richelieu Rock © chris@divehappy.com
For reports about what we saw on the dives we did in the Similans from the Blue Dolphin, see Similan Islands Trip Report February 2023 and Similan Islands Trip Report December 2022.
You can see more info about the Blue Dolphin on their website and at Liveaboard.com, including pricing and availability.
Disclosure: I paid for my own trips on Blue Dolphin, getting a 10% discount as a returning Big Blue customer. Images used on this page are Blue Dolphin’s own publicity shots rather than my own but are realistic. They’ve not used camera trickery to make rooms look bigger and so on.
Similan Liveaboards Overview
- Luxury Similan Island Liveaboards
- Mid Range Similan Island Liveaboards
- Budget Similan Island Liveaboards
- Last Minute Liveaboard Deals
- Diving The Similan Islands 2024: A Quick Guide
- Similan Islands Dive Sites
- Diving Thailand Guide
Upcoming Similan Liveaboard Availability and Pricing
Check availability and pricing for all Similan Islands liveaboards departing in
- November 2024 | December 2024
- January 2025 | February 2025 | March 2025 | April 2025 | May 2025 | October 2025
(The Similan National Park is closed from mid May to mid October each year)
Similan Liveaboards Trip Reports
Photos from each of the Similan liveaboard trips I've been on over the years.
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report May 2024
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report 21 - 25 February 2024
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report 15 - 19 February 2024
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report December 2023
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report October 2023
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report April 2023
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report February 2023
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report December 2022
- Similan Islands Liveaboard Trip Report February 2020
- Similan Islands and Myanmar Trip Report March 2015