HOBO-YA SIMILAN：RULES OF LIVEABOARD

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RULES OF LIVEABOARD

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Similan Islands National Park Rules

The Similan Islands are a National Park with protected areas full of extremely beautiful nature that is surrounded by a marine blue ocean and white beaches. Please abide by the rules below so this stunning nature can be protected forever.

Rubbish must not be thrown away. Please take all your items home with you
Bringing plastic products on to the National Park is prohibited.
No fishing is allowed.
Please do not feed the fish.
Please do not touch the marine life (coral).。
Please do not take marine life (coral) home.
Do not go ashore on any of the islands apart from Island 4 and Island 8.
Do not touch the bottom when diving.

Diving Procedure

Entry

Open your tank valve and check how much air you have. Put on your gear. After your buddy check, make a giant stride into the water from the entry deck at the stern. If you are using Nitrox, please double check your dive computer settings.
When the boat approaches the entry point, the captain will give an OK sign but please do not enter the water until your guide tells you to. If you miss the correct timing, don't panic, wait for the next one.
Once in the water and swimming at the surface, please keep your face above water so you can hear your guide
If you are entering the water from a dinghy, put on your gear and after passing your fins to the crew, hold their hand and get onboard slowly. Sit close together and put on your fins. Upon arrival at the dive site, follow your guide's instructions and enter the water by backward roll. Once in the water, please swim away from the dinghy. When the dinghy is docking next to the main ship, please make sure your fingers aren't caught between them. It can be slippery so please get on board with assistance.

Descent

When you have gathered at the surface of the water, we will make a controlled descent. Please add one extra weight to your belt for the first dive.
During your descent, make sure you clear your ears regularly and descend at the same speed as your buddy or group.
If you aren't good at ear clearing, please notify your guide beforehand.
At dive sites with strong currents, please dump all your air from your BCD before entry. We will sometimes descend head first at the same time as the entry. Details will be given during the briefing before the dive.

During the Dive

ecause we dive a lot during our dive cruises, you will be required to use a dive computer. Please check your guide's location regularly and make sure you do not overtake or dive below him or her.
To protect the marine environment, as a rule please do not touch the bottom even if it's sandy. Please also take care where you put your hands when taking photos to contain damage to coral as much as possible and do not take bits of coral or shells home with you.
Pointing sticks are prohibited. We appreciate your cooperation. Please use a light if you wish to point at marine life.
Your guide will check how much air you have left but please make sure you regularly do the same (do you remember your hand signals, such as OK, trouble, stop, up, down, danger, low on air, out of air, air pressure signals, signs for fish etc?).
As a rule the maximum diving depth will be 30m and maximum dive time 50 minutes or until somebody in the group reaches 50 bar or less.
If you are separated from the group, look around you for just one minute. If you cannot find anyone, ascend with care.
Divers using Nitrox must be careful with their maximum depth so they do not go over the limit on the partial pressure of oxygen.

Safety Stop

All dives will include a 3-min safety stop at 5m. When the guide gives the signal, he or she will launch an SMB (surface marker buoy) or safety sausage. Please gather close by and ascend together.
Once you're at the surface of the water, maintain your buoyancy and wait for the ship or dinghy to pick you up.

Exit

If you are exiting onto the cruise ship, please grab the buoy that is thrown towards you and swim towards the boat. Make sure you don't go under the platform from the side. Grab hold of the bars (grid), pass your camera and fins to the crew and climb up the ladder one by one. Please make sure you are not directly underneath those who are climbing. Once on board, put your tank back in its original place and take off your first stage.
If you are exiting onto the dinghy, use your fins to climb on board after giving your camera and weight belt to the crew. You will use a foldable ladder if there is one so please make sure your hand does not get caught in the hinges where the ladder folds. If you are being towed back to the ship by boat, please keep your mask on and regulator in your mouth and make sure you are not pushing back against the water.

Notes

Things to be Aware Of Buddy Check

Please check your buddy during the dive. If you do not have a buddy, please talk to your guide. During the dive, follow the buddy system and help one another.

Return Flights (24 Hours)

In order to prevent decompression sickness, we strongly insist that you do not fly for 24 hours after your last dive or during the prohibited time indicated on your dive computer. If the prohibited time on your dive computer is likely to extend into and after your flight time, we may ask you not to dive.

Using Nitrox

If you are using Nitrox, please make sure that you use a dive computer with Nitrox settings. In order to abide by the maximum dive depth so you do not exceed the limit on the partial pressure of oxygen, please analyze your Nitrox tank and reset your computer after each dive.

Dive Computers

During your dive, please take extra care not to exceed your no-decompression limit (NDL). Please use your dive computer each time you dive in order to accurately calculate your residual nitrogen time. After your dive, please wash your dive computer in fresh water and wash off all the salt to prevent it from malfunctioning. If you leave it in the water tank for too long, the battery will die very quickly so please clip it to your gear. That way, you won't forget it on your next dive.

Regulators

After each dive, you will be required to remove your first stage from your tank. In order to prevent wetness, please put the dust cap back on each time. When you do this, always remove any drops of water from the cap. If your regulator does get wet because of carelessness or you forget to put the dust cap back on, we will charge an extra payment of 5,000 Bahts. We appreciate your understanding.

Loss or Damage

If any gear is lost or damaged as a result of customer carelessness, we will charge, at most, the amounts below. We appreciate your understanding. Regulator: THB　10,000, BCD: THB　10,000, Dive computer: THB　8,000, Wetsuit: THB　1,500, Gauge console: THB　3,000, Weight belt: THB　500, Mask: THB　500, Fins: THB　1,500, Weights: THB　100