| wood mono-hull Chinese sailing junk... |
|
|
Scuba diving and sailing in the Similan Islands onboard June Hong Chian Lee, winner of our 'Liveaboard of the Year' award in 2009, is a unique, once in a lifetime experience; though often many guests enjoy it so much, they make a date to return again the next year.
Length: 33 metres / 109 foot
30 metres / 99 foot
Beam: 8.5 metres / 28 foot
Cruise: 7 knots
Divers: 18
• Featured Trip Report
 Customer Reviews
|
|
An authentic and historical teak wood merchant sailing vessel, this boat definitely has the most character of any Thailand liveaboard and has been used for several films including James Bond's The Man With The Golden Gun and Swiss Family Robinson.
The Junk, as she is known in the local diving industry, has been redesigned interiorly to provide its guests with en-suite cabins, lots of on-deck relaxation space, and a large air-conditioned saloon to cool off in. It was originally built in Malaysia in 1962 as a merchant sailing vessel but was renovated into a classical yacht. Constructed mainly from hard teak wood called Takien Tong she's 30 metres long and has 3 masts with a 330 square metres of sails.
The Junk's itinerary includes 1 extra day's diving so that you can also visit the more remote Surin Islands. Little visited by other cruises, these uncrowded islands are fantastic for macrolife as well as some marine life you won't see in the Similans, such as bumphead parrotfish and black-tip reef sharks.
The divemasters have been diving in the Similan Islands for several years now and their enormous passion for scuba diving and the underwater world adds further to this special dive adventure. They pass their enthusiasm on to their guests, and the dive briefings are the most thorough that you'll hear anywhere. If you haven't dived in a while, a free buoyancy workshop can be arranged on board. And as experienced divers, you'll love the freedom to dive for as long as you like, within safe diving limits of course.
|
|
"The welcome briefing very precise. The manager was on the boat before we took off to make sure all was good for the guests on board and only upon confirming, took off to start the journey.
Very diligent helpful crew. Always on time with schedule. Was impressed how the pickup time was perfectly one time before boarding the boat and the preciseness continued.
Awesome food. Always was so much, good balance of vegetables, fish, meat, fruit with mix of Thai and western dishes." - Shiila Takaoka, Hong Kong ...
"We are talking about making this an annual trip, it was so good!" - Sharon Winders, UK ...
"Dive masters available at any moment and competence. Very good cooking, varied dishes. Kindness and availability of the boat crew." - Guy Raiwisque, France ...
"The crew were all very professional, the atmosphere was relaxed and the facilities first class. The food was plentiful and very good, if anything too good as I ate too much. All in all a very good experience." - Mark Saunders, USA ...
"The dive boat was well organised with good dive briefings conducted before each dive explaining what we would expect to see. The food was good too! It was also a unique experience to be able to sail on a junk!!" - Vivian Fong, Singapore ...
"Great dive masters, very professional and friendly, helpful and cheerful staff, great food. They took excellent care of another diver who had to be evacuated for decompression sickness on Day 2. That emergency medical situation was handled very professionally and calmly. Very nice, relaxed, friendly atmosphere on the boat, great video provided at the end of the trip." - Mia Hyun, USA ...
"The staff were excellent on the Junk. There was plenty of food. The dive guides were excellent. There were some passengers though that had the TV on from 6 am until 10 pm. They never turned the TV off. Maybe this should be mentioned in the initial dive brief that there are other customers onboard and not only them. A few customers did speak to the guides about this but they did not to seem to have any success with a big group of Americans! " - Karen Wellings, Saudi Arabia ...
"Wonderful people and a great crew. Eager to please and help in any way they could. Very knowledgeable about the dive sites. They had the equipment there and on time. They just didn't have a wetsuit that would fit me. They were helpful." - Brandon Babcock, USA ...
"We had an excellent time; best Liveaboard we have ever been on. The Diving was great; the divemasters were great and the boat staff was great too." - Michael Hayes, USA ...
"The operator was incredible. The boat was a one of a kind vessel which you should never pass up. The crew went out of their way to try and make sure we had everything we needed. Would definitely return to the ship in a heartbeat. I recommended this to all my friends and think some may be coming eventually. " - Oscar Prat, USA ...
"Unique well-kept boat with friendly staff. Food was excellent. The divemasters were very personable and knowledgeable about the local sealife. Felt like I got very good value for the money. Would go again." - Drew Reese, USA ...
"The crew of The Junk was very helpful, ran a great boat and was very knowledgable. They made the trip just amazing. " - Ori Ayalon, Israel ...
"Excellent ambiance, strong emphasis on safety, professional, really tried their best. Not for free but good value for money." - Martin Aberg, Sweden ...
"Really professional guys, excellent guides! Boat crew is very good too, additional 'thanks' to cook Na. Rating would be excellent if the the price is lower. " - Anna Shtemberg, Russia ...
|
