Article from Scandasia December Magazine

The way to the Burma Banks

Pristine scuba diving at virtually virgin dive sites surrounded by 800 uninhabited islands, does it sound too good to be true? This is diving at the Burma Banks. Only * hours in a domestic flight from Bangkok and you will arrive to the sleepy fishing port of Ranong in the Ranong province, Thailand, situated right on the border with Burma. This little quiet town that sits right between beautiful mountains covered in green rainforest is the home of the Danish divemaster Preben Jensen, who operates his dive company, AIDC, from here and has been doing so for the past nine years. He has been spending a lot of time in the recent past few years to discover diving in Burmese waters, to be more exact in the Mergui Archipelago in the Andaman Sea, situated northwest of the Thai province of Ranong.
This entire area has been closed off to the outside world for more than 50 years. Now the gates are finally open to this pristine and untouched deep blue sea world. Thanks to Preben Jensen and others, who has been active in making this heavenly getaway open to divers from all over the World by trying to find a way through the bureaucratic Burmese desktop jungle.

Into the unknown

The rediscovery of these countless uninhabited islands, entirely virgin beaches, lakes and waterfalls all began in 1996 when the Burmese military Junta allowed the first visitors to enter the virginity of the Mergui Archipelago. Preben Jensen saw the possibility of scuba diving in the Archipelago witch consists of more than 800 tropical islands, covering an area of over 10,000 square miles. Due to the virtual isolation, the islands and surrounding seas are alive with an amazing diversity of wildlife.
“You will find all the known species, which you normally would encounter in Thai national marine parks, but in the Mergui Archipelago the marine life is bigger and you’ll see a greater diversity of species. The “big” includes giant groupers, all sorts of grouping fish, various species of sharks, regular sightings of large numbers of manta rays. To couple that, really beautiful macro life is present too. Sea horses, ghost pipefish and a lot more are amongst the archipelago’s rare inhabitants.
“There are creatures here found no-where else and even the chance to find and photograph yet to be described species. I have not been diving anywhere else with the same kind of diversity”, says Preben Jensen - And this comes from a man with over 2000 logged dives in the Andaman Sea.
Living for the past nine years in the coast town of Ranong, Preben Jensen has through his dive company, AIDC – “Andaman International Dive Center”, been developing sports diving in the Andaman Sea and has brought hundreds and hundreds of enthusiastic divers from all over the world to discover the magnificent dive sites in the Similan and Surin Thai national marine parks. These islands were among the famous French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau’s favorites dive sites in Thailand.

The way into Burmese waters

The resent years has seen Preben Jensen fully engaged in exploring the Mergui Archipelago in Burma together with his professional staff and costumers. But the way into Burmese waters has been anything but easy. Before the adventures could begin, the AIDC dive company had to go through a long a costly lane through Burmese bureaucratic counters.
“To enter Burma on a live-aboard diving vessel we have to obtain a license from Rangoon, which costs 3000 USD. The administration officials in Rangoon expect you to come and collect the license in person. Further more every participant also has to get the proper licenses to enter Burmese waters”, explains Preben Jensen. This of course is quite a time consuming affair, but with all the proper papers in order and in the right pockets the adventurous divers can commence on their journey to explore the magnificent Burmese dive sites.

Departure from Ranong

So far so good, but before reaching The Mergui Archipelago the costumers in Thailand and Burma has to be visited and once again precious papers are shown, controlled and hopefully approved.
In Kaw Thong a Burmese fishing town ten minutes sailing away from Ranong, a small man wearing dark sunglasses and a gangster attitude accompanied by three uniformed men enters the ship. It’s Mojo he is in charge of collecting US dollars - in new bills only and passports.
“A Burmese guide is left onboard the diving vessel and stays for the remaining dive trip. His job description is not completely clear to us, but he’s for sure not with us to get a fun ride”, says Preben Jensen.
Now the door is finally open to the Mergui Archipelago with its extremely rare and extraordinary dive opportunities. This year AIDC offers its costumers three different dive packages in Burma – one five days trips in the southern part of the Archipelago and a seven days trip that takes you all the way through and back The Mergui.
Diving in Burma is more expensive than other dive options in the area, but it’s a very rare opportunity that should not be missed by any dive enthusiast with some time to spare for an adventure not seen since Jacques Cousteau passed through these waters in the 1950’s.