Liveaboard Diving in Myanmar / Burma

Before joining a Myanmar Liveaboard Diving Trip, there are a few things that you need to know.

• How do I go diving in Burma (Myanmar)? At present (2017), the only realistic way to enjoy liveaboard diving in Burma is to join a trip that sails from Thailand. These boats most commonly sail from Thailand’s western coastal provinces of Phang Nga and Ranong. Some do a day’s diving in Thailand before crossing the border into Myanmar, while others go directly.
• What about immigration? This is a weird situation for those coming from Thailand who want to go diving in Myanmar because they officially leave Thailand* but do not get or need a visa to enter Myanmar. *Unless you have a re-entry visa stamp, your Thai visa will expire when you leave, and you will get a new Visa on Arrival stamp when you come back to Thailand. This new stamp may be 14 or 30 days, depending on your nationality.
• Is there a hidden cost? Yes! Although divers in Myanmar do not get or need a visa to enter the country, they must pay for a diving permit. This permit costs at least $200, depending on the length of the dive trip in Myanmar. In addition, the fee must be paid in cash in new & clean banknotes, and it must be applied for* at least two weeks before departure. *Including a photocopy or scan of the passport and a couple of passport photographs of each applicant diver.

What’s so special about diving in Myanmar?

• Undiscovered reefs: Because recreational scuba diving in Burma is very new, many of the reefs here are yet to be discovered. And those that are known to the divers and boat captains are not visited by many other diving boats. Therefore, it’s quite common to be the only liveaboard diving boat within sight, which is almost impossible in Thailand. Some Myanmar liveaboard diving trips include some exploration and brand-new dive sites are discovered.
• Special marine life: Due to the fact that there is a lot less boat traffic in Myanmar than there is in Thailand, the marine life hasn’t been scared off by divers blowing bubbles and touching things. Some species are found almost nowhere else on Earth, and it’s possible that some are yet to be known to science. Although rare, sightings of Irrawady Dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) are possible from the boat, which would probably never happen in Thailand. The same can be said for the Dugong (Dugong dugong), as they are both shy mammals that stay away from humans, especially divers.

Have the reefs been fished using dynamite and cyanide?

• The answer to this question is an unfortunate ‘yes’ but some reefs are untouched and many are recovering well. Also, the more the local people learn about the value of live fish and healthy reefs, the sooner they will realise the long-term benefits of preserving the area instead of destroying it. As each season passes, more diving boats visit Myanmar, and this means more of the locals benefit from this new form of tourism to them. Also, there are international organisations working within Myanmar to educate the people and evaluate the state of each reef.