Krishna 2 — a new Thai liveaboard built around serious diving

Krishna 2 is for divers who want the boat to do one thing properly: reach good water and make repeated dives there without turning the trip into a floating resort stay. The routes include Lipe and South Andaman, with Phuket-area sites such as Racha Noi, Koh Doc Mai, Koh Waeo and South Tip in the programme. That gives the week a useful spread: current-swept reefs and pelagics, limestone walls and macro life, shallow coral gardens, and deeper terrain where conditions allow. The boat was built in 2024, so its diving systems and living spaces are designed for modern liveaboard work rather than adapted from an older passenger vessel. It also welcomes tech divers, sidemount divers and rebreather users. The appeal is straightforward: a local operation, a large Thai and international crew, full-board meals with local dishes, and a dive deck equipped for more than standard recreational diving.

Krishna 2 makes the impression of a purpose-built working dive boat rather than a converted yacht dressed up for divers. The layout is spread across several decks, with an outdoor terrace, observation area and shaded dive space giving people somewhere to move after a dive. The boat is large enough to carry 24 passengers without making the group feel anonymous, while the single support tender keeps the main hull clear when divers are being taken to the site. Inside, the air-conditioned saloon provides a cool place for briefings and meals; outside, the boat opens onto the sea. The twin Hino marine engines and full navigation suite are part of the working character, not decoration. Built in 2024, Krishna 2 has the clean, practical feel expected of a recent vessel, with stations for charging, separate camera rinsing and daily cabin cleaning.

The atmosphere is shaped less by formal service than by the size and makeup of the working crew. Krishna 2 carries Thai and international staff, with English and Thai spoken on board, and the operation is built around divers rather than non-diving guests. Meals arrive as a buffet, cabins are cleaned daily, and the crew keeps the practical parts of a four-dive day moving: tanks, food, transfers between hull and tender, and the next briefing. Passenger feedback gives the crew a stronger reputation than the boat itself, while food scores particularly well. That distinction is useful. Krishna 2 is a recent, well-equipped vessel, but the lasting part of a trip like this is usually the person who notices a loose strap, brings the right plate to the table, or remembers which diver is carrying a camera. Evenings are likely to gather people in the saloon or outside after the last dive, with the day’s sightings doing most of the conversation.

The Lipe itinerary runs for 5 days and 4 nights with 11 dives; South Andaman departures are listed in 4-day, 3-night and 6-day, 5-night formats with 11 and 15 dives. Phuket-area sites add a more concentrated set of dives. At Koh Doc Mai, limestone walls drop to a maximum of -32m, with caves and the small life that rewards a slow search: tiger-tail seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, frogfish, nudibranchs and cleaner shrimp. Koh Waeo is the shallow option, reaching a maximum of -12m over protected coral gardens and a local tin-mine wreck near Sirinat National Park. South Tip reaches a maximum of -70m and sits where currents meet a soft-coral garden; it is the site for trevally, barracuda and manta rays when the water brings them through. Racha Noi is the pelagic stop, with current guiding divers past reef fish, coral, stingrays, manta rays and the possibility of a whale shark. The captain and guides may alter the route for weather and sea conditions.

Koh Doc Mai →

Max. depth · 32 m

Koh Waeo →

Max. depth · 12 m

South Tip →

Max. depth · 70 m

Racha Noi →

Barracuda, leopard sharks and trevally are the recurring cast across this route, recorded at several sites rather than tied to one lucky drop. The more specific reasons to make each descent are spread between the sites. Racha Noi is the place to look for a grey reef shark and a garden eel, alongside manta rays and the chance of a whale shark; current is part of what brings the larger animals into view. Koh Doc Mai concentrates the smaller encounters, including reef sharks, tuna, seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, frogfish, tiger-tail seahorses, crevettes and cleaner shrimp around its walls and caves. South Tip is where soft coral, anemones and schooling fish meet the possibility of manta rays, baliste, damselfish and trevally. Koh Waeo stays closer to the reef: turtles, clownfish, parrotfish, lionfish, blue-spotted rays and barracuda can all make the shallow gardens and wreck worth a careful look. None of these sightings is guaranteed. The route earns them through the site choice, current and timing of each dive.

Seahorse →

Hippocampus

Nudibranch →

Nudibranchia

Manta Ray →

Mobula birostris

Stingray →

Dasyatidae — Dasyatis, Hypanus, Pastinachus, Himantura, Taeniura

Whale Shark →

Rhincodon typus

Clownfish →

Amphiprion ocellaris

Lionfish →

Pterois volitans

The operation is run by a Thai and international team speaking English and Thai, with instructors, dive leaders and divemasters within the wider Divemate crew. The boat carries 10 crew members, but a fixed guide-to-diver ratio for each underwater group is not given, so group size depends on the departure and should be checked when booking. Divemate runs Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air, React Right, Rescue, Divemaster and Divemaster Internship training, and the boat is equipped for recreational, tech, sidemount and rebreather diving. Briefings are therefore part of the working day rather than an afterthought. Safety equipment includes two DAN portable oxygen units, comprehensive first-aid kits, life rafts, life jackets, fire alarms and extinguishers, radar, GPS, sonar and marine radios. The listed emergency equipment does not include a defibrillator or a diver-recall system, so neither should be presumed.

The dive deck is set up for repeated entries, with a shaded working area, rinse tanks, a dive platform and a support tender for site access. Krishna 2 carries aluminium tanks: 30 80-cubic-foot tanks and one 65-cubic-foot tank, all with yoke valves; DIN adapters are available. Filling comes from an electric Bauer Mariner M II E compressor rated to 3,500 psi. Nitrox is available as a paid option, while the boat also supports tech diving, sidemount and rebreather diving. Rental equipment is available on board. The tender is 4 metres long with a 30 HP Yamaha outboard, so divers can return to the main boat by tender when the site or sea state calls for it. Camera users get a separate rinse area and charging stations. Oxygen, first-aid kits, weight belts and lead weights are carried for the dive operation. The equipment list does not claim a camera table, hot-water return shower or individual SMB provision, so those should not be assumed.

Between dives, Krishna 2 gives divers several different places to disappear for an hour. The shaded dive area is the practical refuge after surfacing, while the terrace and observation deck suit anyone who wants sun, wind and a clear view of the route. The air-conditioned indoor saloon is where people cool down, review a camera screen or wait for the next briefing. A separate camera-rinse area keeps wet dive equipment away from electronics. Wi-Fi is available, but the boat is better used for the things that do not require a signal: drying off, watching the tender return, talking through a strange fish from the last dive, or sleeping until the next call. The open decks matter most when the boat is moving between sites. There is enough room to avoid sitting on top of the same group all day, even when everyone has just come back from the water.

A dive day on Krishna 2 is organised around the next entry, not around a sightseeing timetable. Divers wake, eat, attend the briefing and prepare the first tank; after surfacing, the tender or platform brings everyone back into the cycle of rinsing gear, eating again and resting before the next descent. The Lipe route carries 11 dives over five days and four nights, while the longer South Andaman option reaches 15 dives over six days and five nights. Some days are built around four dives, with a night dive replacing the final daylight descent when the site and conditions allow. Between those entries, the boat may be underway, giving the deck its best use: shade, wind and a view of the sea rather than another room. The evening meal follows the last dive, and the crew sets out the plan for the next day. Then the boat goes quiet enough for sleep, until the compressor and the first briefing begin the next cycle.

Meals are served buffet-style, with Thai and Western cooking, local dishes, vegetarian choices and vegan options. Non-alcoholic drinks, drinking water, tea, coffee and snacks are available, with small food breaks between the main meals. That matters on a dive boat: nobody should have to choose between eating properly and getting ready for the next entry. The local selection is the stronger reason to come hungry. Thai food brings more character to the table than a week of interchangeable international dishes, while Western options keep the buffet accessible to the whole group. Outside dining is available when conditions suit, and the barbecue space gives the crew another way to move meals out of the air-conditioned saloon. With four dives on the heavier days, the table becomes part of the dive operation: eat, hydrate, listen to the next briefing, then prepare again.

The cabin choice is broad enough to matter on a five-day, four-night trip. Krishna 2 offers VIP, upper-deck double and twin cabins, main-deck twin and bunk options, with air conditioning, private bathrooms, hot showers and standard windows; some cabins have sea views. The difference between them is not just the bed arrangement. A double or VIP cabin gives a couple more privacy, while an upper-deck cabin places the night closer to the saloon and the open air. Main-deck bunk cabins are the practical choice for divers who would rather spend their space and budget on the route. Cabins are non-smoking and cleaned daily, with towels and bathroom products provided. After a full day of diving, the useful detail is the private bathroom and hot water, not a decorative finish. The boat gives the night a proper retreat before the next round of tanks.

The South Andaman route boards and returns at Asia Marina Pier in Phuket, while the Lipe departures run from Pak Ba Ra back to Pak Ba Ra. Complimentary airport transfer is provided for the South Andaman route from Phuket International Airport; other transfer arrangements depend on the departure. Arrive in the area the night before boarding, especially when connecting through Phuket or travelling to Pak Ba Ra, so a delayed flight does not become a missed departure. The exact pickup and boarding instructions are supplied with the trip arrangements.