I'll be sailing with friends from Phuket to Langkawi late February-early March, 2027. We'll largely be sailing on the east side of Phuket, so while the diving may be ok, we won't be hitting Richelieu Rock, etc. on the west side. I'd like to come in a week or so early (pretty flexible) to dive and photograph the Andaman Sea. I've read several reports about the diving being good to great, but the crowds and divers make it a not-so-pleasant experience. I'll likely be a single traveler. I'm not crazy about the idea of a liveaboard, but would be willing to go that route if the boat, crew, guides, and diving are great (and avoid crowds). Also looking for photo guides, either private or small group.

What reputable companies or resorts should I reach out to?

Thanks in advance,
Evan

I've worked on the Andaman Sea (liveaboard and day trips) for a few seasons until 2020, and crowds will indeed be difficult to avoid. The area is popular, and the number of local (Thai) divers increased after the pandemic travel bans.

You should base yourself in Khao Lak, where 4/5-day liveaboards depart from nearby Thap Lamu Pier, and there are also day trips, hop-on hop-off platforms, etc., reaching both the Similan and Surin national parks.

Richelieu Rock (in the Surins Islands NP) is great, but yes, it will be one of the most crowded sites. I've had up to 14 liveaboards on site. Liveaboard four-dives-a-day schedules mean that it's difficult to space out dives by more than 20 minutes, so it gets crowded. I also worked on a speedboat that went to Richelieu from Khao Lak (or more precisely Ban Nam Khem, further north) four times a week. At the time, the two operators offering this were Big Blue and Wetzone. We did managed to dive the site during liveaboard lunch breaks and sometimes had the site to ourselves, but reaching it can be tricky in December with the wind.

Big Blue is run, on the Japanese side, by a photographer, Takeshi Omura, but the operation is split between a Japanese side and a rest-of-the-world side, and the photo action is concentrated on the Japanese-speaking section.

The other two highlights in the area are Koh Tachai (Pinnacle) and Koh Bon, in the Similans Islands NP. Similans island sites themselves can be nice (sites like 3 Trees and Elephant Head Rock for the topography for instance), but it's more hit or miss, with the three clear highlights being Bon, Tachai, and Richelieu.

The area doesn't have amazing biodiversity (compared to places like Indonesia, for instance), but fish density is amazing, and that's one of the highlights, along with the occasional whale shark and giant oceanic manta ray etc.

I can't really give recommendations now as my info is outdated, but look into operators like the Phinisi/Junk, Big Blue (which has a new liveaboard, the Blue Dolphin, and has resumed day trips if I'm not mistaken), Wetzone, Seabees, etc.
I will say that there were, in my times, operators to avoid, so choose wisely.
I'm sure others will have more recent recommendations.

@bghazzal thank you! This is very helpful! A couple live-aboards that look appealing to me are the Andaman Queen and Vela, both look pretty posh, but no idea how photo-centric they are. Someone recommended Smiling Seahorse as a good photo-centric boat—definitely seems more basic accommodation but it could be ok if there are good photo guides and I can get a single room without paying for two people.