Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Park accommodation is decent, but because of the island's short, narrow beaches it can
feel seriously crowded when full (around 300 people). Book online at
www.dnp.go.th
or
with the mainland national park office (
Click here
)
in Khuraburi. The clientele is mostly
Thai, giving the place a lively holiday-camp feel. You can camp on both Ao Chong Klod
and Ao Mae Ngam. The former has the more spectacular beach, the latter fills up last, is
more secluded, and with its narrow white-sand shallow bay, it feels a bit wilder. There are
no bungalows on Ao Mae Ngam.
Bungalows
(weekday/weekend 1400/2000B)
have wood floors and private terraces, as well as
private terracotta bathrooms and fans that run all night.
Tents
(2-/4-person 300/450B, bedding per
person 60B)
are available for rent or you can pitch your own
tent
(per night 80B)
. There's gener-
ator power until 10pm.
A park
restaurant
(dishes from 80B, set menus 170-200B)
serves decent Thai food.
Getting There & Away
Tour operators use speedboats (return 1700-1900B; 60-75 minutes one-way) exclusively.
They leave around 9am and honour open tickets. Return whenever you please, but ask the
park office to confirm your ticket the night before.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Similan Islands Marine National Park
Known to divers the world over, beautiful
Similan Islands Marine National Park
(
www.dnp.go.th
;
ad-
mission adult/child 400/200B ; Nov-May)
is 70km offshore. Its smooth granite islands are as im-
pressive above water as below, topped with rainforest, edged with white-sand beaches and
fringed with coral reefs. Unfortunately, recent coral bleaching has killed off many of the
hard corals but soft corals are still intact, the fauna is there and it's still a lovely place to
dive.
Two of the nine islands, Island 4 (Ko Miang) and Island 8 (Ko Similan), have ranger
stations and accommodation; park headquarters and most visitor activity centres are on Is-
land 4. 'Similan' comes from the Malay word
sembilan,
meaning 'nine', and while each
island is named, they're more commonly known by their numbers. Relatively recently, the
park was expanded to included Ko Bon and Ko Tachai, and both have remained unscathed
by coral bleaching making them some of the better diving and snorkelling areas.
