Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
vibrant soft corals we saw were at
Ao Mae Yai
, an enormous North Island bay
around the corner from Chong Khod. The best section of reef is between the white
buoys along the northern peninsula.
Ao Suthep
, off the South Island, has vast
schools of iridescent fish and shallow blue holes with milky bottoms.
VILLAGE TOUR
The national park offers a
Moken Village Tour
(per person 300B)
. You'll stroll
through the village where you should ask locals for permission to hike the 800m
Chok Madah trail
over the jungled hills to an empty beach. Tours depart at 9.15am
and must be reserved the day before.
Getting There & Away
Several tour operators run day tours (2900B including food and park lodging) to the
park. The best in safety, service and value is
Greenview
(
0 7640 1400; Khur-
aburi pier)
.
Similan Islands Marine National Park
Known to divers the world over, beautiful
Similan Islands Marine National Park
(
www.dnp.go.th
; admission 400B; Nov-May)
is 60km offshore. Its smooth granite
islands are as impressive above water as below, topped with rainforest, edged with
white-sand beaches and fringed with coral reefs. Unfortunately recent coral bleach-
ing has killed many of the hard corals but soft corals are still intact, the fauna is
there and it remains a lovely place to dive.
Hat Khao Lak is the jumping-off point for the park. The pier is at Thap Lamu,
about 10km south of town.
Sights & Activities
The Similan Islands offer diving for all levels of experience, at depths from 2m to
30m. There are rock reefs at
Ko Payu
(Island 7) and dive-throughs at
Hin Pousar
(Elephant Head), with marine life ranging from tiny plume worms and soft corals to
schooling fish and whale sharks. No facilities for divers exist in the national park it-
self, so you'll need to take a dive tour.
