Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Between Khao Lak and Bang Sak is a network of sandy beach trails - some of which
lead to deserted beaches - which are fun to explore on foot or by rented motorcycle.
Most of the hotels in town rent out motorbikes for 250B per day.
MONUMENT
Boat 813
Perched in an open field nearly 1km from shore, this boat was hurled to its current loca-
tion by the powerful 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. A decade later, it remains the region's
most prominent reminder of the disaster.
There's a regal monument-worthy entryway, an information booth nearby with a
tsunami timeline in both Thai and English, as well as some compelling photo books for
sale. It's just a 50B
sŏrng·tăa·ou
ride between here and Khao Lak.
Activities
Diving or snorkelling day excursions to the Similan and Surin Islands are immensely
popular but, if you can, opt for a live-aboard. Since the islands are around 60km from the
mainland (about three hours by boat), you'll have a more relaxing trip and experience the
islands sans day trippers. All dive shops offer live-aboard trips from around 17,000/
29,000B for three-/five-day packages and day trips for 4900B to 6500B.
On these two-, three-, four- or five-day trips, you'll wake up with the dawn and slink
below the ocean's surface up to four times per day in what's commonly considered to be
one of the top 10 diving realms in the world. While both the Similan and Surin Islands
have experienced vast coral bleaching recently,
Richelieu Rock
is still the crème de la crème
of the region's sites and
Ko Bon
and
Ko Ta Chai
are two other good sites due to the traffic of
giant manta rays.
Although geared towards divers, all dive shops welcome snorkellers who can hop on
selected dive excursions or live-aboards for a discount of around 40%; otherwise, tour
agencies all around town offer even cheaper snorkelling trips to the Similan Islands for
around 3200B. PADI Open Water certification courses cost anywhere from 10,000B to
18,000B depending on where you dive. You can go on a 'discover scuba' day trip to the
Similans for around 6000B to 6500B.
Wicked Diving
OFFLINE MAP
DIVING
