Hello friends! Today, board a catamaran for a tour of the Similan Islands in Thailand. The Similan Islands are an archipelago of 11 islands in the Andaman Sea, 70 km off the coast in Phang Nga Province. It was established as a national park in 1982 and is famous for its rich marine life, crystal clear waters, striking rock formations and white, powdery beaches.
The government has imposed restrictions to tourism after the islands suffered from massive degradation. Visitors are now restricted to 3,325 people per day and all land overnight accommodations have been removed. We think this is the right thing to do to preserve the beauty and marine life of this special place!
'Similan' actually means nine for the original nine islands. Remote islands 10 & 11 were added to the national park in 1998. The islands are:
Ko Hu Yong (#1), Ko Payang (#2), Ko Payan (#3): No visits are allowed on these 3 islands as they are reserved for turtle preservation.
Ko Miang (#4): has the only restaurant in the park where we were served a lunch buffet
Ko Ha (#5), Ko Payu (#6), Ko Hin Pousar (#7),
Ko Similan (#8): the largest island with the Sail Rock viewpoint
Ko Bangu (#9), Ko Bon (#10, also known as Ko Talu), Ko Tachai (#11)
We joined a tour by SeaStar Andaman (not sponsored) and we thoroughly enjoyed the service and focus on safety. We got picked up at our hotel in Patong at 6:30 am, got to their base at around 8:45 am. There was a buffet breakfast before we got on the speed catamaran. It took about 90 mins. from their pier to our first snorkeling stop near Island 5. There was even light buffet and delicious coconut ice cream served after we returned to their base at 5 pm. The free showers with soap and shampoo at their base was much appreciated at the end of the day! We paid 3000 baht (approx. 83.50 USD) per person.
The video was recorded on a November 18, 2022 on a beautiful sunny day.
Please check out our other travel tours on the channel.
Location Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:38 - On the catamaran on the way!
02:33 - First snorkeling site near Island 5
03:08 - White sand beach at Island 4
06:24 - Off to Island 8 for more snorkeling
07:30 - Island 8 Sail Rock, viewpoint and beach
Filmed in 4K using:
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GoPro 11: amzn.to/3ANGxe6
Instagram: / wanderingmoo
Background Music:
uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/t...
License code: U4QOH1HYOTR6RD0M
Artwork by Charshee: www.redbubble.com/people/char...
Cover photo by @heyengel: www.heyengel.com