Adventures in Thailand: Similan Islands
Next up in our Thai-venture was the Similan Islands. This was Jessie’s pick because she dives and really wanted to do a liveaboard diving experience here, and when I did a quick google (please do yourself, it’s well worth it) I was so excited to visit such a beautiful place! We stayed in Khao Lak at Monkey Dive Hostel the night before and after the boat. It was probably the most “hostel” experience we had, and maybe my least favourite of the trip simply because the rooms were crazy humid and musty which made it hard to breathe (especially being sick). But it did have a lovely hammock out front, which I enjoyed swinging in and watching a bunch of baby chicks scramble around after their mom.
Up until this point, we hadn’t really had much of a beach experience. So we decided to walk over to Nagthong Beach to watch the sunset. I’m so glad we did! There was almost no one around, which made the whole beach really peaceful, and the views were stunning.
We found a whole hermit crab society! Some of them would occasionally walk around, but most were just hanging out near a little tide pool.
We ended up having dinner on the beach to enjoy the experience for as long as possible. It was a very early start the next morning to get to the islands. The company that we went with had hostel pick up, and drove us to the pier. There, they gave us backpacks to use while on the boat with a towel and some other bits and pieces. It was another hour journey out to the main boat we’d be in at the islands. They rotate on a schedule, visiting different islands each day, so if there’s a particular one you want to visit you can schedule your trip around that. When we got there, I was speechless. The water was SO blue, and SO clear! I’ve not edited any of these photos so you can see what it looked like, but honestly it was even brighter in person.
Since I don’t dive myself, and wouldn’t have been able to learn with how sick I was, I opted for the snorkeling package. Mind you, this was well before I was sick, so I hadn’t yet had my panic attack at Koh Phi Phi! But I was hopeful to give it another shot, and had been stocking up on medicine from the local pharmacy to help with the congestion.
We were on the boat for 2 full days and one night, which included 4 snorkelling trips or 5 diving trips. I actually ended up sitting out the last one because I was struggling to breathe, and had seen mostly the same things at that point, but the first one in particular was magical! It honestly felt like watching Animal Planet. There were so many varieties, and they reflected the sunlight so beautifully. Some were brightly coloured. I saw 3 manta ray eels the first time! I also saw a turtle on my last go, which was super cool. Since most people go for the diving, I was the only one snorkelling so I had my own private guide which was nice. And no panic attack this time! All of the guides were super duper friendly and helpful, and made the stay on the boat a lot of fun.
You can optionally stay for 2 nights, so some people were leaving as we came, some people stayed, and others came on our second day. It was a strange feeling because you start to develop a really personal attachment to your group, then to have newcomers feels weird. The evening of our first day, not many people were left on board to spend the night. The small group that was left felt perfect. They’d stopped near one of the two islands you can actually go onto in order to fix their inflatable boat which had a small hole in it. While they fixed the boat, Jessie and I swam over to the beach and soaked it all in. It’s probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. It didn’t seem real! I know that sounds dramatic and I have no proof since my phone was back on the boat, meaning no photos, but the white sand beaches, the crystal clear bright blue water, the beach lined with trees and swings, and the smooth rock formations looked like a screensaver.
The guides had told us that often there are turtles on the beach opposite the one we were on. So we decided to have a little trek through the jungle (barefoot in our swimsuits) to see if we could spot any turtles. On our way, we did come across what Jess originally thought was a tarantula but was actually an incredibly hair crab, then a bat which flew around for a good minute, and lots of these incredibly beautiful birds. They were about the size of a chicken but iridescent blue. They were calmly pecking at the ground and minding their own business as we passed. It was the most peaceful island I could ever imagine, and I honestly could’ve spent a week there alone.
There’s 3 buffets each day, and once we swam back to the boat this night we were in for an adventurous dinner - one with eyes! At this point I was mainly eating only rice and watermelon as I felt so nauseous, but Jessie did give me a little piece of her fish (not pictured here, also whole with eyes that stare at you) and it was delicious. We sat and ate, looked out at the truly pitch black, enjoyed getting to see so many stars, and spotted a few night divers with their torches underwater and wished them well to find some cool fish or sharks.
They next day they stopped at this island to bring fresh water on board from a stream. They don’t go back to the mainland for I think it was 7 months? So they use this water for showering, cooking, and drinking (after they filter it obviously), as well for the toilets.
Since this wasn’t a photo-heavy part of the trip, being that the best parts were in the water and I had no waterproof camera, I did a quick Google to show you the two most impressive animals I saw. These were my favourite of the fish, although the ones I saw had more colour to them:
And these were the birds on the island:
Whether you’re looking to dive, or not, I would highly, highly recommend visiting the Similan Islands if you’re ever in Thailand. The only thing I would change about my trip is if you’re going at the start of the year when it’s not booked out in advance, book through your hostel - they always have much better offers for everything in Thailand (tours, diving, etc.) than what’s available online or in person.