Similan Islands
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Mon 11 Mar 2013 05:06
|
Mark's birthday treat was taken early this year as
we are not sure of the shipping date - the ship is on its way to Phuket.
We took a day off from preparations in order to see the Similan Islands as we
didn't see them in January. The Islands are a National Park about 60 kilometres
west of the mainland.
At 7am last Friday we went by minibus up the
mainland coast to a long beach opposite the Islands.
  The speedboat was waiting and we set off with the
Russian and Japanese tourists who made up the rest of the passengers. The
Russians enjoying the sun and the Japanese trying to stay pale!
  After about seventy five minutes we arrived at
Island No 8
 The islands are made of granite with lots of
boulders.
 The sea was beautifully clear and the snorkelling
was good, lots of large fish, but much of the coral was bleached as the sea
temperature rose about four years ago. However it is recovering
slowly. We then moved to Island No 9 for another underwater
experience.
 After forty minutes we were ready for lunch on
Island No 4, where there was a Ranger Station and a SSAR base, Sea Search and
Rescue.
 After a delicious Thai lunch with noodles or rice,
several different dishes followed by pineapple and watermelon, and half an hour
watching people posing on the beach taking photos - sadly we had left the
cameras on the boat as it was hugely amusing----we set off for our final snorkel
of the afternoon, on Island No 7. The water was gin clear and we saw the
best coral we have seen in Thailand, as well as several Nemos in their
anenomies.
 On the return journey Mark decided to do some
posing......
 And we were treated to the sight of a large pod of
dolphins jumping out of the water - we felt the speedboat went too close and too
fast, however we did not stay too long.
 We returned to the beach and set off in the minibus
to the Yacht Haven. The photo above shows the Tsunami Memorial building on
the beach, somewhere to go if it happens again.
A lovely day away from preparations on
Marita.
We have been eating locally at a family restaurant
called Mamas and Papas, there are few shops here and not many provisions, taxis
are expensive and no public transport so eating out for £10 including wine and
beer for both of us is becoming a habit!
 We hope to put Marita on the ship
sometime this week and fly to Singapore to sort out flights and hotels for
our trip and short stay in Istanbul before moving south to
Marmaris.
|