Instead of taking the bus/train to Chumporn, my friends and I will be driving from Bangkok [as we are carrying heavy scuba gear with us]. We are planning to take the Lomprayah Ferry over to Ko Tao. The weather seems fine with flat seas right now so the crossing shouldn't be too rough.

Question is, is there parking space at the ThungMakhamNoi Pier? We are thinking about leaving our car there for 3-4 days while we are at Ko Tao.

Also, for the locals, is this pier easy to find? I found a map at the lomprayah site but I'm not too sure. [i.e. doesn't show how to come from town - is the clock tower unmissable from Chumphon?]

Thanks.

I was thinking about doing the same thing for a long time but something always held me off.

There's plenty of parking space there though the "guarded" area might be reserved for bungalo guests only. I'm sure you can come to some sort of an arrangement if you talk to the management, there appears to be more parked cars than guests anyway.

Have you tried calling their Bangkok office?

Didn't drive in the end, partner decided that train is more comfortable.

But for those interested, there ARE parking bays, partially covered by shade nettings.

Lomprayah charges 50 baht per car per day.

Easy, no fuss.

Anybody thinking of driving down then the best option is to park in town where its free and safe. Then buy your ticket from one of the bars that provide free taxi transfer to and from the pier. Also why go to Tao to dive when the best diving is here in Chumphon. Nice beaches also. Pic of beach is Mid afternoon, busy you see, also bungalow opposite the beach with air, hot shower and tv is 550. No ferry, no rip off Tao prices and great diving.

hi H2oDunc,apart from hat cabana,which ive visited,any other good beaches in the chumphon area with accomodation nearby?eg quiet,not touristy,clean water for swimming.

thanks for any reply or pm.

Also why go to Tao to dive when the best diving is here in Chumphon.

We had to get Nitrox certified within 2 days so Tao was our easier option. Also, we heard that the grey reef sharks are back at Chumphon Pinnacles and we wanted to see them [We did ! They are huge and fat, 2-2.5m long].

On the way back we dropped by Kiat Travel [?]'s Cafe to freshen up before hopping on the train. The owner also told us about the good diving around Chumphon. He mentioned one of his farang friends can organize diving trips [not Cabana].

If it's really good, we will go back ! Going from BKK is easy and comfortable with the sleeper trains.