Snorkelling Vacation In Early January

[phormio]

Have lived in Thailand for 4 years but have never gone snorkelling in the islands. After doing a bit of research Ko Surin

sounds like a good place to go. Possibly drive down from Bangkok to Khuraburi and take a high speed boat to the islands

Its hard to tell if this is suitable for young kids.

Have 2 kids who are decent swimmers and Ko Surin seems like there's a lot of good snorkelling within

walking distance of the National Park Cottages there.

Anyone stay in these cottages and do you have advice with respect to taking 4-6yr olds on a snorkelling trip?

thanks

[LivinLOS]

Looks lovely.. But maybe better in another forum ??

[LivinginKata]

Looks lovely.. But maybe better in another forum ??

Point taken LOS, but there is no area forum for Khao Lak area and the islands. So I guess it's best just to leave this topic here in The Phuket forum.

[keestha]

At the Surin islands as usual for national park accomodation, the bungalows are overpriced at 2000 baht per night. The bungalows are old and a bit run down, but still OK if you are flexible. The restaurant was no great shakes last high season, but oh well you are not going for the culinary experience. They close up at 21.30 and won't open the fridge if you want a beer after that.

Trips by longtailboat to the snorkeling places cost 80/100 Baht. Sure it is to my knowledge the best snorkeling still to be had in Thailand.

There are many people staying at Surin for longer periods, also with children.

Transfer roundtrip by speedboat should cost about 1900 for adults and about 1300 for children up to 11 years, shop around at tourcounters in Kuraburi. There might also be a fast boat which is cheaper, more pleasant but slower, but when I talked to the company organizing the transfers (1 week ago) they were not sure about this yet for this high season.

Arrange accomodation at the island itself. To my experience there are always bungalows free, except maybe occasionally for the weekends when there are many Thai tourists, weekdays there are not many people there. In Kuraburi book just the transfer, don't let them talk you into booking a package including accomodation, it is more expensive and you have less flexibility. But when booking the transfer, ask them to call to make sure there are bungalows available.

Have fun,

Kees.

Edited November 1, 2009 by keestha