Beaches of South Thailand
The must see and must do list is endless. But still there are a few places which will leave you speechless yet are not talked about a lot. Best time to travel is from October to February when it is not too hot and not raining. I began my travel from Phuket and returned to Bangkok from Krabi. Phuket and Krabi both are major cities inter-connected well by flight, road and sea. Since both the cities have airport facility, so it is sensible to compare prices for in and out of each city while booking.
Phuket is widely populated by travellers and expats and is therefore significantly expensive. To reach to your hotel from the airport you can rent a car which would cost approximately 800 THB or you can share a van called airport express which will drop you to the hotel as well for 150 THB per person. If you want to stay in the heart of the city where all the action takes place then you need to make reservations around Patong beach which offers sunny beach and water sports during day and the most happening party life at night. Phuket has a the usual non-adventurous tourist attractions like taking picture with tiger at the tiger kingdom, shooting arcades, Thailand famous stage performance at Siam Niramit, etc. I cannot comment about any of those as they don’t interest me.
I was looking forward to the island hopping and cave exploring tour for the next day which was purchased at one of the tour desk (there are a lot of tour desks dealing with whom would require good negotiation skills). The tour includes pick up from hotel in a van which will take you to the pier after picking up all the other passengers. If is better to take the tour with 40 passengers as it doesn’t get too crowded. All the passengers from different vans are dropped at the pier. The schedule of each tour varies from tour agents to the condition of the weather and the tide. Luckily, on the day of my travel the tide was not too high so we could still explore the caves which was our first stop. Small kayaks with a guide on each kayak will taxi us inside the dark caves. The first cave had bats all over and wide dead end tunnel. The next stop was again on the kayaks between small cliffs through small caves each cliff has a different structure and shape one distinctly resembled a piranha. The next stop was the over-hyped James Bond island, except for the one cliff nothing is as shown in the movie. Before returning to the pier we stopped at one quiet island and made it back to the pier by afternoon and were dropped back at the hotel in the same van.
Next day another van ride to another pier which would take us to the Phi Phi island. Phi Phi island is meant for adventure junkie though it is more famous for its beach parties. There are long tail boat tours taking you around Phi Phi island and to Maya bay. The afternoon tour allows you to witness beautiful sunset at from the boat. A contrary option to see the sun is from the sunset point which is a 9km hike to the top on one side of the island. Do not expect it to be peaceful as the place will be flocked with travellers. There are two routes to the top one off beat and one with decent steps. One side of the island I.e. the side of the pier is quiet and peaceful when compared to the other side where the music stops at 2 AM but the party continues till sunrise or maybe till noon.
Phuket is widely populated by travellers and expats and is therefore significantly expensive. To reach to your hotel from the airport you can rent a car which would cost approximately 800 THB or you can share a van called airport express which will drop you to the hotel as well for 150 THB per person. If you want to stay in the heart of the city where all the action takes place then you need to make reservations around Patong beach which offers sunny beach and water sports during day and the most happening party life at night. Phuket has a the usual non-adventurous tourist attractions like taking picture with tiger at the tiger kingdom, shooting arcades, Thailand famous stage performance at Siam Niramit, etc. I cannot comment about any of those as they don’t interest me.
I was looking forward to the island hopping and cave exploring tour for the next day which was purchased at one of the tour desk (there are a lot of tour desks dealing with whom would require good negotiation skills). The tour includes pick up from hotel in a van which will take you to the pier after picking up all the other passengers. If is better to take the tour with 40 passengers as it doesn’t get too crowded. All the passengers from different vans are dropped at the pier. The schedule of each tour varies from tour agents to the condition of the weather and the tide. Luckily, on the day of my travel the tide was not too high so we could still explore the caves which was our first stop. Small kayaks with a guide on each kayak will taxi us inside the dark caves. The first cave had bats all over and wide dead end tunnel. The next stop was again on the kayaks between small cliffs through small caves each cliff has a different structure and shape one distinctly resembled a piranha. The next stop was the over-hyped James Bond island, except for the one cliff nothing is as shown in the movie. Before returning to the pier we stopped at one quiet island and made it back to the pier by afternoon and were dropped back at the hotel in the same van.
Next day another van ride to another pier which would take us to the Phi Phi island. Phi Phi island is meant for adventure junkie though it is more famous for its beach parties. There are long tail boat tours taking you around Phi Phi island and to Maya bay. The afternoon tour allows you to witness beautiful sunset at from the boat. A contrary option to see the sun is from the sunset point which is a 9km hike to the top on one side of the island. Do not expect it to be peaceful as the place will be flocked with travellers. There are two routes to the top one off beat and one with decent steps. One side of the island I.e. the side of the pier is quiet and peaceful when compared to the other side where the music stops at 2 AM but the party continues till sunrise or maybe till noon.
The next stop was Ko Lanta and the tour desk had suggested and open ticket from Phuket to Phi Phi and then to Lanta. Boat for Lanta leaves twice everyday depending on the number of travellers. Ko Lanta is underrated in my opinion. It has the most serene and peaceful beach of all the beaches. Travelling within island is not difficult or expensive if you can ride a motorcycle. Places to see in Ko Lanta is the Old Town which still has saved the essence of old town. The other place is the lighthouse across the national park. On the way to the light house there is a tiger cave with little detour and lots of spots to take picture of sunset.
Next day back to another tour, this time in a speed boat with lesser people. The best places for snorkelling around this region are Similan islands, Koh Lipe and Koh Rok. I went for a less attractive one but the experience was equally amazing. The boat tool is to two different spots for snorkelling first. Then to a small secluded island for lunch and then we headed for the highlight of the entire trip the Emerald Cave. This was the most memorable part of the trip. The boat stops in front of a wide and dark cave. Everyone must swim inside this cave and after a point it is just darkness and you must keep swimming in the same direction for another fifty meters in darkness, till you see light at the other end of the tunnel which opens into a small circular beach surrounded by tall land mass on all the four sides live a volcano crater. Apparently, pirates used this to hoard their loot. After taking pictures we have to return to our boat and yes, we need to swim in darkness again.
The last destination for the trip Krabi, the best location to stay in Krabi are Ao Nang, Tonsai and Railay. I was staying at Ao Nang and didn’t have the time to visit other beaches. But do recommend them as you can enjoy the beach and explore some caves. Instead of the beach we went to another location which is another mysterious marvel of nature the hot spring, blue pool, and emerald pool. These places are not far and it is better to rent your own vehicle and visit instead of going as tour else you will have to wait for others to finish. The water at hot spring is not clean and is usually too crowded. The blue pool on the other hand is fascinating. There is a four kilometre hike and the path has lot of things to see, like lizards, trees, birds etc. At the end of the path is a blue pool which gets its water from beneath the earth. The water has a temperature of forty to fifty degree Celsius and so no swimming is allowed. On the way back on the same path you can see the Emerald pool the water source for this pool is from the blue pool but you can swim in this water.
The next day back to Bangkok.
Next day back to another tour, this time in a speed boat with lesser people. The best places for snorkelling around this region are Similan islands, Koh Lipe and Koh Rok. I went for a less attractive one but the experience was equally amazing. The boat tool is to two different spots for snorkelling first. Then to a small secluded island for lunch and then we headed for the highlight of the entire trip the Emerald Cave. This was the most memorable part of the trip. The boat stops in front of a wide and dark cave. Everyone must swim inside this cave and after a point it is just darkness and you must keep swimming in the same direction for another fifty meters in darkness, till you see light at the other end of the tunnel which opens into a small circular beach surrounded by tall land mass on all the four sides live a volcano crater. Apparently, pirates used this to hoard their loot. After taking pictures we have to return to our boat and yes, we need to swim in darkness again.
The last destination for the trip Krabi, the best location to stay in Krabi are Ao Nang, Tonsai and Railay. I was staying at Ao Nang and didn’t have the time to visit other beaches. But do recommend them as you can enjoy the beach and explore some caves. Instead of the beach we went to another location which is another mysterious marvel of nature the hot spring, blue pool, and emerald pool. These places are not far and it is better to rent your own vehicle and visit instead of going as tour else you will have to wait for others to finish. The water at hot spring is not clean and is usually too crowded. The blue pool on the other hand is fascinating. There is a four kilometre hike and the path has lot of things to see, like lizards, trees, birds etc. At the end of the path is a blue pool which gets its water from beneath the earth. The water has a temperature of forty to fifty degree Celsius and so no swimming is allowed. On the way back on the same path you can see the Emerald pool the water source for this pool is from the blue pool but you can swim in this water.
The next day back to Bangkok.