South East Asian Trips

The Andaman coast is a different world compared to the rest of Thailand. Steady rainfall nourishes a huge variety of tropical fauna, with the lush canopy in some areas reaching as high as 80m. In many places, scenic rubber and coconut plantations have been carved out of the jungle by the locals. The Andaman coast is also adorned with awe-inspiring limestone cliffs. These sheer, multi-coloured monoliths, scarred with caves and crags, are also capped with thick vegetation.

Phuket is the main starting point for most visitors to Andaman Sea destinations. The popular trips to islands lying to the south and east of Phuket about 30 minutes to 2 hours away by motor boat.

The major attractions of Andaman islands

Phangnga

This province is directly north of Phuket and a major attractions are the marine national parks of Ao Phangnga (Phangnga ay), Mu Ko Similan (Similan Islands) and Mu Ko Surin (Surin islands). Phangnga Bay has been featured in several inter- national movies, including the 007 adventure The Man with the Golden Gun, and contains some 100 largely uninhabited limestone islands scattered around almost perpetually calm waters. Many islands are riddled with aquatic grottoes, and are best explored aboard sea canoes which are able to enter inner chambers, essentially collapsed cave systems, sometimes only at low tide. The timeless 'Jurassic Park' atmosphere of such islands contrasts vividly with more popular venues such as James Bond island, Nail island and Panyi island which supports a Muslim village built on stilts embedded in the sea.

Andaman's Amazing Anemones

Similan Island

The seas around Phuket hold a wealth of marine life including a diverse range of anemone species. These flowerlike animals come in many different colours. Anemones are found from the edge of the beach at low tide to depths of less than 20m. They do not live deeper than this because they contain ' Zooxanthellae'. These are microscopic organisms similar to algae. They photosynthesize and provide the anemone with most of its nutritional requirements.

Coral Island (Ko He) which offers a dive all year round and has very beautiful natural scenery.

Ko Racha, which have dives of up to 30 meters; Shark Point, a favorite sleeping spot of leopard sharks and stingrays.

Ko Dok Mai which offers an impressive wall dive and a series of cave dives; and Ko Phi Phi where you can see white tip sharks, stingrays and moray eels besides colorful reef fishes.

Khao Lak offers a coral reef a few hundred meters off the beach and a spectacular wreck of a sunken tin miner. Krabi Province's Phra Nang, often called the most beautiful beach in the Andaman.

Further south, the remote, rarely traveled beaches of Lanta and the islands of Ko Tartutao National Park offer more amazing natural beauty.

Truly world class diving sites are located farther away including Ko Similan, Ko Surin, Ko Tarutao and Burma Banks. Despite their long distances, tours are organized by some agencies in Phuket regularly during the dry season. All the first three island groups are marine national parks which offer magnificent coral gardens. Burma Banks being the farthest and newest, is in the best condition as a diving site.