By Libby Hollombe
Would like information as to recent experiences snorkeling in Thailand from the beach or day excursions. Where was the snorkeling good? Thank you.
By Libby Hollombe
Would like information as to recent experiences snorkeling in Thailand from the beach or day excursions. Where was the snorkeling good? Thank you.
Hi Libby, we hope you get some updated answers. There is a post on the site about snorkeling in Thailand with info from 2016.
Hello, I’m not sure if this information is recent enough for you, but we were in Thailand in January of 2019 and had some good snorkeling experiences. We traveled to three small islands in the far south of Thailand that are a bit of an effort to get to, but we felt it was well worth it.
Ko Lipe was our favorite for snorkeling. We stayed on Sunset Beach and there was some good snorkeling right from shore. We did need to be careful of boats though, so having a surface marker is a good idea.
The best snorkeling experiences we had on Ko Lipe were when we hired a guide and longtail boat for the day, which we did a couple of times. Since there were four of us this was a very reasonably priced option, only costing us about $30 each for the whole day (about six hours) including a lunch. I can’t remember the name of the tour operator but we simply walked into the small town and found someone we liked. Because we had enough in our group we did not have to share the tour with anyone else.
They picked us up right on the beach and dropped us off there again at the end of the day. We were taken to four or five different snorkeling sites, each one being different from the other. We saw a variety of very healthy corals, most of them hard but we some some soft corals as well. There was a nice variety of fish and sea life including eels, clams, and anemones. The water was very clear and the visibility was very good.
The other islands we visited were the Trang islands of Ko Ngai and Ko Kradan. These are very tiny islands without any towns or vehicles on them, only a few small hotels. The snorkeling from shore was reasonable but not spectacular. There were some nice corals and small drop-offs, not a huge amount of fish but better than some places we have been to. The visibility was okay, but not as good as the excursions we took on Ko Lipe. One thing we did need to be careful of here were small jelly fish, especially on Ko Kradan, so wearing full body protection is a good idea.
On Ko Ngai we stayed at the Koh Ngai Resort and could snorkel right off the shore. Apparently this is was the best snorkeling was on Ko Ngai. On Ko Kradan the best snorkeling was on the south shore and near the Hat Chao Mai National Park Station.
I have not been to the Surin or Similan Islands, but I have had family members who went to them and said the snorkeling there was very nice. These might also be places to consider.
Hi, thank you very much the snorkeling information on Thailand.
For January travel, does anyone have information about Koh Tao on the Gulf side? Wondering if the weather will be good on the Gulf of Thailand side in January or should we focus on the areas of the Andaman Sea side.
On the Andaman Sea side, has anyone visited Koh Haa and Koh Rok for snorkeling?
We really appreciate the information.