We have come to the last stop of our Similan Islands' tour although i would like to add that it's definitely not the final one; i am deliberating between coming out with a separate post for the tour from start to end or subsuming everything into the detailed day 4 posting.
Anyway, it's arrival at Similan Island No 8. Aside from being the largest in the cluster, No 8 (known as Similan Island) also houses its iconic landmark; the Sail Rock!
Frankly, it looked vaguely like the sail of a boat at this angle but my creativity-choked mind was thinking more of an alien-faced rock. As you can see from the above photo, visitors can climb up even thought the thought of no safety barrier can be nerve-wrecking for a person with acrophobia!
There's a path going into the island; let's check it out.
A few photo spots for you to confirm with all your family and friends that you have been to Similan Islands! Well, i prefer to show the scenery rather than these boring, man-made structures.
Directional signs - there didn't seem to be any hotels / resorts within the Similan Islands clusters which i thought is a pity even though i also think it's a hard pill to swallow to conserve the nature.
Hm..... this doesn't look much like a restaurant as indicated on the signs; more like a provision / drink shop. Our drinks were already covered in the speedboat as part of the Seastar Andaman tour and we didn't see the need to pay extra for sugared drinks.
Price-list of drinks for your reference.
Local houses, i presume, with a large, algae-filled pond; yes, very unlike the beautiful environment that borders the island.
Nothing much for us to do except to take on the climb up to Sail Rock! To be frank, i didn't know what to expect and assumed it would be quite an easy hike since many people were proceeding towards the direction of the view point.
Climb was relatively easy for me although it's fraught with glaring safety concerns; i am amazed we have yet to hear of stories of visitors falling down the edge or having their foot stuck in between rocks! To read more, check out my post on the nerve-wrecking climb up Sail Rock.
Now that we were done with the activities within the island, it's time for us to check out the underwater scenery at Donald Duck bay!
Note to avoid the center area; reserved for the speedboats, it's dangerous for you to swim / snorkel in that area. Anyway, the lack of any rocks in the middle (to facilitate the movement of the boats) also means snorkeling would not be as good.
As an amateur yet enthusiastic photographer, i am always keen to cover as many angles as i could. However, i also enjoy snorkeling and with limited time, it's also a dilemma on which should take precedence.
Answer is obvious; snorkeling! Water was generally clear but i didn't feel that there were a lot of fishes. Similan Islands were badly affected by the 2004 tsunami and i understand recovery for the ecosystem is slow.
In addition to spotting a puffer fish, i also found a sea urchin in one of the rock crevices!
Dad enjoying the snorkeling; i had a hard time persuading him to join me on this trip to Phuket as he is more a mountain than a sea person. Pity he still prefers the mountains over the seas whereas his dear son is okay with either, so long it's a vacation!
The snorkeling took place on the left side of the Donald Duck Bay and with just 13 minutes to go before departure, i was adamant on rushing to the right side! Why?
Not so much on the snorkeling as the limited time wouldn't have provided me with the required bandwidth to swim out towards the secluded areas where more marine life congregates.
It's to show you the reason behind Donald Duck Bay! Look out for the rock that the red arrow is pointing towards; that's the Donald Duck Rock although i believe that a long time ago, people would have just called it the duck beak rock.
Woah, was he going to climb up?!
Anyway, time to leave; visitors hiding from the sun. I can't really relax by the beach like that and even though there's a high risk of sunburn, i would still like to frolic in the water, under the hot sun!
Eh, just a random last pic.
=====
Location
Similan Islands No 8,
Phang Nga Province (Near Phuket),
Thailand
Map of Island
As above.
Purchase of Day Trip Package
The Similan Island day trip package by Seastar Andaman was purchased from At Akarin tour counter near Swissotel Resort (Patong Beach) at a discounted pricing of 2,500 baht; pricing online was 3,800 baht!
What else i did on my Phuket trip?
Check out my 5-day Phuket itinerary here!