Given the distance of over 130 kilometers from Phuket to Phang Nga province; it took us almost two days before we decided to sign up for a day trip to Similan Islands with At Akarin tour counter near Swissotel Resort (Patong Beach).
It was a hard decision to make as we had to get ready by an ungodly 6.00 am to be picked up by a mini-passenger van and would be on the road for at least two hours! And, that's only one way!
We can't step away from the persuasive skills of the two ladies at At Akarin tour counter with their claims of beautiful water and wonderful snorkeling; hence, let's now fast forward to our arrival at Seastar Andaman private pier and sheltered waiting area.
First thing - register and collect your rubber wristband, and check-in number. Now, this tour cost me over S$100 a person, after discount, and is the most expensive island tour i ever paid in Malaysia and Thailand.
But is it worth it? Every single cent and you would understand what i mean by the end of this post (key would be to note the sentences in bold blue).
Bath towels, limited to one per person, can be signed out for free! You don't even have to lug one along from your hotel although we had already brought along ours bought from Decathlon Singapore.
Snorkeling masks and flippers are included in your package - in some tours, the pricing might be a lot lower but they charge you extra for items like snorkeling masks!
Just keep in mind not to lose those items! If not, be prepared to fork out 500 baht for each lost towel or 1,000 baht for snorkeling mask / flipper. Reasonable penalty i thought since the responsibility is on you to keep a lookout for items you have rented.
Breakfast was provided at no cost and the spread was rather decent with trays of biscuits, nyonya-kueh lookalikes and even porridge! I was actually quite worried before then; thought we would have to endure an empty stomach till lunch.
Best thing on this tour for me; Seastar Andaman had shower cubicles with shower gel that you can use after returning from Similan Islands to freshen yourself up! Imagine having to sit through a 2-hour car journey with sand stuck to your hair and stickiness on your skin.
Collected my wristband and also a bath towel for Alex to protect himself from the sea breeze which can be quite chilly for him. Those who have traveled with him might be aware he would always bring along a bath towel from home and keep it in his backpack.
The animals at Seastar Andaman, living in harmony; including a sex act that was in full view of everyone seated in the dining area!
Prefer to be better equipped with a straw hat, a float and / or waterproof phone pouches? You can get them from the in-house retail store! On second thought, i might benefit from a waterproof phone pouch.
Assembly at about 9.00 am! Honestly, i was gearing for the departure as soon as possible but since this isn't a private tour and visitors are ferried from all over the place; it's a waiting game sometimes.
Our group's appointed guide; Sheda, a friendly young gal who speaks good English! She started by introducing herself, going through the route with us using the pull-up banner showing the Similan Islands and then sharing with us the dos and donts.
Proceeding to tub-lamu; private pier of Seastar Andaman.
Before we said goodbye to the mainland, would you wish to rent an underwater camera for 900 baht which would include an 8 GB SD card for all your photos? I would have been tempted if i didn't bring my Olympus underwater camera.
Essential for any snorkeling; waterproof bag which i bought in Singapore! Anyway, it was another waiting as our group would be merged with another one.
Random pictures taken at the pier.
Time to board the board; wait, what are those baskets for? Turned out we were not allowed to wear shoes at Similan Islands unless they are aqua / water shoes! That's a surprise for us but we didn't have a choice but to leave our shoes behind. Thankfully, i was wearing a pair of aqua / water shoes that was purchased from Decathlon Singapore.
Life-jackets were laid out on each seat! Even though i was keen to sit outside, the thought of having the blazing sun scorching my already-sun-burnt skin (thanks to the tour two days earlier) deterred me from venturing forward.
4-engine speedboat! In addition to the 2-hour car journey from the hotel, you would still need about 1.5 hours to travel to Similan Islands; hence, the total travelling time for both ways is estimated to be 7 hours!
No present for guessing what the box contained!
The other group which consisted of Chinese nationals. Now, that's weird as i do have a high ratio of Caucasians in our group and while Sheda speaks a bit of Chinese, it might be hard for her to switch between English and Chinese.
Turned out there's another guide who communicates better in Mandarin than i do! The guide for the Chinese nationals turned out to be really funny! Motion sickness pills are given for free; terming them as happy pills, he said we have two choices. Happy pills or happy bags (for your vomit)!
As Alex and I understand both English and Mandarin, we actually have the best of both worlds. And i am glad i was in this boat as Dad, who doesn't speak English, wouldn't need me to translate!
Sweet-distribution time! And that's only the tip of the iceberg; throughout the trip on the speedboat, we were fed constantly with snacks, fruits and drinks! Don't believe me?
Evidence as above!
Bid our goodbyes to the mainland for a few hours!
Our stops at Similan Islands have been documented separately in a few sub-postings in this blog which are appended below in red. Do click the hyperlinks for more photos and further information!
In all, the highlight would be the climb up the precarious sail rock! Every step i took was measured and careful as i was deeply concerned it might be my last day alive! Click here for the posting!
However, the incident of my dad almost drowning while snorkeling off Similan Islands (No 5 & 6) is the one etched the strongest in my memory. While it was an experience i never wanted, i can only say i am glad he escaped with minor injury. Want to know what happened? Check out my post here.
The one good thing that came out from the drowning incident is the help and assistance from Sheda. She quickly cleaned up the wound and at no time did she rebuke us for not wearing life jackets and ignoring her warning not to approach the rocks.
Other random photos for your viewing pleasure as i took too many; they are in chronological order and the first two above show my pair of water shoes from Decathlon and a boy who was getting ready for a plunge in the blue sea.
We were blessed with good weather and it was generally a blue sky with occasional clouds. This one above was the largest cloud i saw at Similan Islands, i think.
A fellow tourist taking a photo of Island No 4 as the speedboat exited from the poster-perfect Princess Bay. Hm... i should have forked out the money for the waterproof phone pouch; maybe not for me but for my dad.
Sheda rubbing liquid on my EasyBreath Snorkeling Mask to prevent fogging. The conventional method is actually to use your own saliva.
Other random photos as i have run out of words! Last few photos were those taken when our speedboat exited Donald Duck Bay at Island No 8.
A goodbye to Similan islands as we made our way back to the mainland.
Despite the short few hours we were there, snorkeling, swimming and hiking are tiring activities and many people were taking a snooze! Pity i can't do it; not with the bouncing and jerking.
Got talking to this auntie about the stuff on her face; despite the language barrier, i gathered that it's a natural sunblock and i got her to share with me the packet for future reference!
Picture of me without my specs as i would put on contact lens for snorkeling trips. That's the problem of wearing specs as snorkeling masks don't have the capacity to accommodate glasses!
Iced water! Aside from bottled water, you can also get cola which tastes extremely shiok after snorkeling! If i recall correctly, you can get beer too but they would be separately charged.
It's only about 4.00 pm but the skies were already showing hues of yellow; indicating the not too far away sunset! I had the fortune of catching the sunset when i visited Phi Phi Islands from Krabi in 2011 and it was breathtaking!
Before arriving at tub-lamu private pier, we were passed a disposable pack of cooling towel to wipe ourselves down! A nice touch by the operator as being blasted by the wind on a boat can make us super sticky!
Please be considerate and dispose all your rubbish in the bins provided.
Those are battleships?
Back on the mainland at almost close to 5.00 pm! I was shagged out but am looking forward to my upcoming dinner at Naughty Nuri's Phuket. Guess a 7.00 pm dinner wouldn't be too late.
Our shoes were organized neatly for ease of recognition and we found ours in no time!
Took a quick shower and quickly returned items like bath towel, wristbands. However, we still couldn't leave yet as there's one more thing we must do. It's indicated in the brochure but i happily assumed it's an option.
Dinner was provided as part of the package! As our passenger van included other visitors, guess we can't be selfish and insist on leaving right?!
Variety was decent with Thai papaya salad, chicken wing, bee hoon fried with a sweet sauce (nice), ice cream, banana cupcakes and others! Darn, and i had to limit my food intake as i am still keen for Naughty Nuri's Phuket as it's our last meal in Phuket!
Luckily, those taking the same passenger van with us appeared to have other activities at night too and by about 5.40 pm, the van was ready to set off; back to Phuket.
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Purchase of Day Trip Package
The Similan Islands 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!
Brochure
As above.
Website
Map of Similan Islands
As above; not drawn to scale.
What else did i do in Phuket?
Check out my 5-day Phuket itinerary here!