Similan Islands tour
Duration : 8 Hours
The Price : ฿5,350.00
Start Location: Khao Lak
Age Range : 4
Total Seats : 59/65
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Established as a national park in 1982, Similan Islands are an archipelago of 11 islands in the Andaman Sea, 70 km off the coast in Phang Nga Province. The park covers an area of 140 km² of which 26 km² is land.
With a rich marine life consisting of hard and soft coral reefs, crystal clear waters and white beaches, Similan Islands are considered to be one of the best diving sites in the world. The main characteristics of the islands are the rock formations which consist of huge boulders, shallow waters and dense tropical forests.
Unfortunately, the islands are suffering from too many tourists. One of the worst affected islands, Ko Tachai has been permanently closed since 2016, as of 2021, still closed. Back in 2018 the problem with overcrowded visitors became so big that the park authorities limited the number of tourists to Similan Islands to 3,850 people a day, later further down to 3,325 people a day. Before the limitation, the islands were getting up to 7,000 visitors a day.
Various websites mention all possible spots around the national park as “uncharted”, “unexplored”, “secret spot” etc; there are no such places, all overcrowded any given day of the high seasons.
The nearest popular towns on the mainland are Khao Lak and Phuket, the nearest pier is Thap Lamu Pier south of Khao Lak.
The rainy season is from May to October with the most rainfall in June to September. The rest of the year is quite dry, very little rain from December to March.
Islands
“Similan” is a Yawi (a Malayan dialect) word which means nine. The park had originally nine islands numbered 1 to 9 but expanded to include two more remote islands back in 1998; Ko Tachai and Ko Bon. Although each island has a name they can be referred to with numbers.
The islands are; Ko Hu Yong (#1), Ko Payang (#2), Ko Payan (#3), Ko Miang (#4), Ko Ha (#5), Ko Payu (#6), Ko Hin Pousar (#7), Ko Similan (#8), Ko Bangu (#9), Ko Bon (#10, also known as Ko Talu), Ko Tachai (#11).
The two main islands are Ko Miang and Ko Similan.