There
are tow main jump off points for the park. Visitors
can travel by road from the provincial capital of
Phang Nga to the town of Tai Muang and take a ferry
from Thap Laum there. The forty kilometer boat trip
takes three to five hours. From Patong Beach on Phuket,
the trip takes about twelve hours by sailing yacht
and four to ten hours by motorized craft, depending
on the speed and price of the vessel taken.
For non-scuba divers,
the best way to see the Similans is to take a day
trip, available only in November to May usually on
Saturdays and Sundays only. The boat, the Express
Cruise, leaves from the bridge over the canal at the
southern end of Patong at 8 a.m. It takes there hours
leisure for swimming, snorkeling and lunch. The boat
returns to Patong at 7 p.m. The ticket includes tea,
coffee, lunch, snorkel equipment, and hotel transfers.
Surlin Islands Marine National Park
This remote archipelago,
located in the Andaman Sea about one hundred kilometers
northwest of Phuket, consists of six small and two
rather larger islands supporting a wide range of marine
and terrestrial wildlife. Residents apart from a small
group of Chao Lae or Sea Gypsies and a number of park
rangers include lemurs, mouse deer, monkeys and monitor
lizards, as well as many species of seabird. And of
course, the surrounding coral reefs, far from the
distant mainland, fairly swarm with a plethora of
fish, crustaceans and other marine creatures.
The
archipelago is a 135 square kilometer area lying in
the Andaman Sea some fifty-three kilometers off mainland
Ranong province. The park's five islands lie just
south of the border with Burma's Mergui (Myeik) Archipelago.
Ko Surin Nua, one of the two large islands. Slightly
smaller is Ko Surin Tai. The two islands are sepatated
by a narrow strait, around two hundred metres wide,
which may be waded across at low tide. Both are hilly,
with almost no flat ground beyond small areas of mangrove
forest and small beaches protected by tiny coves.
Diving, snorkeling and
simple nature excursions are now the main attractions
of the islands. Songkran, the traditional Thai New
Year, celebrated at the time of the April full moon.
In preparation for this festival at least one beach
is closed to visitors from December to February.
This is a wonderful
place for dedicated snorkellers, scuba divers and
other enthusiasts of coral reefs. The best reefs lie
to the relatively sheltered east of the archipelago,
while in the deeper waters to the west submerged outcrops
like the Marshall Reef and Breaker Reef also offer
fine diving opportunities.
December-March is the
best season to visit the Surin Islands. The sea can
be treacherous during the late May to November Southwest
Monsoon. Boats from the Phae Pla Chumphon Pier in
Ban Hin Lad, Khuraburi District, take 4-5 hours one
way, charter boats generally make the trip from Patong
Beach or Rawai, on Phuket. There are also express
boat services from Phuket in four hours. Accommodation
albeit rather Spartan, is available in the form of
bungalows maintained by the national park authorities.
