Koh Tao, Thailand

Koh Yang Nuan

Koh Tao and Koh Yang Nuan are islands were you can do some diving and snorkeling in the Gulf of Thailand. If you’re trying to get to these islands, your best option is to take a trip from the island of Koh Samui to get there. Koh Tao is one of the areas in Thailand where you can possibly see whale sharks (and regular ones!), and you will see lots of brightly colored tropical fish in the shallower snorkeling areas.

Given the recent announcement that the Thai government is considering restricting access to Koh Surin and The Similan Islands, it will be interesting to see if similar steps are taken to protect the coral for human development and other environmental pressures in other aquatic marine parks.

Many of the tourists that go to Phuket go there because there are some world-class spots (Similan Islands, Koh Surin & Koh Phi Phi) to go diving and snorkeling around there. If you’re doing a short trip to Phuket, or traveling with family and small kids, the good news is that there are tons of little day tours around Phuket that you can take to smaller islands. My lovely wife and I took a half-day trip to some of the smaller islands around Phuket, including Khai Nok, to simply check some fish out.

Some of the islands are only fifteen minutes from Phuket, which makes for a great half-day tour if you’re on a quick jaunt.

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One of the best investments I made as far as camera gear goes has been the Olympus Sytlus 790sw. While the camera only has  a depth of about three meters deep, it is more than sufficient to get decent pics of a variety of tropical fish in the waters of Thailand and islands like Koh Phi Phi.

Note:  I am way to chicken to dare try to seal my DSLR properly to take even better underwater pics . Since I am rather clumsy, and probably more lax than I should be when checking things like seals and gaskets, I decided I would rather risk losing a camera worth about $250 USD than losing the amount of money I have invested in my DSLR.

While this probably isn’t my best photo from snorkeling at Koh Phi Phi, it was one of those times when I was able to just “hang around” while a bunch of tropical fish were swimming by.

I have to be quite honest in stating that taking pictures of fish is far more challenging than I thought. If the fish aren’t moving away from you rapidly, the tides will often change very quickly before you can even get off a shot. The only way I had any luck taking pictures of the fish was by brute force, which meant that I literally snapped over a thousand pictures to get to the 400 or so snorkeling pictures I have on my Flickr account.

A couple of alternatives to snorkeling in Koh Phi Phi would include Koh Surin and Koh Similan. These islands are only open from November to April,  about two hours away by boat from Phuket, and you will most certainly have smaller crowds present than you will find at Koh Phi Phi (you can even choose to camp there…but you have to book camps/bungalows well in advance).

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This is probably one of the few times I will publish a higher resolution picture on the web, largely because it makes seeing the sea snake easier. While I personally wasn’t afraid of the snake, because I know they would have to bite you somewhere fairly “soft” to inflict lethal damage, the guide started to freak  when this snake got a little “too close for comfort”. I basically took this snap with my Olympus underwater cam, then was whisked away a few seconds later.

Update: I found out this is known as a Banded Sea Krait.

Similan Islands: Thailand

Originally uploaded by dbillian

I don’t know what the name of this fish is, but the people leading the snorkeling trip said that this fish will bite if it feels like it is being followed.

The Similan Islands are a beautiful, remote area to do some snorkeling (or diving) off of the western coast of Thailand (about two hours by boat from places like Phuket or Khao Lak); my wife and I booked an overnight stay there, something I would recommend if you are going to spend a fair amount of time in or around the Phuket area. While Phuket is indeed beautiful, the Similan Islands provide a good opportunity to get away from the crowds.