Surin to Similan Islands

https://youtu.be/CHK4OlOjTe0

Surin Islands  to Similan  Islands

We sailed the  35 nm from the Surins to the Similans under the MPS. A great sail.

only see one actual "lookout " here!  

oh goodness Buffy in command again

We took up a mooring in a tiny bay at Koh Bangu.

approach to Koh Bangu 60m plus beneath us 

the bay at Koh Bangu

 The depth was 13m and CLEAR. It was like looking into a meter of water. We were in the water minutes after arriving.

yes that is the bottom 13m below  us - see the wee fish?

The huge and obvious difference between the locations is that we were now swimming in water that was edged with granite rock faces.  Sheer slab sided  granite face. It also revealed various swim throughs, where the granite boulders are sitting upon each other, and with the clarity of the water it was akin to being  in a passage way to a cave, but swimming instead of walking. The  sand when ashore, is beautiful soft and white.

Checked out the mooring line and happy with what could be seen.

mooring looks good!

That evening many of the liveaboard dive boats returned and took up moorings around us and over at Koh Similan. The groups of night divers were clearly identifiable, as the torch lights  moved around beneath the boat like swarms of bees.

The next morning a further snorkel excursion under the boat to check out what was around in the way of wonders of the deep, then we took dinghy across to Koh Similan, about half a mile away.
That was a bit of a mistake as we timed it perfectly with the arrival of the daytripper boats from the mainland.
Went for a snorkel , as far away from the madding crowd as possible, which in reality means anything over waste height really! We chose the point , where the water became clearer, and again the granite slab sided formations were just plunging into the sea. It was good but not as good as Koh Bangu, so back we went, just in time for the daytrippers to spend their 30 mins at Koh Bangu. Suddenly they arrive , disgorge the lifejacket clad snorkelers, give them 30 mins and then off to another location.

suddenly so many daytrippers appear , we even had one make fast to us as they all crowd in, disgorge,re-embark and disappear

Peace descends and we were alone again apart from one other yacht.

Jo was tossing up the idea of a dive the next day, I couldn't because of my ear, and Chris seemed ambivalent . In the end she decided against it.
 The next morning Steve , Jo and I went to a point to the east of us and with Steve towing the dinghy behind him we did a fabulous drift snorkel on the tide back to the boat. Abundant fish,

https://youtu.be/jHbJ62TY6us

squid, moray eels, turtles,plunging granite cliff faces, it was beautiful. One sea snake seen early on, and then just near  K'Gari as I was thinking about getting out, another decide to surface for a breather. That was enough- stingers and sea snakes do tend to deter me a tad.

Chris was obviously snorkel fatigued by now as he didn't come with us.

We decided it was time to relocate to another island 6miles south.

Star Clipper

Slipped the mooring and headed east first , there on the horizon was what appeared to be a clipper ship, so we sailed in that direction. We circled her and then continued on our way. They still look magnificent, even if they aren't original!  This one was built in 1992 and is 112m – only just a bit bigger than us..... but under sail we were actually moving faster than she was!

We took up a mooring at Koh Miang which is the National Park headquarters for the Similan Islands. There is accommodation here, nestled into the hillside as well as tents, for the more intrepid. A cafe and a restaurant, which we never did mange to sort out exactly how or when it was open. The cafe did basic meals, we tried one, but after that they seemed to be closed more often than open. We did restock with 12 icecreams though. The ranger multiskilled by serving  in the shop and not bothering  to collect any park fees, which was a lovely Christmas present as far as we were concerned. Mind you perhaps that attitude changes later in the “season”- we were still the only yacht in the vicinity.