snokelling

hi...Looking through this very informative forum,I already know khao lak is not very good for snokelling off the beach...but if you go on the trips to similan Is or phi phi or racha are these excellent places to snorkel and see fish etc from the beach?? as my wife isn%26#39;t the most confident in the water so she will only wade out to her waist to snorkel....oh...is there a currency exchange at the Le Merdien??...where you can physically change sterling into baht??...cheers in advance

snokelling

Hello.

I have not yet done the Similan island trip for snorkeling but would imagine it is a bit of both. You will have some snorkeling in deeper water where the boat will anchor and then some from the beach when your wife would then be able to snorkel.

I have done surin island and this was a bit of both. I went snorkeling from the beach at the beach stop as when the boat anchored in the deep water at a snorkeling spot they told everybody they would anchor further down as the tide would take us that way i was not happy with this incase i could not get back to the boat.In the end one of the crew took me in with a lifejacket and dragged me around.

Racha Island is very good for snorkeling from the beach if you can get a trip with transfers a lot of divers come here from Phuket.And it is quite shallow. There are two sides to this island and the snorkeling is very good from the beach at the Ban Raya i think it was called.

Phi Phi some awesome snorkeling from the beaches and also in deeper water.

There is a currency exchange at the LM but it is at the hotel rateat reception. However there is an ATM in the wall by the lobby entrance. Plenty of exchange places in Khao Lak.

From Khao Lak the trip that has the least traveling time for snorkeling is to the Similan Islands.

Julie

snokelling

My wife is the same as yours. The most she had done peviously was in the Maldives where it only came up to her kness! She certainly did not fancy snorkeling from the boat at either the Similans or Surins but once she came in with me and then the more experienced dive boys on the boat took over (she had mask, flippers and floatation vest and was towed around holding onto a life ring) and she experienced what all the rest of us were experiencing we couldn%26#39;t get her out!

In our experience both the Similans and Surins are boat based although on one occasion at the Similans we stayed on the beach longer and snorkelled from there as the currents were running too fast to go from the boat.

If she decides to accompany you but stays on the boat, be aware of sea sickness, even if she doesn%26#39;t normally suffer from it. My wife doesn%26#39;t but when she stayed in the boat the first time, the swells while the boat was at anchor brought it on. They provide very effective pills when you get on the boat usually.

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