April 24, 2025
Today’s excursion was a snorkeling trip and then a visit to the beach. We had an hour bus ride to get to the pier where the snorkeling boat took us out from. Our guide was very good and explained the day to us but also told us once we got on the island, where we would spend about an hour, that they would only take local money so if we wanted some local money she would exchange for us. We exchanged 20 US for 620 bhat.
When we got to the very modern marina where they fitted people for fins and then we got on a very modern speedboat. It had a large enclosed area with lots of cushioned seats in the middle but then they also had an area on the bow where 7 of us sat with no cover. It was a 20 minute ride out to the first stop. The crew on the boat was very attentive and came by with ice cold water bottles and coke and coke zero.
The problem with the stop was that the waves kept trying to push you into the shore and boats and jet skis were coming into the island to drop off more snorkelers so you had to be careful. There were lots of fish and some coral but not the best we have seen. Of course the guide did point out Nemo to us so I was happy.
We stayed in this spot for an hour and I dove down several times to get some video of the clown fish. We then loaded back up on the boat. Our next stop was not far and was basically a very small island with a beautiful sandy beach which they covered with chairs and umbrellas. There were also bars which served beer and mixed drinks and also food.
You can see all the chairs and umbrellas all over the beautiful white sand beach.
We unloaded here and the excursion paid for 2 chairs and an umbrella. The water was crystal clear and warm. When you see pictures of Phuket resorts this is what you normally see.
The crystal clear aqua water. I spent quite a bit of time in the water talking to one of my ship mates. While they said you could snorkel here it was very rough with the waves coming in.
Kathy got a large beer, Singha and I got a red lime soda which was excellent. Especially pretty garnished with a purple orchid.
Kathy got another beer and I got a blueberry soda but definitely not as good as the red lime one. No alcohol in my drinks.
The rows of beach chairs.
The rockier side of the island.
Lots of boats came and dropped people off and you could also rent jet skis or take a ride on a jet ski. We could have spent longer there than 1 hour but all on board was 3:30 for a 4pm sail away.
I liked this picture but Kathy said it was very “busy”.
On the ride back there were dark clouds and we saw another water spout but it was pretty far away.
It became obvious that to get back to the boat dock we would be going right through the rain storm so the 7 of us in the front packed up and moved to shelter.
Leaving the beach heading right into the rain. The dark clouds made the water color so much prettier. We went right through the rain storm and by the time we got to the marina the rain had stopped. The crew on the boat offered us fresh cut pineapple and watermelon for the ride back along with more drinks.
We made it back to the boat by 3pm and took another quick look through the souvenir market but there was really nothing to buy. We watched sail away from our deck and saw more rainbows. I think Phuket is trying to compete with Hawaii for the most rainbows.
Island of Phuket as we sail away with a very faint double rainbow.
We have 2 days at sea before the first Sri Lankan port of Hambantota, Sri Lanka. This port is closer to Yala National Park than Colombo and we are on a ships excursion to do a leopard safari which was an excursion I was looking forward to.
We are still going to get off in Colombo, Sri Lanka early Tuesday morning at 3am and on these 2 sea days we will start packing and cleaning up, saying goodbye to crew we like.