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Estuaries
Interesting long-tail boat trips will take you around the coast to the nearby picturesque Khlong Thap Liang estuary, which branches into the smaller estuaries of Khlong Thung Maphrao and Khlong
Hin Lad, to view mangrove forests, with their fascinating root system extending well above the normal water-line, and also to observe communities of crab-eating macques, which usually venture from the forest at low tide in search of molluscs.
These estuaries ('Khlong ' or 'klong ' ) are immediately south of Thap Lamu and are just outside the southwest tips of KhaoLak-Lamru national park. The smaller estuaries border the extreme northern stretches of Thai Muang national park.
Contact one of the beachside operators or your hotel for arrangements.
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Reefs
Khao Lak offers a tremendous vantage point to visit a whole range of excellent reefs in the Andaman Sea, especially when one considers some of the following aspects:
World class dive sites are close by.
The Surin islands, Similan islands, Richelieu Rock, Ko Bon and Ko Tachai are closer to KhaoLak than say to Ko Phuket for example.
In fact some such Phuket dive trips involve an initial car journey from Phuket to the liveaboard moored near KhuraBuri (ie. via KhaoLak)!
Excellent visibility of 25 meters or more.
Warm water with average temperature of 26 degrees Celcius.
Hundreds of varieties of hard and soft corals, reef fish, and other reef creatures,
including some of the larger reef fish
(realistic sightings of whale sharks).
Numerous scenic island destinations and associated reefs within range of daytrips and liveaboard cruises.
KhaoLak has a good choice of first-rate Dive Shops.
Whatever your aspirations they will be met
(Snorkelling, beginner intermediate or experienced diver, photography, a combination with idyllic days on liveaboard yachts )
Khao Na Yak Reef (Coral Reef) is the home reef to KhaoLak, being only 40 minutes away by longtail boat. It has some coral gardens which make for interesting snorkelling and diving, and there is a colorful and varied selection of tropical fish.
Surin Islands. Some 50 km off the west coast of Phang-Nga province lies the Surin islands consisting of five jungle cropped granite islands and their fringing coral reefs. They offer excellent diving and snorkelling, and are famous for their gorgeous, diverse and prolific shallow-water corals and reefs.
For more detailed information please refer to our section on Surin diving.
Richelieu Rock, Ko Tachai, and Ko Bon are three truly world class dive sites with multilevel coral reefs, plunging vertical walls and underwater pinnacles. This (almost) submerged granite pinnacle and two small islands, respectively, are generally regarded as belonging to the outer Surin archipelago (as opposed to the Surin islands marine national park), although they are
generally included with liveaboard dive trips to the Similan islands, for intermediate and experienced divers. Whale shark sightings are certainly quite possible. More specific details are included in our Surin guide.
The Similan Islands are widely regarded as not only one of Thailand's top dive locales but one of the best diving locations in the world. There are at least twenty credited dive sites associated with the Similan chain. They exhibit the greatest variety and sheer numbers of reef fish in Thailand and exhibit at least 200 species of hard coral, and provide a great deal of diversity for the diver.
We offer our Similan dive overview, our detailed dive site page, and our dive map for details of this remarkable location.
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