Thailand Guide
Southern Thailand: the Andaman coast
Ko Similan
Rated as one of the world's top spots for both above-water and underwater beauty, the eleven islands at the heart of the KO SIMILAN National Park ( 
www.dnp.go.th/National_park.asp ; entry B400/200; closed approximately mid-May to mid-Nov) are among the most exciting diving destinations in Thailand. Massive granite boulders set magnificently against turquoise waters give the islands their distinctive character, but it's the thirty-metre visibility that draws the divers. The reefs teem with coral fish, and you'll also see turtles, manta rays, moray eels, jacks, reef sharks, sea snakes, red grouper and quite possibly white-tip sharks, barracuda, giant lobster and enormous tuna.
The island group lies 64km off the mainland and includes the eponymous Ko Similan chain of nine islands as well as two more northerly islands, Ko Bon and Ko Tachai, which are both favoured haunts of manta rays and whale sharks. The nine islands of the Similan chain are numbered north to south from nine to one and often referred to by number. The national park headquarters and accommodation is on Ko Miang and there's also a campsite and restaurant on Ko Similan. Ko Similan is the largest island in the chain, blessed with a beautiful, fine white-sand bay and impressive boulders; Ko Miang has two pretty beaches, twenty minutes' walk apart; Ko Hu Yong has an exceptionally long white-sand bay and is used by turtles for egg-laying from November to February.
Such beauty has not gone unnoticed and the islands are extremely popular with day-trippers from Phuket and Khao Lak, as well as with divers and snorkellers on longer live-aboard trips. National parks authorities have responded by enforcing strict regulations for tourist boats, including closing the islands during the monsoon season, from mid-May to mid-November, though there is talk of a shorter closure in future.
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