Here is my last post about our Thai holiday. And I'm starting with snorkelling again.
One day we decided to swim all around the island that was the closest to our beach, usually we were snorkelling between the island and the beach. On the way there we saw a pretty Zigzag wrasse (Halichoeres scapularis).
The Peacock Grouper (Cephalopholis argus) was hiding under the rock.
I think this brain coral is Lobophyllia hemprichii, also called Lobed brain coral, Lobed cactus coral or Largebrain root coral. Naming can get quite confusing as almost every source or book I checked has its own common name. That's why I find scientific names so important.
On the outer side of the island there was a really strong current and some waves. We saw some Soft corals there, these could be Carnation corals (Dendronephthya genus).
We also saw some Feather stars, they belong to Crinoids or Sea lillies, living fossils that first appeared in seas of mid Cambrian period, some 300 million years before dinosaurs.
I wasn't able to see around what or why these Moon wrasses (Thalassoma lunare) were grouping.
The current was getting stronger and the sea rougher and at one point I thought I couldn't swim further and we would need to turn back.
But we made it around the corner where the current was the strongest and we found more interesting things there - like these Grape coral (Plerogyra sinuosa), also named Bubble coral or Bubbletip coral.
This is how Bubble corals looked up close, it was quite different than the one we saw at Koh Bida.
We saw plenty of beautiful wrasses - like this Checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus)...
... and this Zigzag wrasse (Halichoeres scapularis)
I still don't know which one this is, first I thought it might be a variation of the Checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus), but it is coloured so very differently.
I had a bit of a work to figure out what this is, especially since I haven't seen it before. It is a Dusky wrasse (Halichoeres marginatus).
And some more bright colours, this time on Quoy's parrotfish (Scarus quoyi).
The young Circular batfish (Platax orbicularis) were hanging at the same spot near the island as allways and I had to make some more photos.
The Crocodile needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus) were not shy at all, Tomaz was almost able to stroke this one.
This one was also the first for me - the Blackspot sergeant (Abudefduf sordidus), usually we were seeing its cousins with yellow stripes, the Sargeant majors. I really like the Latin name - Abudefduf.
Here is another wrase, with less colours but with intricate pattern - the Floral wrasse or Maori wrasse (Cheilinus chlorourus).
The blue sponges were tucked under the corals.
Parrotfish and wrasses are quite abundant in tropical waters and maybe that's why I didn't consider them to be very special, but they are all so beautifully coloured - this one here is a Greenthroat parrotfish (Scarus prasiognathus)...
... and here is another Quoy's parrotfish (Scarus quoyi).
And some more healthy Brain corals.
Our room was in the bungalow up on the hill. There were beautiful mature trees around it, full of singing and chirping birds. One I was able to identify but not photograph, the White-bellied green pigeon (Treron sieboldii).
We were seeing birds also on the beach...
...there were plenty of Brahminy kites (Haliastur indus) flying above the sea on the lookout for fish.
Occasionally they would plunge into the water right among the boats and the swimmers.
One day we saw even much bigger bird of pray, the black and white White-Bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), unfortunately I was too slow to make a photo.
Last evening we decided to have a dinner in a neighbouring hotel. This is a view to the island, that was our snorkelling destination for the most days.
Hotel is built into rocks right on the beach...
...and there are orchids everywhere.
In dining room there were plenty of chandeliers made of fish traps and bird cages. I'm always happy to see light bulbs in bird cages instead of birds.
We had a great view from our table and green curry was just as delicious as on the first evening when we ate here, it was probably the best one I ever ate.
Next morning we started our journey back home. The island of Koh Lipe doesn't even have a permanent pier, people are boarding the boats from floating pier and the bigger ships are anchored in the bay and the passengers are transported to them by longtail boats. The boarding process looked quite chaotic, just like many things in Thailand, but in the end all couple of hundreds of passengers boarded the right boats and our luggage as well, although with some delay of course.
After three hours of much nicer ride than the one coming to Koh Lipe we docked in Saladan on Koh Lanta Yai. After a lunch we took a cab to airport in Krabi and shortly after 5 boarded the plane to Bangkok. Airport in Bangkok is very big and quite pretty, we particularly liked these sculptures of elephants.
After two more flights and lots of hours in airplanes we finally got home safe and sound, and our luggage too. But it was a long journey and we were quite tired. We loved our holiday in Thailand and I have every intention to go back, but next time we will maybe have to focus not just on choosing some nice locations and good snorkelling, but also on how to get there fast and easy.
