I hope you ended year 2025 and started 20026 with a fantastic party. We wish you
ALL THE BEST IN 2026!
And here is the next part of our Thai adventure.
Two days after the trip to James Bond island we again had to get up very early. We were picked up shortly after 6 and we traveled up North for two hours to a pier in Khura Buri, from where we sailed to Surin islands National park by boat. The National park was established in the 80's and long protection from overfishing and extreme mass tourism has helped preserve nature above and under water. We were going to stay there for two nights/three days to finally get some good snorkelling.
The boat we were travelling with was very similar to the boat on our James Bond island tour. Our first stop was the Moken village.
Moken people are sea gypsies that live in this area for a long time, nowadays in this village and not nomadic any more. Of course the restrictions of National park have had a big influence on their traditional lifestyle and the tourism probably even bigger one. I hope they sell enough souvenirs to the tourists to compensate for the stress of having hordes of people around their houses every day. I found information about them in exhibit area well presented and interesting, as well as these colourful totems.
Tomaz was mostly interested in an old boat made from a single tree.
Luckily our next stop was snorkelling. Finally! Although it was pretty crowded, there were 30+ people on our boat and there were couple of similar sized boats there already, the underwater world was very pretty. Lots of corals and fish, also this Parrotfish. I haven't been able to identify it yet.
This elegant fish is a Pearly spinecheek (Scolopsis margaritifer).
I think this might be my first photo of the Swarthy parrotfish, female (Scarus niger). Very nice lipstick colour and very white teeth!
I was amazed how abundant and very healthy the corals were. Unfortunately I haven't figured out which coral this is. Yet.
The Anemone Corals (Goniopora) got their name because their polyps are so long, as you can see in the bottom of the photo, that they resemble anemones.
Here is another Swarthy parrotfish, female (Scarus niger).
We saw several Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), but no too many. They can be very damaging to coral reefs, if there are many of them.
I am pretty sure that this shiny yellow thing is a sponge, but I couldn't find any more detailed information about ti.
After snorkelling we were brought to the main area, where the restaurant is, and were taken to our bungalows. I expected more basic furnishing but it was quite comfortable and pretty. We even had an air conditioning. And the location was beautiful with great view. We quickly showered and went for lunch. Also the food was not bad, at least the Thai dishes, I admit we didn't try the rest.
The surroundings were really pretty, colour of the water inviting. Shortly after lunch we were dinghied to another snorkelling site, this time with a long-tail boat, just like these are on the photo.
There were less of us on the boat, but the snorkelling sites were just as crowded as the one in the morning. And again we were told to wear the life-jackets as in the morning and again me and Tomaz figured out how to float them near us so we were able to dive down to see and photograph things. While I understand the security aspect of it, especially with all the boats coming and going and masses of people in the water, it is just not possible to snorkel with a life jacket on. Inflatable diving buoys would have been much better.
It was again very pretty and colourful in the water and we saw so many interesting things.
This wrasse is a bit of a riddle, I browsed through hundreds of photos of wrasses in internet but couldn't find an exact match. From the pattern on its head and body it could be the Tripletail wrasse (Cheilinus trilobatus), but I'm not sure.
This is a Staghorn coral (Acropora nasuta) and you can just tell by the way it looks that it's healthy and doing well.
These two beauties are the Rip butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus).
I spotted several fish, two Blackeye rabbitfish (Siganus puelloides), the Checkered snapper (Lutjanus decussatus), Rip butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus) and Peacock grouper (Cephalopholis argus), gathering together and I was of course curious why. At that time I didn't see the small moray in the middle (in the crack in the coral left from the yellow rabbitfish)...
...only when it came out of the crack I saw that a small Giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus) must have been hunting or eating something, and all the other fish were waiting around in hope of getting some crumbs.
Here is the Peacock grouper (Cephalopholis argus) once more, just because it is so pretty. And it is still waiting (the moray is on the right just above it)...
There were plenty of Sargeant majors (Abudefduf vaigiensis) there, their unusual Latin name is actually Arabic and means "the one with the prominent sides".
This might be a Peacock damsel (Pomacentrus pavo), its neon blue spots are really resembling the ones of the peacock (pavo in Latin).
This one is also a Moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare), but without the yellow moon on its tail.
This is a composition in yellow - two Latticed butterflyfish (Chaetodon rafflesi) and a female Sling-jaw wrasse (Epibulus insidiator).
The colouring of this Slate pencil urchin (Eucidaris thouarsii) was quite unusual.
Maybe not most spectacular of the fish we saw, but definitely with lots of attitude - it is the Variegated lizardfish (Synodus variegatus).
These leather corals Elephant ears (Sarcophyton trocheliophorum) are so pretty, they remind me of chanterelle mushrooms (lisičke) in the forest. Some look like leather and some already have their polyps extended and look fuzzy...
...and here is the close up with polyps that looks like flowers.
Finally I also found a male Swarthy parrotfish (Scarus niger).
These are the Golden Rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus), top left one looks like it was injured.
I was really overwhelmed by all the healthy corals we saw, this one is an Acropora coral with Golden damselfish (Amblyglyphidodon aureus).
And this truly magnificent guy is a Magnificent rabbitfish (Siganus magnificus).
This was our captain that transported us to both of the snorkelling sites and back in the afternoon. He masterfully steered the traditional long-tail boat and with all his limbs in action he looked very much like an acrobat.
We got back to headquarters already early in the afternoon and although the tide was low and consequently water very shallow I had to try snorkelling in the bay. I had to almost suck my tummy in while swimming to not touch the bottom, but it was totally worth it - I saw several damsels, a pipefish, couple of gobies and a lionfish, but because of the sand in the water photos didn't turn out good. But when I found this Pink pufball sponge (Oceanapia sagittaria), I made two dozens of photos to make sure at least couple of them would be decent. What a beauty! It has to be the prettiest sponge ever. This was such a mystery to me after I photographed it in my holiday in Koh Tao eight years ago for the first time and it took me sooo long to figure out what it was.
To be continued...
