Thailand - Khao Lak, Similan islands - part 1

As the weather got colder and foggier and days shorter here in Žabnice, we decided to spend some time in warmer climate again. Last week of November we travelled to Thailand (again) to explore some new territories  that we haven't visit before. This time it was Khao Lak area on Western shore of Thailand North of Phuket with trips to Similan islands, James Bond island and a short stay in Surin islands.

For the first 9 days we were staying in Baan Krating resort in south part of Khao Lak. When we arrived the weather was rainy and the forecast was not great. But it turned out to be just right, we were struggling with jet lag anyway and the weather was perfect for lazying and sleeping.

The resort is set among huge trees on a slope above the shore, it is very pretty and green and the view from the terrace of our bungalow was great even in cloudy weather.

But despite the weather we had to take a closer look at this beautiful long beach and went for a walk. There were some big granite boulders on the beach...

...and there I found a Chiton (hiton in Slovene). Already on the first day and on the first walk, and I see them so rarely in Adriatic. Of course I was excited.

We also checked the pool area and it was also very pretty.

On the second day we decided to take a cooking course, as the weather was still pretty cloudy. All the ingredients were beautifully prepared and the hotel cook explained everything to us and it was not difficult at all.

We cooked a seafood salad, a prawn coconut soup and bananas in coconut cream for desert. And at the end we got to eat it all, it was all very delicious.

Luckily the third day the weather started to clear and we went for a walk to the next village, some 20 munutes away. On the way we saw this beautiful butterfly with a funny name, the Great eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina)...

...and some pretty Heliconias (helikonija in Slovene).

Next day we rented a scooter and drove to Lampi waterfall. It is surrounded by lush jungle.

Below the waterfall there is a bathing area, where we both swam. It was very refreshing and welcome as the day was hot and very humid.

I was again drawn to nature. It took a lot of photos to get a decent one of this fast-moving butterfly - the Anderson's grass yellow (Eurema andersonii).

We also met this Common flying lizard (Draco volans).

This butterfly belongs to swallowtail family, it is the Great mormon (Papilio memnon), and luckily it sat on the ground for a few seconds and made taking photos a bit easier.

One of the best things in Baan Krating resort were all the complimentary things we got every day - besides usual water we also got coffee capsules, soft drinks and beer and the best thing - a big basket of fresh fruit, oranges, apple, pear and dragonfruit. Very nice.

As the sunny weather continued we booked couple of one-day trips. First was to Similan islands, probably the most popular trip in this part of Thailand, so we knew it is going to be very crowded.

Already at the dock there were many boats and many many more people. 

It took almost one and a half hour to get there and we were first brought to the first snorkelling spot. There were lots of people there in the water as well, but it was not too hard to find a bit more elbow room by swimming a bit on the outer side of the crowd or in a bit deeper water. 

But the underwater world was still very beautiful, full of life and colours. We found an Orange-striped triggerfish (oranžna balestra ali kostorog or Balistapus undulatus).

This elegant fish is Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus).

The Lettuce corals (Agaricia agaricites) looked very pretty.

I love all fusilier, there are many sorts and all are very shiny. These are Manylined fusilier (Caesio varilineata).

And these are the Vermiculated spinefoot (Siganus vermiculatus), relatives of rabbitfish.

I like the pattern that this Bluespotted pufferfish (Arothron caeruleopunctatus) has around the eyes.

And here is one very famous fish - Nemo or Western clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris).

Here is another triggerfish - the Clown triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillum), unfortunately it didn't want to pose for the photo.

There were plenty of different Parrotfish, unfortunately I couldn't find the name of this one. Update: it could be the female Steephead parrotfish (Chlorurus strongycephalus).

This is the Giant triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens).

These guys are soooo pretty and colourful, and they have a great name - Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus).

This is a Peacock grouper (Cephalopholis argus) in company of Cromises.

And here are some Red-tailed butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare) hanging in the water.

Behind the Powder-blue surgeonfish (Acanthurus leucosternon) there is also a Singular bannerfish (Heniochus singularius).

And another triggerfish - the Indian triggerfish (Melichthys indicus), but not the last one we saw this day.

After snorkelling we were brought to the main island for lunch and some beach time. Because of the waves the crew had to hold the boat steady with lines, so that we could disembark.

The beach and the water looked beautiful and there was even some shade on the beach, which was great.

Lots of people were enjoying the waves and the warm water.

Lunch was also not bad, especially the curry was really nice. And there was plenty of space in the shade as well. In the tall trees there were Flying foxes hanging from the branches and sleeping. 

To be continued...

 

September snorkelling - part 4

There was still some fresh wind from the NW, so we didn't anchor in bay Stari Trogir as we originally planned, but in front of the beach on the West side across the bay. It was not so pretty as the SE part, but it was much more calm, despite the houses and people on the shore. Captain started a new attempt to fix the electrical cables. This time he was working in engine room and said he didn't need my help, so I went snorkelling around the small rocky island at the entrance of the bay.

The small island is very popular with tourists on SUPs and kayaks and swimmers, so I wasn't sure if it was worth the long swim to get there. But I was really pleasantly surprised.

First I met this Comber (kanjec or Serranus cabrilla), and this is the pose I usually see - him facing me with mean look, as if saying: looking at me?!?!

The island obviously gets a lot of fresh water from the West from open sea, so there was surprisingly lots of life around it. Here are some Red spotted horseshoes (apnenčasti cevkarji or Protula tubularia) in company of young Damselfish or Mediterranean chromis (črnik or Chromis chromis). When Damselfish are young, they really resemble their tropical relatives very much with their very bright neon blue pattern.

The adult ones are relatively dull in comparison, only the shape is the same as with tropical damselfish.

There were really lots of fish, like this pretty Sharpsnout seabream (pic or Diplodus puntazzo)...

...and on the outer West side of the island I found the Mediterranean parrotfish (sredozemska papagajka or Sparisoma cretense). There were two of them, but unfortunately quite far, so all the photos are quite bad. This might be only the second time that I saw them.

And under the rocks I found perhaps the prettiest of hydroids, the Feather hydroids (morska peresca or Aglaophenia).

Also from close up they look so very delicate. I was happy to have found so many different kinds in these couple of days.

The Zvonimir's goby (jelenoroga babica or Parablennius zvonimiri) sat on dark Kidney sponge (ledvičasta spužva or Chondrosia reniformis) and was almost invisible with its own dark colouring.

This Stinker sponge (snopasta hrapavka or Ircinia fasciculata) looks like a monkey face.

This is a Mediterranean rainbow wrasse or Knez (Coris julis).

On my swim back over the sandy part of the bay I saw this Wide-eyed flounders (širokogledi romb or Bothus podas)...

... and in the deeper water there was also the Starry weever (črnoglavi morski zmaj or Drachinus radiatus). I was happy to have found it, I see it very rarely. It is the most poisonous fish in Adriatic. 

Near our boat I saw Bogues (bukve or Boops boops) while they were hunting the Mediterranean sand smelts (veliki gavuni or Atherina hepsetus).

I didn't think I would see so much while snorkelling, the long swim to the small island was definitely worth it.

When I came back to the boat Captain had a huge smile on his face - he has found the root cause of the electrical problems, on the thick cable between the engine and inverter, yay! And he was able to fix it with what he had on the boat, double yay! We were both really really happy. Then we just needed to stow away all the tools and stuff that he was using while repairing. 

After a good dinner we had a calm and good night. In the morning the SE wind has already started, small waves were rolling into the bay, so after the coffee we sailed off. Outside the bay wind was stronger and we had a nice sailing on genoa alone almost all the way to bay Mirina. We decided to stay there over night, since the really bad weather was forecast to start only late next morning, and we could sail to marina very early next morning before it gets really windy and rainy.

So we had a whole afternoon and evening of pretty good weather for swimming and of course for snorkelling.

I snorkelled near the shore a bit further NW than on the week before and the scenery was again a bit different. The Two-banded sea breams (fratrca or Diplodus vulgaris) were not very new and different, but pretty.

Red Tubeworm (pisani pokrovčar or Serpula vermicularis) was strategically placed so that its colour was in stark contrast to the colours of sponges around it.

This is a blue-eyed Striped hermit crab (obročkasti samotarec or Pagurus anachoretus).

And this is a Sulphur boring sponge (rumena vrtalka or Cliona celata). Through the smaller holes, that have a mesh across them, it takes the water in, filters it for food and through the bigger open holes the water is expelled. 

This is the female Red triplefin (Tripterygion tripterinotus or rdeči sprehajalček), very different in colours to the shiny red and black males, but very delicate and almost transparent. And also much more difficult to spot as the colourful males.

I very rarely see the Red Tubeworm (Pisani pokrovčar or Serpula vermicularis) in such muted colours.

The European flat oyster (ostriga or Ostrea edulis) was alive and there is a muscle inside it.

This year I didn't see very many Warty crabs (kosmeji or Eriphia verrucosa) around.

Above the Snakelocks anemone (voščena morska vetrnica or Anemona vidris) there are tiny Mysid shrimps (mizidni rakci or Leptomysis spp.).

And this was the big surprise of the day - an unknown fish with small shiny dots. I found it funny how it swam with the Painted comber (pirka or pisanica or Serranus scriba) as if they were best mates.

I took many photos, as I had no idea what this might be. Searching my books at home I came to a conclusion that it must have been a young Common dentex (zobatec or Dentex dentex). And it was a first sighting for me, even after all this snorkelling!

This is again something well known, a Slime tube worm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum), but it looks even more delicate than usually, so I couldn't resist a photo.

We had a calm night but we were up already at 6 in the morning. We sailed off right away and had a coffee on the way. We were able to motor-sail to the entrance to Šibenik canal, then we were motoring.

On the green marker further in the canal there was obligatory seagull, but we didn't see any turtles nor dolphins.

At 9.30 we were already moored in marina, and just in right time, it started to rain half an hour later. Around the noon we also got very strong wind, that made a lot of noise when it was blowing around the masts and the stays of boats in marina. It was just the right day for boat cleaning.

Next day I drove home and Captain stayed on the boat.