Would you like to see some photos of our boat trip to Khai Nai and Khai Nok Islands because if you are in Phuket it might help you see what the trip exactly is about?
You may want to read my four previous posts about our Phuket trip: Two Nights at the Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach Hotel, Bangkok to Phuket Island Trip with Bangkok Airways, Two Nights at the Novotel Phuket Surin Beach Resort Hotel and Two Nights at the Novotel Phuket Resort Hotel.
A Boat Trip to Khai Nai and Khai Nok Islands
We saw that brochure at the hotel and decided to give it a go. Seeing all these fish and snorkeling in clear water seems like a good experience, so we signed-up for half a day.
The price on the brochure for half a day is 1,800 THB for adults and 1,260 THB for children between 3 and 11. It's what you pay if you buy at the hotel or travel agencies, but digging a bit, my wife found where to buy tickets for Thais and it was less than half that.
A mini-van picked us up at the hotel at 7:30 a.m. and as usual that was the worst transportation experience of the day with a speeding driver and very low air-conditioning.
We arrived at the pier and got to an assembly point to listen to the guide explaining about the trip.
This is where the islands are located.
Then, we got into the boat and put our lifejackets on.
We were sitting in a big speed-boat and the trip to the first island, Khai Nai Island, took 20 minutes.
Snorkeling equipment was included in the price of the trip.
A warning on the boat that losing the equipment will cost you 1,500 THB.
Mid-way to the island.
We were given one hour free time on the island.
This is a very small island.
We got ourselves a mango smoothie for 200 THB, the most expensive I've ever bought.
I like to take photos of the rules and you can see that the fine is very expensive.
Using a toilet is 20 THB, a beach chair is 100 THB.
Specific areas for smoking.
I didn't expect to see that many speed-boats and people on this small island and I honestly didn't like how crowded it was.
You could walk a bit further, but still find people.
Time for snorkeling now.
Photo souvenir sold at 200 THB.
This could be so much beautiful without all these activities.
Then, we left the island to go further at sea and join other speed-boats for a snorkeling session of 30 minutes.
Here too, so many people!
My wife and daughter went on a dive, but I stayed on board.
Here is where everybody is snorkeling. It looks like a scene of the Titanic!
My wife said that all they saw is other people's feet, no fish.
Then, we went to the second island, Khai Nok Island.
In terms of the number of people and speed-boats there it was even worse.
One of the guy in the crew preparing fruits for us.
We still could make nice shots.
You can rent jet skis if you like this kind of activity.
We arrived at the pier in Phuket at noon and got another hour in a mini-van where the driver was driving slowly this time, but still managed to go through a couple of red lights.
What I liked on this trip is the crew and the guide on the boat who were very friendly, and we had a good time with them.
What I didn't like is how crowded the islands were, finding everything over-priced and jet skis. All these activities are already available on Patong beach and elsewhere in Phuket, so why having them on an isolated island?
We haven't seen that many fish, not like what the brochure suggests anyway, simply because there are too many people scaring them away.
If you want to do snorkeling and see the fish, I think that doing it on Surin beach or another quiet beach would be better and this would save you the cost of the trip, unless if you like meeting hundreds of people on a small island, of course.
I can tell you that after the trip we all were very tired.
I hope that you enjoyed all the photos and that my post will help you to decide if you'd like to do the same trip or not because I showed you here all you will see.
All photos are mine and taken with my Samsung phone.
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Michel Gerard