After our visit to the elephant sanctuary last Monday, we had a couple of low key Lanta days leading up to my next adventure: a speedboat trip to the islands of Koh Ha and Koh Rok for snorkeling. Like last week’s speedboat trip to the Phi Phi Islands, the cost was 1600 Baht (about $65 CAD), including the national park fee.
I got picked up at the resort in a songthaew and met the two other passengers who were French-speaking Montrealers. The next two passengers to board were from Nice, France. We arrived at the speedboat launch site and as it turned out, most of the other passengers were also from France so instead of Thai, I had to dig into my old French language skills.
I rode at the front of the boat with my songthaew crew for the half hour trip to Koh Ha. There were a few other boats around so we were taken to the far side of the island where there was just one other boat, and the water was calmer there. I jumped in and was pleased to find more life under the waves here than I’d seen on last week’s speedboat trip.
Next, we motored over to Koh Rok, also referred to as the Queen of the Andaman. The water was a bit rough and we weren’t permitted to ride at the front of the boat for the remainder of the trip. (These speedboat trips aren’t suited to people who have any kind of motion sensitivity. One person did get sick on the boat.)
Koh Rok looked like something right out of a postcard! It was absolutely stunning with turquoise waters and a long white sandy beach backed by palm trees. We did a snorkel off the boat first, then docked and had lunch on the island. Then we had about 90 minutes of free time on Koh Rok.
I bee-lined it to the end of the beach where there were just a few other people around, found a good spot to sit down and spent a good half hour just taking it all in. The sand was incredibly fine and soft, the sun was bright and hot, and the waves were crashing in. I was in paradise!
I grabbed my mask and snorkel and waded out. My favourite snorkeling of the trip was actually done right off this beach. I haven’t seen colourful coral in Thailand but there were enough colourful fish to make this a very enjoyable experience.
We got back aboard and motored to one more spot where we could snorkel off the boat, then we set out for the 45-60 minute ride back to Koh Lanta. I bid “Adieu!” and “Bonne soirée!” as I hopped out of the songthaew back at the resort.
We hit a beach restaurant called Bambies for dinner, then I finished my night with cold Chang beers at Kaw Kwang Bistro and the reggae bar down the beach. The servers all know me by now and I get such warm welcomes from them. I get to speak some Thai and share some laughs at these beach joints, and it was a great way to cap off another awesome day in Thailand!