Ko Surin Preparation and Planning | Chong Khat Bay Station | Lodging
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| Covered Seastar longtail boat navigating the sparkling emerald waters of the narrow straight between Ko Surin's Nuea and Tai islands |
Koh Surin is a true tropical paradise. Wild, untamed jungle vegetation cover the towering limestone hills and cliffs of the islands, while marine life flourishes in the shallow waters of the coral reefs that surround them. The visual experience is unparalleled- white beaches of miniscule fragments of broken coral and shells set against sparkling emerald waters, vivid sunsets as the fiery star gently melts into the sea. Surprisingly, however, is that this particular national park is better-known for what lies under the water: what many call the best snorkeling and diving sites in Thailand. Avid snorkelers, Tiger and Bird planned to visit these islands and found November 2020 to be the perfect time for an ocean adventure. Our personal preparation for the trip began several months prior and included increased gym time and a daily four reps of two-minute planks so we could adequately tackle the three-hour-per-day snorkeling sessions in the currents of the open ocean.
While talking with tour companies and doing some background research, we found many Ko Surin travel guides to be inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete on the English version of the internet. Tiger and Bird decided that this post would exclusively consist of current, verified information for visitors. In the coming months, we will post our photojourneys of the islands.
[Last updated January 2021]
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| Tiger and Bird put together the above map to help you plan your trip to Mu Ko Surin! This map is to scale and all information provided was verified during our November 2020 trip to the islands. Feel free to download this full resolution image! |
Mu Ko Surin, Koh Surin, Ko Surin, and Surin Islands are all refer to a small group of islands situated in the Andaman Sea some 60km (37mi) from mainland Thailand’s southern provinces of Phangna and Ranong. What is commonly referred to as “Ko Surin” is two separate main islands as seen in the above map: Ko Surin Nuea in the north, and Ko Surin Tai in the south. The official name is Mu Ko Surin National Park and all the protections and restrictions of a marine national park are enforced here (no drones!). Visitors are strictly limited to accommodations at the main station at Chong Khat Bay (“1” in the above map) or Mai Ngam Bay (see “2”), depending on what time of the year they visit. Ko Surin Tai is uninhabited except for a village of native Andaman sea people who live at Moken Village (see “3”).
Overtourism has become a persistent worry around beautiful tourist destinations in Thailand and Ko Surin is no exception. The government strictly regulates the number of visitors at the park to limit damage to the delicate ecosystems around the islands. As a result, Ko Surin is only open during the Thailand winter months of October through May. Exactly when the park opens and closes varies from year to year. Overnight visitors will be staying at either Chong Khat Bay or Mai Ngam Bay (see map above).
Transportation and Ferry Service to Ko Surin
There are no public ferries to distant Ko Surin. Private speedboats depart at/nearby Kuraburi Pier in Phangna or Bang Ben Pier in Ranong. This region is just north of the popular tourist destination of Phuket and any of the three tour companies that stop at Ko Surin can arrange hotel/airport pickup to the point of departure (for a vast majority of visitors, this is at or near Kuraburi Pier). An alternative are the liveaboards that occasionally stop at the islands. Private boats are also welcome to visit as long as national park rules and regulations are followed. The three tour companies that access Ko Surin are below, ranked in order of general English-speaking proficiency:
Love Andaman
Best-known company for trips in the Andaman Sea near Thailand’s coast. Expensive relative to competition, but employees have solid English skills and booking is easy for international visitors. Offers only day tours to Ko Surin- no overnight visits.
Seastar Andaman
Relatively popular local company with excellent service and some level of English communication skills. Offers day tours as well as single or multi-night packages on Ko Surin Nuea.
Sabina Tours
Relatively popular local company with excellent service if limited English communication skills among boat crews. Offers day tours as well as single or multi-night packages on Ko Surin Nuea.
Since we had very specific requests for our week-long stay at Ko Surin, we booked with Sabina Tour. As one of the smaller companies, they proved to be tremendously accommodating and were willing to work with us to customize our trip. Note that most communication was in Thai, so similar attempts could prove difficult for international visitors.
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| The Sabina Tours briefing about Ko Surin included information on national park facilities, common marine life sightings in various areas around the islands, and how an upcoming storm might impact snorkeling options in the week ahead. |
Chong Khat Bay (also spelled “Ao Chong Kad”) juts out from Ko Surin Nuea into the sparkling turquoise waters of the straight and faces Ko Surin Tai. This is the primary ranger station for the national park and is located near a small Thai navy outpost (necessary to protect the island and surrounding waters from potential poachers). The beaches are made of small pieces of broken shell and coral that create a strange and wonderful rustling sound when the small waves lap up against the shore. A short distance from the shore the coral reefs begin.
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| View as speedboat approached the beach. Longtail boat snorkeling trips depart in the morning and afternoon from this location. |
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| Disembarking from the speedboat. For the trip, our group of about ten visitors numbered about the same as the crew- all traveling in a speedboat that could accommodate forty. Tourism was severely impacted by travel shutdowns. |
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| A Thai woman walks along the beach towards the main national park buildings. After passing the coronavirus checkpoint, we will pick up our room keys and find out which air-conditioned bungalow we are occupying at the registration desk. |
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| Small stand selling coffee and smoothies. All shops, restaurants, and lodging facilities at Ko Surin are managed by the national park. Picnic tables are available for anyone’s use, and this area is frequently a staging ground for the longtail boat snorkeling tours that depart in the morning and evening. |
The coop restaurant serves buffet meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you are paying individually for each meal – Tiger and Bird typically skipped lunch for a small snack of fruit since the meals were so heavy – you will need to register ahead so the chefs know to make enough food. All tours stopping on the island for a meal are required to use this restaurant to feed their customers. The Thai food here is quite good but please note there is basically no Western fare. We brought bread, cereal, and preserved food like canned tuna fish from the mainland to help diversify our diet (nothing beats eating margarine and raspberry jam on a toasted baguette in front of Western expats looking forlornly at their rice porridge :-p !).
Picture 1. Coop restaurant front desk. The lady here spoke a few English words. Picture 2. Buffet meal spread out before tour groups begin visiting for lunch. Picture 3. Picnic tables spread out. When tours stop by, all these table are occupied.
Chong Khat Bay Station Lodging
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| Several staff members talking in an idyllic setting near the Rakumwhan cottages |
The national park directly manages lodging arrangements on the island and facility upkeep. Overall, we were impressed with how well everything seemed to be running. Any lodgings booked with Seastar or Sabina are ultimately booked with the national park, and tour companies do mark up the price. Booking directly with the national park is possible, but the application forms and websites are in Thai so Tiger and Bird will not get into further details (this is the link for the official national park lodging registration). Do note that national park booking options are only available for 90 days from the date of your booking. For example, if you are traveling in 101 days, you must wait eleven days before you can book your room with the national park. Lodging options are listed below along with pictures of the corresponding accommodation.
Sinsamut: air-conditioned wooden bungalows
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There are eighteen of these bungalows located along a narrow staircase, all built into the hillside overlooking Chong Khat Bay. The bungalow consists of a small studio-style room with two single beds, a desk, a wardrobe, and a vanity. This opens onto a small balcony overlooking the bay- the view is quite beautiful in the morning after early afternoon. The bathroom was small single space with a sink, western-style toilet, and showerhead. The feel is very much like a treehouse, but after several days we really grew to enjoy the place.
Rakumwhan: small cottages
The three Rakumwhan cottages are located just a short distance from the restaurant and beach and may be a great option for travelers who want to avoid climbing extensive sets of stairs. While cute on the outside, they can be relatively warm since they are only cooled using indoors fans (no AC). For visitors not concerned with climbing stairs, Tiger and Bird will recommend booking the air-conditioned bungalows instead.
Campground: one and two person tents on Chong Khat Beach
Camping in a tent can look like an immersive experience in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Yet, with occasional storms, persistent jungle humidity nearing 100%, and little privacy, Tiger and Bird would strongly recommend against tenting here for more than a night. Far better to book the air-conditioned bungalows!
Miscellaneous
Electricity
lectricity on the island is only available to rooms between 6pm and 6am, but after a hot, full day in the ocean and on the beaches, NOTHING is nicer than to sleep in air conditioning. For temperature, yes, but even more so to escape the 85-95% jungle humidity for a few hours. As a result, Tiger and Bird strongly recommend booking the air-conditioned bungalows if that option is available to you!
Security
The area is very, very safe. However, there are no lockboxes in the rooms to secure valuable like electronics (where do you put your $5,000 mirrorless camera when your entire party decides to go snorkeling? Or your laptop? What about cash, phones, and passports?). Tiger and Bird recommend keeping equipment low-profile and locking up valuables in whatever you have handy just in case.
Creepy crawly things
We just mentioned the island is very, very safe, did we not? This is only true regarding people. There are innumerable bugs, spiders, snakes, and monitor lizards that call Ko Surin home. In this case, we are visiting their world and we can reasonably expect to occasionally interact with them. Just remember that they are much more scared of you than you are of them!
As a creepy crawly thing example, Tiger woke up one morning facing a massive huntsman spider – bigger than my hand – sitting on the desk next to my bed. Resisting the impulse to try to kill it, I stared down the spider for some time before falling back asleep. When I awoke, the spider was gone. The spider and I repeated this morning ritual for several days before the spider just disappeared and wasn’t seen again. Then of course there was that one snake in the jungle- but we’ll save that story for another day.
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| View from Tiger and Bird’s Sinsamut air-conditioned bungalow at Chong Khat Bay. The view is much, much more beautiful when the day is not cloudy! |
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A Final Look at Accommodation Sites at Ko Surin
Depending on when you visit Ko Surin, you will be staying at either of the locations detailed below.
Chong Khat Bay Station
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| Chong Khat Beach is a beautiful place for picture taking from the morning to early afternoon hours |
Open for overnight stays from opening day in October through the end of November. This is a small, beautiful piece of land that juts out from Ko Surin Nuea island into the straight that separates the two main islands of Surin. In the morning to afternoon sunlight, the shallow and swift-moving waters in the channel sparkle and glisten across all shades of light blue and aquamarine colors. This is a popular spot for visitors and great for photography, but does not offer much in terms of relaxing on or snorkeling nearby the beach.
Mai Ngam Bay Station
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| Mai Ngam Beach. Thai woman sits on the sand while looking out over the turquoise waters of the bay |
Open for overnight stays from December through closing day in May. This is a massive, gorgeous bay protected from the disturbed waters of the open sea by coral reefs that extend just beyond the mouth of the bay. The waters are shallow and warm, glistening with various shades of aquamarine throughout the morning to afternoon hours. The sprawling 300m (1,000ft) long crescent-shaped beach is lined with mangroves and bordered in the south with mangroves that twist between rock formations into the bay itself, and in the north with steep limestone hills covered in jungle vegetation. Because of the soft, beautiful sands and gentle waters of this bay – as well as the coral reefs located just off the beach – Tiger and Bird recommend visiting between the months and December and May if you are looking for a relaxing beach vacation.
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Coming up next, a Koh Surin snorkeling odyssey and photojourney
Previous post: Koh Lipe is at true tropical paradise of the Andaman Sea with wide sand beaches, sparkling shallow waters, and beachside coral reefs!
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Upon first arrival on a damp November morning, we were stunned at the raw, natural beauty of the surroundings. The azure shallow waters around the islands glistened and sparkled, almost dancing in the brilliant rays of the hot tropical sun. The camp-like nature of Chong Khat Bay Station slowly grew on us too as we attuned to the more sabai sabai (relaxed) nature of the tropical paradise. Twice a day, morning and then again in the afternoon, we would travel by longtail boat to a new snorkeling location for another 1.5 hours in the waves. Between trips and in the evening hours we'd lounge around on the beaches and trade travel and photography tips with a number of other weeklong Thai visitors. Then as darkness fell - which seems to come early on the islands - we'd hang out wet swimsuits and equipment to dry before charging our electronics and turning in for the night. As the day for our departure approached, we found ourselves wishing that we had another week to spend on the island.
[ Quick note: Ko Surin is a very popular location for adventurous foreign visitors, and our experience came in late 2020 when international borders were still mostly closed- visits are typically limited to three nights per booking. The rangers eventually told us (well into our trip) that I was only the fourth falang - white foreign - visitor to the island since the October reopening. This quickly changed on the day of our departure when our speedboat to the mainland passed a dinghy with four middle-aged falang heading for the island from a sailboat that had just moored nearby ]
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Coming up next, a Koh Surin snorkeling odyssey and photojourney
Previous post: Koh Lipe is at true tropical paradise of the Andaman Sea with wide sand beaches, sparkling shallow waters, and beachside coral reefs!
----
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Koh Samed. Transportation, beach, and lodging recommendations for your own charming seaside getaway from the concrete jungle of Bangkok! White sand beaches? Check. Mangroves? Check. Relaxing environment? Check!
Naka Island. An extended weekend trip to the small, semi-private island just south of Phangnga Bay was idyllic, relaxing, and beautiful. Well- except for that adventure with the jetskis!
