Mo Ko Surin National Park covers an area of around 140km2 located 55km from the Thai mainland. It contains the Surin Islands and surrounding waters – of the total area, 80% is sea. There is a brilliant campsite on one of the islands. Our tent (sheets etc provided) was pitched on the edge of a pretty small white-sand beach and provided great views – turquoise blue sea in the day and beautiful sunsets in the evening.
The co-op run restaurant by the campsite is a great place to chill out, meet people and enjoy locally caught/grown fish and veggies. You can go snorkelling off the beach and explore the baby shark-filled mangroves. Staying at the campsite also allows you to go out snorkelling from longtail boats during the day rather than the bigger boats the day trippers use.
Mu Ko Surin National Park is fantastic for snorkelling, with pristine reefs, mangroves and crystal clear waters. We saw sharks (small and large), sea turtles and loads of beautiful reef fish, coral and plants. The park is stunningly beautiful and so far has been well protected by the government by limiting the number of day trippers and campers.

You can book trips from Khao Lak on the mainland.
www.surin-islands.com/
Google map: bit.ly/mNOu1c

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If you'd like to extend your interactions with Thai people beyond bartering with tuk-tuk drivers or ordering another Singha, I heartily recommend booking a cultural exchange trip with this sustainable development / community-based tourism organisation based in Kuraburi on the Andaman coast, two hours' drive north from Khao Lak.

I received a warm welcome from the friendly AD team, who arranged for me to stay with a Thai family in a local fishing village. I got to see and experience various activities that the villagers undertake to support themselves in a post-tsunami world, including planting mangroves, weaving palm leaf roofs, designing batik, fishing, and much more. It gave me a real insight into a very different way of life - and was plenty of fun besides.

Andaman Discoveries also arrange longer-term volunteering opportunities, teaching English at a local school, helping out at a local orphanage, or in a school for disabled children in Phuket.

Soi Nangyon, Kuraburi.
You can get an overnight bus from Bangkok, or it's a three-hour bus ride from Phuket.
www.andamandiscoveries.com

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