Firefly - Twice back to the Surin Islands

Firefly is on a National Park mooring in Ao Mae Yai Bay on Ko Surin Neua, the northern most of the 2 large Surin Islands. As we were heading north up the west coast of Thailand we spent 4 days in the very same spot and it was so good that we had to come back, although we did not expect to re visit twice.

Having had our Valentines Day lunch out at the Kong Kleng resturant, our favourite one back in Buffalo Bay on Koh Phayam, we had moved on to the south east facing bay called Ao Khao Kwai. Here we had anchored near the Phayam Lodge dive boat as we were being collected at 0630 the next morning to go diving on Richielieu rock.

Richielieu is said to be the best dive site in Thailand and at this time of year is most famous for attracting Whalesharks, the largest fish in the sea. It also hosts a lot of smaller marine life as well as having healthy hard and soft corals. Its quite a long way offshore, quite close to Surin and fairly early into the trip, Krister the Swedish skipper, told us that the conditions were not looking good. It was surprisingly windy and the relatively shallow waters were very choppy. The rock has no shelter at all and conditions need to be gentle to make diving viable. The decision was therefore made to switch to the back up plan and we diverted to Surin.

Having been preparing for Richielieu, the diving at Surin was a little disappointing, particularly as the rough sea had reduced the usually excellent visibility. However, the dive crew and other guests were a nice crowd and we had a great day irrespective. In order to get out of the wind, the second dive took place with the dive boat moored on the National Park mooring where we had already spent our first stopover at Surin, so we were quite familiar with the surroundings although things did look different 25 metres under!

The following day we finally left Koh Phayam and were hoping for a repeat of the previous day's wind. Our destination was Ko Kam Yoi about 15 miles south and after a few ups and downs, the wind did kick in and we enjoyed a fast broad reach all the way to the deserted lagoon surrounded by the Kam Islands. It is surprising that except for the fishermen, we were the only people there as it had lovely scenery, long white beaches and was close to the mainland - it therefore seemed a likely place to have developed as a tourist attraction.

Heading out due west, the 25 mile trip to back to Surin started at 0800 the next day and again the wind was somewhat changeable. Sailing on a broad reach again, flying the 'Admiral', our gennaker, we had a good spell of sailing at about 6 knots before the wind dropped away and the engine was required to keep us moving. Fortunately the wind returned for the last 10 miles and we flew straight into Ao Mae Yai at 7 knots, dropped the kite and picked up 'our' mooring.

It is really beautiful and peaceful here, the best place we have discovered in Thailand so far. From the mooring we dive in and go snorkeling right off the back of the boat. The water is such a perfect temperature that we go several times a day and as its not cold there is no rush to get out. The marine life is abundant and the coral bommies here are large and quite colourful considering that elsewhere in this region there has been significant bleaching caused by high sea temperatures back in 2010.

We had a really good session yesterday in the late afternoon. As we moved away from Firefly the notable sightings were a large Moray Eel, 2 Lionfish, 3 Scribbled Filefish and finally an Octopus. The Octopus was quite big and something we don't often see as they hunt nocturnally and if we do see them it is usually just a glimpse. In about 3 metres of water we watched this one for quite a while as he worked his way through the coral and across the patches of sand. They are amazingly flexible creatures changing shape dramatically between swimming and then stopping to blend into the nooks and crannies of the coral to hide. The skin colour changes are remarkable going from dark to light, matching the surroundings and providing incredibly good camouflage.

Today is Friday 19th February and we have not yet made a plan for when we will leave Surin. The trip to Ranong, north of Phayam to re provision never happened but we did get quite a lot of vegetables, fruit and bread from the small store on Phayam before leaving. So Firefly will start heading south in a few days, once the fresh food starts to run out. Our next destination will most likely be Ban Thap Lamu a fishing port on the mainland about half way to Phuket. Ban Thap Lamu is another point of departure for dive boats for Richielieu Rock so we may book another trip and hopefully not end up back in Surin.

Paul and Susie