Disappointing trip to the Surin Islands

Our only booked trip took us to the Surin Islands. We would have loved to do more trips, but the weather didn't allow it. We had already booked a tour to Koh Kam from Germany. These islands are supposed to be less known and thus not crowded. Unfortunately, it was repeatedly postponed, so we couldn't take it in the end. We were also offered an alternative trip to the Similan Islands, but this one was also canceled due to the weather. So the trip to the Surin Islands was unfortunately the only one left for us.

At the port

We were picked up from the hotel early in the morning at around 7 o'clock. From there we went to the port in Takua Pa. It took forever to get there alone because we had to make stops and pick up people everywhere. When we arrived at the port, there was a small buffet breakfast. At first, I was shocked by the number of people there, but I didn't worry about it because we would all be distributed to different boats anyway. That's how it had been on all the other trips we had done in Thailand.

And we wait...

So one group after another set off, except us. I think we waited for a good two hours for it to finally start. If you are picked up from the hotel at 7 o'clock and it doesn't start until 10 o'clock, the trip doesn't start in a good mood. But we were happy that it finally started and were taken to our boat. There I was met with the next shock: were all these people still waiting at the port really going to fit in ONE boat?! There were probably about 50 people in the end, and they were literally squeezed onto the boat. We were constantly asked to move closer, but I wondered where else I should move without sitting on my seat neighbor's lap.

Like sardines

The boat was bursting at the seams when we finally set off. My mood was pretty low. So we were supposed to spend the whole day cramped on a speedboat? I couldn't imagine how that could turn out well. And unfortunately, I was proven right. On the way, half of the passengers, who were by the way Chinese, started vomiting. It's really fun when everything around you is puking. Excuse my language. There was also a German couple sitting across from us who complained loudly the whole time. Although I agreed with them in silence, their constant whining didn't make the already unpleasant situation any better.

Island life - or something like it

After an endlessly long horror ride, the first island came into view. There was a village that we would visit. We made our way there on our own and looked around the village a bit. However, we felt more like we were running the gauntlet here because there were children sitting in every corner trying to sell homemade things to tourists. It was somewhat strange for a village that supposedly only lives from fishing and what nature provides, in my opinion...

In any case, we walked through the village to the beach that followed. It was a bit quieter there. Just as I was enjoying my newfound freedom of movement, we had to go back on board.

Snorkeling

We set off to our first snorkeling stop. I was more apprehensive about it than really looking forward to it. Since we were sitting quite far away from the exit, we only had maybe 30 minutes left, if at all, of the 45-minute snorkeling stop until we were finally in the water. By the way, you could recognize the Chinese perfectly by their orange life jackets. We at least tried to make the most of it now that we could finally see some fish. However, we had hoped for a greater variety of species. It was said everywhere that the Surin Islands were much better for snorkeling than the Similan Islands. We had been there two years ago and found that there was much more to see on the Similan Islands. Maybe the marine creatures just didn't feel like it today? Here we noticed the only advantage that the much later departure had: all the other boats had already left, and we had the snorkeling spot to ourselves. At least something...

Unfortunately, the pictures are all a bit blurry, the underwater camera was slowly giving up. As soon as we were in the water, we had to go back on the boat, which then took us to our next destination.

A little peace

This was an island where we were supposed to have our lunch. It was served as a buffet again. And here, too, I have to say that the food matched the previous tour: the worst food we had on a tour so far. Usually, the food on our trips had been quite good. But most of it was already cold here, and the selection of rice, a bit of vegetables, and fish was not exactly outstanding. Since time was also short here, we shoveled our food so that we could spend a little more time on the beach. It was really beautiful here, and fortunately, most of the people from the boat did not come here.

Conclusion

This was the first trip where I was glad when we arrived back at the port in the evening and could finally get off the completely overcrowded boat. I had really tried to enjoy the tour in some way, but most of the day I was just annoyed. While there were maybe 30 people in one boat on all the other previous trips, there were simply 50 here! An outrage and the much money you pay for such tours simply not worth it. I was pretty annoyed how the day went and was really glad that we hadn't booked any other tours with this provider. To mention this here, I had already contacted 'Zum Straubinger Tours' in Germany. This is a former couple in Khao Lak who used to have a tour agency together, but after the separation, they each run their own business. So there are two Straubingers in Khao Lak. We booked with the Thai woman. She actually has pretty good reviews, and we didn't have a bad feeling when booking with her. But it was probably more of an issue with the provider 'Andaman Seastar' that the tour was carried out through. But you should definitely find out how the provider you are being referred to conducts their tours. At least now we know better for next time and will only book through Khao Lak Land Discovery. We had very good experiences with this agency and did great tours to Khao Sok, Phang Nga, and the Similan and Phi Phi Islands during our first stay. The trip to Surin was just terrible!