Day 8: Last Day in Phuket….Similan Islands Snorkeling!

Darn! Darn!! Drat!! It's our last day in Thailand!  Very late tonight (when I say late I mean around midnight) we'll be dragging our tired feet back on the plane to head back to Beijing.  

Can't we stay here instead???? P-L-E-A-S-E?????  (isn't that the Magic Word?)

No????

Well, at least we can have one last amazing trip while we're here.  And this one is supposed to be phenomenal.  

Why?  Where are we going??? 

Similan Islands…which is part of the Similan Islands National Park.  

(Google it….have you ever heard of a park being closed for six months out of the year????)

Awesome!

Go get some breakfast- I'm going to eat all the yummy goodies I think my tummy can handle.  How about you?

Check out the beautiful fruit carvings…wow!!! 

Meet you in the lobby in thirty minutes.  Remember your swim suit, towel, sunscreen and some extra cash.  A camera wouldn't hurt either!!!!  Something tells me we're going to see some cool stuff.  Does your camera still have battery juice??  We brought an awesome waterproof camera along but we forgot the charger!!!  Ack!!!  It's almost out of juice!

Time to hop in the van.  They said it's about an hour long drive to the boat harbor.

We just got the run-down from our snorkeling tour guide and now it's time to load up!!!

All aboard!

Time to get settled down…it's going to be an hour-long boat ride out to the islands.

First stop: "Donald Duck Rock" or…I think it's also called Sail Rock.  Wowie!!!  Check out the color of the water….

How about we head up to the rock and check out the view from above.

Our guide just asked Annika to hold up the rock so that we can all pass by….Thanks Annika!!!

Check out the view from the top!  

Two cuties…

Annika again is in charge of holding the rock up for us to pass by!

Taking a break and getting a snack before we get ready for our first snorkeling trip.

Yay!!!  Are you ready to snorkel???

Ummmmm….did you just see that?????

It's a sea turtle!!!  And he's eating a banana from one of the guides.  Oh my!  I know you couldn't do THAT in Hawaii!!!  

Next stop….another gorgeous beach!

How about a short swim before lunch?  The guides said it would take a few minutes to get the lunch put ready.

And this is one of the things that makes this particular beach unique:

Flying Foxes!!!!

(bats)

mmmmmmm….That looks like a nice lunch! I think we'd better grab a plate and eat!!! 

And of course we're back in the water!!!!

Play time!!!!!

Apparently since we're in a national park we're not allowed to take any sea shells or coral home with us.  No beach combing for us!  Darn. 

Time to head back to the hotel, cram our things into our suitcases and wait for an infuriating amount of time before our (almost) midnight flight whisks us back to Beijing.  

*sigh*

Thanks for coming along for the ride!!!  I hope you enjoyed our short but sweet journey to Phuket, Thailand.  I don't know about you but I think we'll be coming back here!!!!