Bali Snorkeling

One of Thailand's best known seascapes - Khao Tupu karst stack taken from James Bond Island (Khao Ping Kan). Phang Nga Bay includes the area between northern Phuket and the Krabi coast plus a northern extension where the bay takes a decent bite into Phang Nga province . It contains some of the most spectacular landscape-seascapes in Thailand. As a matter of fact I think it is #1 - beats Phi Phi Lae and the Railay area hands down. Most people only visit one section of the bay, but the popular tourist areas are in 3 zones: The Bay's attractions fall into 3 zones - the Central, Western and Eastern Bay. Well that's how the experts split them - I'd go for NORTHERN instead of CENTRAL (image - modified Google Earth). THE CENTRAL BAY - this is the most heavily visited, with trips out of Phang Nga town concentrating on this area. A lot of daytrips out of Phuket bus people to the piers near Phang Nga town as do Krabi tour operators (although the Eastern Bay is more popular from...

Sunset from the pool bar at KOH KHO KHAO BEACH RESORT (THE KIB). Many people are looking for an island with endless attractive beaches, some nice places to stay and yet few visitors - Ko Kho Khao fits this description. The facts it requires only 10 minutes to reach from the mainland and the departure pier is around 1.5 hours from Phuket airport are bonuses. KKK is about 30km north of Khao Lak and 12 km south of Takua Pa, both on highway 44. Turn off the highway at Nam Khem village - the Nam Khem pier is another 3km away. I found this pretty good map at Go! Koh Kho Khao . Note their division of the long eastern beach is different to mine. A bigger version can be seen by clicking the link. KKK is a mid-sized island with a nice ocean beach running around 20km along the west coast before wrapping another 1km around the north-west corner. Most of the island is made up of sand deposits and so is relatively flat - however there are some hilly areas in the north-west and north-east. The latte...

Some of Bali's more attractive countryside can be found in the Sideman area. That's Agung volcano in the background. Sideman is approx 60km and 1hr45mins give or take from the airport - from Kuta will save 15-20mins I've done daytrips from the coast thru the rice terrace areas but have never had the chance to stay there. So I made a point of booking 3 nights at Lihat Sawah Homestay overlooking the valley just south of Sideman town in our August 2010 visit. Modified Google Earth image of the Sideman valley - might be worth clicking to expand - my labels are a bit small. Main road from the south on right. Others are some of the walks we did. Route 1 circuit takes around 2 hours - is a nice overview of region. A few short steep pinches but no killer climbs - otherwise easy, scenic going. Route 2 is a steep well paved path which goes directly uphill from main road. Turns into rugged uphill track past mid-slope temple just right of 2 symbol. Reaches top of saddle maybe 10 min...