Similan Islands Snorkeling Tour By Sea Star Andaman From Khao Lak

Che dire ragazzi… spettacolare è dir poco. Pensavamo di evitare questo tour dato che abbiamo fatto veramente la qualsiasi a Khao Lak, ma ci siamo fatti convincere all’ultimo. E per fortuna! Mai visto acqua più bella, di un azzurro inimmaginabile, i pesciolini adorabili e di tutti i tipi, e ben due tartarughe enormi :)) Avevano ragione lo snorkeling è bellissimo la e ne vale veramente la pena. La sabbia poi sembra farina, uno spettacolo che vi lascerà a bocca aperta. Inoltre la compagnia del tour è stata essenziale, ci hanno dato da mangiare in abbondanza e la guida ci faceva morire dal ridere.

***** CAUTION – DANGER OF NOT ACTUALLY DOING THE EXCURSION CONTRACTED ***** I would strongly advise against booking any trip with this company, or Seastar (their “partner”). We had a very bad experience, do not let this happen to you. The 1 star is because I cannot give 0. We contracted with click2gothailand a 1-day snorkelling trip to the Similan islands for a family of 4, what should have been the highlight of our stay in Thailand. We received emails with confirmation and payment receipt, and confirmation of hotel pick-up between 6:40 and 6:50. We got up at 6 am, were already waiting for them at 6:30; we were all excited for the trip, especially my children who had been reading about the water species that we might be able to see there. However, as nobody showed up to pick us we started calling and sending emails. They responded to emails confirming that we were in the list for pick-up and we would be picked up shortly. Unfortunately, that was not true. They never picked us, and only told us at 7:45 that they would not pick us, they simply missed us blaming a third party. With that, they basically destroyed our chances for this excursion, as we did not have more days when we could do it; had they told us earlier, we could have even driven to the pier ourselves, as we did have a rental car, and we only took the pickup service because it seems to be the only way to get a trip to these islands. Needless to say, that we were extremely upset. So upset that we demanded economical compensation, not just reversing the charge for the trip (obviously) but giving us at least the same amount as compensation. After a couple of rounds of email, they only offered as compensation 2300 baht, i.e., the price of the excursion for 1 person out of the 4. This clearly does not compensate the destroyed day and missed opportunity to visit the Similan islands, and my kids upset, but they do not seem to be able to understand the importance of providing an adequate service to customers, or at least compensate for damages to avoid reputational problems. These types of unscrupulous operators do a very poor service to Thailand being considered a great tourist destination, where tourist can feel well / fairly treated and not just as the means to make easy money.

We paid over $100 per person for this trip, so we had higher expectations for the quality of service. They picked us up from our hotel first, which is fine, but then we spent over an hour going to other hotels to pick up other customers. To us, on our vacation, it felt like a waste waking up at 0630 so we can drive around to other hotels. Second, when we arrived at the dock, we were herded like cattle to different lines. One line to pay a national park fee, one line to get a wrist band, one line to get a subpar breakfast. It was total chaos. Over two hours later, (three hours after getting picked up from our hotel), we were finally able to board the boat. Third, the boat is not comfortable or luxurious by any means. There is very little room to sit outside and you’re crammed onto a boat with 30 other people. Both my wife and I were strategizing how we could leave early. The boat guides were nice and they tried hard to provide good customer service. Finally at the end of the day, we had to wait until everyone ate dinner before the company would bring us back to our hotel. And not to our surprise, we were the final stop - meaning we went to a couple other hotels first. We spent two hours in a car, and 3 hours waiting at the dock while people ate breakfast/dinner. That’s a total of 5 hours of the day. Manage your expectations when they say this is a “full day activity”. If you are looking for any type of luxury whatsoever, do not choose this tour.