I’m a beach girl.  And I love to sail.  Southern Thailand is all about the beauty of the sand and the water, and I was on my way to see some of the most beautiful Thai beaches and diving sites aboard the White Manta, a 120-foot motor yacht hosting 24 divers on a 5-day live-aboard tour of the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea.  Woo hoooo!!  Flew from Bangkok to Phuket, was picked up at the airport by the White Manna crew, and drove to Koh Tao to board this great vessel.  She is huge – 24 divers and a crew of 19, you never once felt crowded!  My roomie was (is!) awesome – Jo from Bath, England – we were laughing right away and sharing middle-of-the-night snacks and chats from day one.  I was the only snorkeler – this was a serious dive boat, and with 4 dives per day, no one had the energy to snorkel in between dives – so I went out everyday on my own but with one of the guys that drove the dingy to chaperone so I was never really alone.  Having snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, I have to say this wasn’t as brilliant, but I did get the biggest joy ever seeing the GIANT MANTA RAY swim just beneath me!  I just held my heart – tried not to hold my breath – as he swam so elegantly and majestically by.  Enormous!!  Wow!!  I really didn’t need to see anything after that.  Although, all my mates saw Whale Sharks and I didn’t. No complaints, loved it all.  By the way, the food was AWESOME on this boat!!  I think the best Thai I had in Thailand!!

The Similan Islands are seriously in my top 5 most gorgeous beaches ever in the world.  Pure white sand like powder, clear blue water, heaven.  We also went to Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Koh Surin, and Richelieu Rock.  And again, I saw some of the most beautiful sunsets ever.

Approaching the Similan Islands – this one is called Sail Island…watch the big rock on top.

Looks like a sail, ay? If you look closely, you can see the people who have hiked up to it – they’re teenie!

Gorgeous white beach

Huge boulders

More beautiful beaches

Great snorkeling here and very cool rock formation

Closer view of the “window” in the rock

And here we go…

No words…just the quiet lapping of the water…

OK, another beautiful day!!

And another beautiful sunset

Me & Jo!

Jo and Will from Italy – funny guy!

Ha! Roman!

My last three days were spent in Nai Harn, which is an area in southern Phuket.  Phuket is a large island, and from everything I had heard, I was NOT going to like the scene there.  But after speaking further with people, there are places that are not all built-up with high-rise hotels and loads of people, and I absolutely LOVED this area.  I stayed at The Royal Phuket Yacht Club – and no, it was not cheap, but it was wonderful.  It sits on a long curved beach that feels very much like a beach in the south of France, dotted with different colored umbrellas and people from different countries, many European.  Just a couple of photos here…

View from my terrace

Beach to the left

And now…..I’m finally…..off to ITALY!!!!