De Koh Samui : Koh Tao & Koh Nang Yuan Snorkeling (com Speedboat)

It was a really nice experience. To the surprise there was still the possibility to paddle. The ascent to the rock is the efforts will be. But not recommended for small children. The tour guide took us through the day. Unfortunately, not many corals are intact anymore. But there's plenty to watch over water.

This excursion normally costs 2200thb but was on promotion for 1600thb, which seemed ok. However definitely not worth the price. The speedboat was not fantastic and the sea was quite rough, so 1 1/2 hours was really long. Needless to say a lot of sea sick people, but staff were prepared with bags. We were dropped off the coast of Koh Thao for 1 hour snorkeling. The coral was nice enough but hardly any fish. The off to Koh Nangyuan and immediate lunch. The food was really not good and only water was included, and other drink had to be purchased. We then had about 2 hours to walk around and snorkel. The do called white sand was actually broken corals and you had to pay for the veac chair. We did actually see some fish here, but it was totally overcrowded. We all felt it was not worth the money as too many people everywhere and the quality of food and speed boat not good.

Over look point and beach of Koh Nang Yuan become crowded soon in the morning. This tour starts early in the morning and speed boat reaches oh Nang Yung when other boats do not arrive.

Great staff and a good speedboat trip out to the island, but it gets very crowded and take a packed lunch if possible, the food is awful. Avoid the 150TB for 20 minutes of deckchair use, leave you stuff on the boat. Most of the coral is dead but some lovely fish can be seen

It is worth paying extra to go on a speed boat for snorkeling. We arrived at Koh Nang Yuan before the hordes on slower boats arrived, and so were able to explore this small bay in relative peace. The snorkeling was disappointing with mostly bleached coral and a few fish, and by the time we left the place was severely overcrowded. However, after lunch, the snorkeling around Koh Tao was a marked contrast - two different spots, no crowds, with some magnificent coral and a wide variety of fish in crystal clear water. Our tour leader knew the best spots to see, and was a great guide. There is no point comparing with other major international dive sites. Just enjoy! All the staff were professional, friendly and helpful. A great day out.

So first you have to say the snorkeling trips were great. Unfortunately, the viewpoint was too small to accept long waiting times, the mosquitoes enjoyed our presence. Furthermore, unfortunately, the way up is in no way secured against falling down and the amount of visitors was madness.

We had a great day today and our host Thep was fantastic. It is a shame that over populated beaches has destroyed some of the Coral but our last stop at Koh Tao was amazing and reminded me of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

We visited several years ago and it was busy but a nice trip. We visited again recently and the place has been totally spoiled by the masses of tourists that they pack onto the islands. After arriving on your overcrowded boat you have to queue for food in a conveyor type system in an overcrowded canteen, then head for the very overcrowded beach where you are not allowed to lay on your towels (see sign) but must pay for a deck chair. The beach is rough coral, there's no sand, so it's painful to walk on and into the sea. They also charge you to use the shower. It is so overcrowded that it is hard to swim for more than a few yards without stopping. There are several tour companies that do boat trips there, we paid 1300 baht each but it was still a wast of a day. Avoid unless you enjoy crowds Chinese and Korean tourists.

<p>Unfortunately it rained at the start of the trip and the speedboat crossing was a bit rough travelling to the islands. At our first stop we were bundled off the boat into the rain and very slippery decking. The rain stopped and although an idyllic setting this was somewhat dampened by the shear number of tourists on a small beach. It was not posible to lay on the beach as there is a rule that forbids laying on the beach but you can have a deck chair at a price, even though your stay there is very short. The cafe on the island seemed to employ the most miserable people in Thailand. Our second stop was much better with a good lunch provided. There was time to go on the beach but again this was too short a time. The trip back was really bad, although the weather had calmed down, the boat was going flat out and crashing down in the waves, causing people on board to be physically sick, with only the crew enjoying it who also found it amusing that paying customers were being ill. Not a trip that I would recommend!!</p>

Overall, a decent experience in getting to see the viewpoint on Koh Nang Yuan (once fighting through a mass crowd of tourists that were also there) and snorkeling. Lunch was also delicious and boat ride was fine (once we were all herded on like cattle and packed together for a total of 40 people). The staff was helpful when absolutely necessary, such as organizing and assisting us getting on and off the boat. However, 2 crew members that are clearly in a relationship spent an entire hour on the boat ride out canoodling and groping each other in the middle of the boat in front of 40 paying customers which does not seem appropriate to be doing while on the job. Also, an additional crew member accused me of getting a fine on Koh Nang Yuan for bringing a plastic bottle on the island, which you are not allowed to do. She had mistaken me for an individual who was ahead of us in line which we watched get searched, but did not seem to understand when I tried to explain to her as she continued to state that I owe her 100 baht on multiple occasions, which was embarrassing, rude and untrue. At the end, they had the nerve to go around with a hat asking each individual person for tips. Again, the sites were beautiful and lunch was great with an excellent view, but I would never do a tour again with this company based on the unprofessionalism of their staff.