"Khao Lak" a Ban Khao Lak Travel Page by Cathy&Gary

Khao Lak is part of the Khao Lak - Laem Ru National Park in Phang Nga Province and is about 1.5 hours drive from Phuket.

The area was declared a National Park in 1991 and occupies an area of about 125 kilometers. The park includes Thai Muang, Takua Pa, Kapong and the Muang districts of Phang Nga province.

The beaches from north to south are. Bang Sak, Pakarang Cape, Khuk Khak, Bang Niang, Nang Thong and Khao Lak.

Khao Lak is very popular for people who want somewhere quiet and relaxing to stay. Not far from the beaches are the plants, wildlife and plants of the National Park. There are also some lovely waterfalls in the area.

Just over an hour’s drive away is Khao Sok National Park, a magnificent preserve of rainforest. Find yourself a good map and take a drive down the back roads of this magnificent area.

Khao Lak is also a very convenient place to base yourself for trips to the world famous Similan Islands, rated as one of the worlds top ten diving destinations by scuba divers worldwide.

The roads are very good and there's a few interesting places to stop along the way like Mai Kao Beach, not far before the Sarasiri Bridges.

We stayed at the Similana Hotel for 3 nights, a fantastic place on the edge where the jungle meets the ocean; you certainly get a workout staying here, as there are lots of steps.

It was extremely quiet in Khao Lak being low season and many restaurants and shopping areas were closed, though this did not bother us at all, there was still enough places open to suit our needs.

Have to say though my first swim at the beach about 15 minutes walk north of the Similana at Khao Lak was a disaster.

Felt something painful on my foot and thought maybe a fish had bitten me, then it was big pains up the other leg and arm.
I just yelled at Angie something’s in the water, so get back to the beach.
Within seconds I had the big welts appearing, so obviously came into contact with some sort of jelly fish

Boy, did it hurt, (agony actually) of course we had no vinegar and no way was I going to let Brett & Gary do the other option of the golden shower. Yuk. So back to the hotel we went and I jumped into the pool to try and ease the pain a little bit.

It was quite painful for about 30mins and the welts lasted for a couple of days.

So that really put me off going in the water at Khao Lak in case it happened again.

When we arrived home I sent photos to Professor Peter Fenner who verified that it was a box jellyfish sting!!

We spent a day driving through the Khao Sok national park, stopped at Rainbow waterfall and had a swim; it was a perfect day as the place is beautiful.

Next day was canoeing down the Sok River, it was a scorching day and no relief at all being on the water, but still well worth doing.

Khao Lak is a beautiful place and we will definitely be going back there next trip as three days is no where near enough time to see all the attractions here..