Koh Rok, a little paradise island where crystal clear water, white sand beach, and plentiful shallow water corals hide.

Hi everyone! Today I will take you to an island which can be called "A little Paradise in Andaman". Koh Rok….a small island where people might overlook. Firstly, let's take a look where this island is located and how do we get there!

Koh Rok consists of 2 similar size islands which are Koh Rok Nok and Koh Rok Nai (On the map in Google Map call them Koh Rok Noi and Koh Rok Yai). These two islands are separated by a water gap only 100-meter wide. It is in Trang Province included in Mu Koh Lanta National Park and it is only 30-kilometer far from the famous Koh Lanta. The highlight here would be the plentiful shallow water corals so it is a snorkeling paradise.

We are going to Koh Rok by the speed boat operated by Love Andaman Tour Company. It takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours to get there from Phuket. The duration of the travel time depends on the wind speed and wave height.

I will skip the journey on the speed boat part because the wave is pretty high today. Some people rather to stay still in order not to get the seasick. Anyway, I would suggest those who get seasick easily to take travel sickness tablets before traveling around half an hour. I am not in a good shape either today.

After the announcement that we have arrived at Koh Rok from Music, the tour guide of this trip, my bad shape is getting better right away. I even forget how did we come here because of the beautiful surroundings..the white sand beach with totally delicate sand like flour, the crystal clear water that we can see everything underneath, the corals which are not far from the shoreline. I would be so regretful if I cancel this trip because I am afraid of the seasick. Moreover, I am lucky that Love Andaman let me try to ride on the boat made of aluminium today. This kind of boat is lighter than those common ones made of the fiberglass and is better in dealing with strong currents.

Today the water is super crystal clear and can be considered as one of the best condition in the past 3 months. There is no grey haze caused by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia either. The sky is blue. Therefore, today is just so perfect for snorkeling.

This beach is pretty private and quiet. There are not that many tourists around. In addition, there is no single private house on the island but the National Park Office where toilets and shower rooms are available. However, you are able to stay over here. The National Park Office offers a tent.

Koh Rok has a long white sand beach lying along its shoreline. Therefore, you are able to enjoy it with variety of activities including the snorkeling to discover the underwater world which is not far from the shore.

I don't know how to put it into words. It seems like we have the whole island for ourselves. Love Andaman operates only 1 trip to Koh Rok per day and no more than 3 boats in order to keep it private, be effective in management, and maintain less exploration to the nature. I would say they have done the right thing. Nowadays, numbers of organization and tour companies are very concerned about sustainable tourism and they have worked on it quite well.

We walk until almost the end of the beach and we see an island close by. At first, I thought we can walk there. It should be something like the well-known Thale Waek or Separated Sea where two island connected through the hidden beach way and we can walk on it during the low tide .

However, we don't have a chance to go there and figure it out. We need to go for lunch now and go for snorkeling right after. We have found out later from the map that it is a water gap around 100-meter wide, the one I have mentioned at the beginning. The angle of the island that we have seen earlier is just an illusion making it look like it is close by. The mark arrow point on the photo is where we stand earlier.

I shoot this photo to show you how close the corals is to the beach where I am standing. You can see the dark shadow in the water and yes, those are corals.

Lunch by Love Andaman is the way too good. Anyway, we need to do some snorkeling before lunch get started. After spending time taking photos of this and that, and here and there, the time is up. So we didn't go snorkeling but need to have some lunch first. Anyway, please keep in mind that we have to do snorkeling after lunch so eating too much won't be good.…(I am kind of feel pity though because the food are all delicious)

We are done with lunch and ready to go snorkeling. We can't wait any longer because the water level is higher up now. If the water is too high then we won't be able to see the coral clearly.

The boat take us into the ocean. It is not far from the beach where the tour guide points out how plentiful the corals are. I am very impressed with what I am seeing right now. They are truly plentiful. However, this is not where we are going to do snorkeling. We are going to do that at Koh Rok Noi or Koh Rok Nai, the island nearby.

Actually, you are able to take the long-tail boat from Koh Lanta to Koh Rok. It is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. This long-tail boat is at Koh Rok Noi where the beach is limited.

We have arrived at the snorkeling point. The boat stops and captain starts to tight the boat with buoy (please do not support those tour companies that use anchor in parking the boat). And now we are so ready to explore the underwater world.

I have changed the camera to Action Cam to be able to shoot photos underwater. I have borrowed this camera from my friend. First of all, I have to tell you that this is my very first time using it. Hence, photos I have might not be beautiful like other professional photographers. The video I have is not good either. I have forgotten to turn anti-shake mode on. It is very shaky…So let's just skip the beauty part and concentrate on how plentiful the corals are!

You can see how deep where the corals are from this photo. This spot is full of corals but not that many fish. I think it is because of the water current. That is why we can see only few big fish but not little ones.

For those professional diver, you can use the dive fin to go deep down to get the closer shot of the corals.

After spending time on this spot for a while, I have moved to the spot that is full of fish. They are many fish in different size and I can say it is the whole bunch of them around.

It is a pity that I am a beginner in diving. All photos I get are not that nice and beautiful. Others have also found some clown fish and squids.

Then it's time to go back to the boat before departing to next stop at Koh Haa. Koh Haa is located on the way back to Phuket.

Not long after, we have arrived at Koh Haa (I feel it takes less time on the way back somehow). Unfortunately, it is getting very cloudy and the wave is very strong. It is not that good for snorkeling. What a pity! The boat is shaking like crazy even it just stops still. Although we can do snorkeling, I don't think people who wait on the boat can stand the turbulence.

We have made the decision to go back right away for everybody's safety and security. I am a bit sad though as you can see that those dark shady part underwater are all corals. The corals here are deep down in the water than those at Koh Rok because this is more like floating island.

I can only keep the memory here and I have promised myself that I will be back here one day. Plus I haven't fully explored Koh Rok yet. I have heard that there is even a viewpoint too. Anyway, one day is not enough and today the weather is so good. I did the right thing. I better do snorkeling.…And this is the last photo shot of this Koh Rok tour today. Koh Rok, I will see you again for sure.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank to Love Andaman who takes me to this newly opened destination. I would like to guarantee that you will be impressed and happy with the tour. Captain, tour guide, and all staff will take a very good care of you on the entire trip.

I have asked for some travel information for you with package details. I hope it will be useful one way or another.

Lastly, I would like to thank to Thai AirAsia who has sponsored me a flight to Phuket this time. I would like to say goodbye to you all with this spectacular photo of Mu Koh Lad in Than Bok Khorani National Park, Krabi. For those who want to see or capture a photo like this, I suggest you to sit on the right side of the aircraft on the flight FD 3008 departing at 4.40 PM from Phuket back to Bangkok. If the weather is nice and the angle is right you will get it for sure.