Snorkeling at Haad Khom & Bottle Beach: Koh Phangan (Thailand)

For several weeks now, we’ve been looking to go on a boat trip for snorkeling. Unfortunately with Covid, boats rarely leave to Koh Tao, where there are several snorkeling/diving spots. While eating lunch near Chaloklum port, at the restaurant Leo Thai Food, we spot a “taxi boat” sign and it turns out the owner’s husband is a fisherman and can take us on a snorkeling tour by boat.

Part 1: Travel Journal
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Journal

Not having seen his boat before the tour, we discover it on the day. It’s a true fishing boat, with two fishing rods on the sides. When he comes to pick us up at Chaloklum at the agreed time, he doesn’t come empty-handed: 6 huge fish, 1 meter each, get off with him. He looks super happy. These fish, he caught them far away, with a rod.

Here we go for a 100% private tour. I don’t know if it shows but my skin is gorgeous since I seriously started Japanese layering. It’s only been 2 full days, but the results are already amazing. So happy!

Here’s our beach Chaloklum, which we love so much! With lots of fishermen, and more locals than expats vs. other parts of Koh Phangan. I honestly think it’s the most beautiful beach on the island.

Haad Khom

As agreed, we first stop at Haad Khom. This beach is accessible by scooter, but since we’ve chartered a boat, we might as well take advantage, because the fisherman told us we could spend as much time as we wanted. To get to this rocky part, it’s a bit sporty from the beach, so we’re still glad we went by boat and had a local show us where to snorkel.

Near the rocks, there are corals. They’re not as plentiful as at Koh Ma, where we usually snorkel, but it’s still very pretty.

I don’t know if it’s part of a giant clam or not, but we see these “lips” everywhere. When we approach the camera, they close up more.

By chance, JB witnesses a scene he calls “cafeteria”. Around 3pm, whether here or at Koh Ma, the fish all start eating corals together 😀

There, among the fish, you can spot a whole giant clam.

Visibility isn’t top-notch, but with so many fish, it’s not hard to spot them. The weather is cloudy, otherwise we’d have seen even better. We’ll come back, that’s for sure!

We continue on our way to Bottle Beach. The boat moves slowly, the engine isn’t very powerful, which allows us to observe the island well.

The fisherman shows us tiny monkeys playing on the rocks. Good thing he pointed them out because they’re really small.

Bottle Beach

Bottle Beach is accessible other than by boat, but not without physical effort: you can go all the way up the mountain on a scooter then walk down apparently (remember, we went to the viewpoint last time. From that viewpoint, we had a breathtaking view of Bottle Beach and there was a path leading down to the beach) or take a big detour by scooter, towards Thong Pan Nai… The eastern side of the island isn’t very well served, I think, every time we want to go there, we have to go through the town center, in the South. Here’s Bottle Beach!

I’ll show you again the picture of Bottle Beach seen from above.

The resort in the middle of the beach, where we hoped to find a fresh coconut, is abandoned. It makes us sad. While JB tries to cut in half an old coconut to see if he’s eligible for the show Koh Lanta, two tourists do yoga nearby. One of them asks JB if he needs a knife. And then he pulls out of his bag a machete aahhaa the kind of machete from survivor to be able to eat coconuts if we ever end up on a deserted island. Despite the pro gear, JB can’t do it (JB specifies that he tried with an old coconut found on the ground, it’s surely easier with a young coconut). Maybe he’s not yet ready to participate in Koh Lanta?

The water here is just as clear and the sand just as fine as at Chaloklum. I think the water is even more beautiful because there are fewer boats than at Chaloklum. I swim peacefully. The water is so calm.

Anyway, we might come back to experience the “end of the world” vibe once the boats leave in the evening. I think two cheap resorts on the sides are still open. By taxi boat, the one-way to Bottle Beach (alone) costs 150 baht/person.

Anyway, we had 2 really great hours! We could have stayed longer, but we’ll come back another day, for another trip (2 snorkeling spots for fun).

Part 2: Practical Tips

Ask at restaurant Leo (Google Maps link).

Our private tour cost us 1000 baht.

Planning a trip to Thailand? Our partner Get Your Guide offers entry tickets and guided tours with French-speaking guides at very reasonable rates. Click here to see what they offer and book online.