Things to do in Khao Lak

The islands, the rainforest, diving, the beaches and an old tin-mining town, and most of it splits by season. The Similan and Surin islands are the headline trips, leaving from Thap Lamu and Kuraburi piers while the marine parks are open, roughly 15 October to 15 May. Diving follows the same window, with liveaboards running to the Similans, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock. Inland and year-round: Khao Sok and Cheow Lan Lake, two hours away and indifferent to the sea state, the elephant sanctuaries, and Khao Lak–Lam Ru National Park at the south end of the strip, with a coastal trail to Lek Beach and Ton Chong Fa waterfall. Takua Pa’s old town, half an hour north, has tin-era shophouses, Chinese shrines and a walking street on Sunday evenings. Day tours also go to Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island, and by speedboat to Phi Phi and Maya Bay, and half-day Thai cooking classes run all year. The coast itself is 25 km of separate beaches.

Khao Sok and Cheow Lan Lake, the elephant sanctuaries, Khao Lak–Lam Ru National Park, which is on land and not one of the marine parks, and Takua Pa’s old town — all run through the monsoon. Khao Sok is rainforest two hours inland, so the sea state does not affect it, and the wet season is the green season there. The Similan and Surin islands, and the diving that goes with them, are shut roughly 15 May to 15 October.