Ang Thong Marine Park

After Koh Tao, we took the ferry back to Koh Samui and relaxed for a few days on the beach.  We also took a tour of the Ang Thong Marine Park, which was created in the 1980's as a marine preserve.

We went with one of the cheaper tour companies, and once we saw the boat we realized why it was so much cheaper -- there were huge holes in the bow and side of the boat.

Our first stop was an extremely crowded snorkeling spot called Koh Wao.  There must have been 300 people in the water, and everyone was bumping into each other and kicking each other.  Too crowded!

After snorkeling, we piled back into the boat to move on to the next island.  On the way we saw some beautiful scenery, like this beach with a natural arch...

... and this island that is shaped like a monkey; his face is in profile looking off to the right.

Our next stop was Mae Koh island, where you can hike up to the top to view the lagoon in the center of the island.  This was the lagoon used in the Leonardo Di Caprio movie "The Beach".

We also had a great view of the smaller islands all around us.  There are 42 islands in all in the Ang Thong marine park.

The wind and sea have eroded many of the smaller islands into towering formations.

There weren't as many people on this stop, just a few other speedboat groups and one or two longtail boats.

In the afternoon, our boat stopped at another island where our group had the beach to ourselves.

It rained for a little while forcing people to take shelter wherever they could find it.

When the rain let up, everyone had one last dip in the water before heading back to Koh Samui.