Magical Koh Rok… and a turtle rescue!

Koh Rok, a picturesque gem south of Phuket, held us captivated for the duration of our stay. What began as a one-night stopover ended up being a five-night stay. The crystal clear water, with its myriad of aquatic life, so enticed us that we spent most of our time snorkelling between lazing in the hammock and barbecuing on the beach.

But first, Dwayne had to jump in and check the mooring. There was no need to dive deep into the crystal clear water as Dwayne could see to the bottom – more than 30 feet down.

Koh Rok Nok and Koh Rok Nai are part of the Koh Rok National Park. There is a ranger station on Koh Rok Nai, and during high season (November to May), people can camp in the area (the park can provide camping gear). During high season tourists can get out to Koh Rok on tourist boats for snorkelling and diving day trips (see links below), so it does get busy. However, during our time there, in August, we had the place to ourselves. We set ourselves up on Koh Rok Nok with our hammocks and beach chairs and enjoyed cooking lunch there every day.

We hadn’t researched the place before going there, so we didn’t know where the best dive spots were. However, we discovered a gorgeous reef full of life which I have since found out is called “clownfish reef”.

Click the following link to see the map of dive spots… http://www.freedom-adventures.net/local-islands/ko-rok/

Our first snorkel at ‘clownfish reef’ was around 1700 and the area was full of life. We saw a black-tip reef shark getting ready for his nocturnal hunting. ‘Clownfish reef’ is a beautiful spot of soaring boulder coral. Boulder coral is not the prettiest of coral, but it is majestic at times, and this was a magnificent reef. Some of it soared five or six metres high and had many nooks and crannies to explore.

The sea life was extraordinary. Not only did we see a shark – only our second shark since we have been snorkelling in SE Asia – but we saw a black and white banded sea snake, moray eels, titan triggerfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, pufferfish, parrotfish, wrasse and clownfish.

There were mushroom corals, large slipper corals, Christmas tree worms, various sea stars and cucumbers, clams, sea urchins and trochus snails.

We also swam and paddled our paddle boards from the beach and explored other parts of the island in our dinghy. A couple of days later, two other yachts arrived. One of them was a guy we had met when we were last in Langkawi. Roger from “Sea Fury” was sailing to Phuket in tandem with another boat. It was great to catch up with Roger, and his friends Janetta, Mike and Marie were good fun. They joined us each day on the beach for barbecue lunch.

Dwayne went to one of the fishing boats with Marie and Mike to buy some fish for the barbecue. We got a pile of fish for the equivalent of around AUD15.00.

Janetta and Marie cleaned the fish on the beach. Janetta spent a couple of hours preparing the marinade for the fish and several other delicious dishes.

The day before we left, we decided to clean the bottom of the boat. Dwayne donned his dive gear to do the deep stuff on the keel, and I was snorkelling around the top. All was good until the tide got stronger and rubbish started coming past. I’m not sure where it was coming from, but the current brought a lot of debris directly past our boat. I was snorkelling, and the rubbish piled up against me – plastic cups, bottles, bags, and logs. I had rope and nets trying to wrap themselves around my head. It was disgusting! I couldn’t stay in the water. Have a look at the following photos. They don’t show how bad it was, but you can get the idea.

The most disturbing thing of all happened later that day. As we were barbecuing our lunch on shore, a large pile of rubbish washed up on the beach. Marie went and looked through it and discovered a turtle tangled up in the nets. The poor little thing was so exhausted he appeared dead. I ran for a knife – and the camera. Dwayne managed to cut the turtle loose, and once freed from its ropey grave, it swam swiftly away. It was a shocking reminder of what the garbage in our oceans and seas can do to aquatic life. Just the day before, I had been snorkelling and collecting the rubbish from the water. Now I will also check the piles of trash on the beach for living animals. How sad that this even needs to be done.

Watch our turtle rescue… it’s short and sweet!