OTHER SITES
Koh Rok
          Koh Rok is actually a twin island: Koh Rok Nok and Koh Rok Nai. You can reach Koh Rok by speedboat or traditional long-tail boat. Koh Rok is in Mu Ko Lanta National Park’s jurisdiction but is also part of Trang’s. The distance between the two islands is a few hundred meters intermingled by the water channel. The beaches of Koh Rok Nok and Koh Rok Nai face each other. The beach at Koh Rok Nok is pretty and powdery white beach and is perfect for swimming, sunbathing and snorkeling. Behind the island lies a bay that bears a rocky beach. Surrounding the area is a large Banyan tree, tropical rain forests and mangroves. Koh Rok Nai is located east of Koh Rok Nok and features a pristine beach. The attractions of Koh Rok Nai are stunning coral reefs. Diving is possible but it’s shallow. The visibility is always clear and it’s possible to see 30 meters down.

The Four Islands Tour (Koh Ngai, Koh Muk, Koh Chuek and Koh Kradan)
          The Four Islands tour is a popular activity for island hoppers as it visits the most beautiful islands you can imagine. Although these four islands belong to Trang’s jurisdiction (under the close watch of Mu Ko Lanta National Park), people who come to Koh Lanta also take the opportunity to visit them as part of a one-day trip if they cannot stay on Koh Ngai longer (Koh Ngai also has a few resorts to offer). The feeling of a place totally remote and the crystal blue water is the best selling point. At Koh Muk, you can also choose to stay here as there are a few bungalows and resorts but if it’s only for the tour, you must see The Emerald Cave that has an exquisite lagoon inside. The exciting part is that the lagoon can only be reached by swimming down a tunnel underneath the rocks that leads to an isolated area with limestone cliffs. Koh Chuek and Koh Kradan have the most beautiful coral reefs and a variety of species underwater. The depths here are about 20 to 25 meters.
If now you’re beginning to feel it. This is how it goes like: a diving trip starts about 8am. You take a boat trip with a mixture of beginners and experienced divers. The dive master will put people into groups who have the same experience so people can have the perfect dive. Your diver companion may range from 10 to 60 years old. Although there may be snorkellers who are over 70 years-old. You will get the chance to do two dives per day. For instance, it takes one hour to reach Koh Haa. Then you dive for one hour and the snorkellers meanwhile can snorkel. The lunch break is about one and a half hours so you can eat and relax. There is water, soft drinks and fruits on the boat. Then the boat moves on to another place nearby for another dive that lasts one hour. Then you arrive back to Koh Lanta around 2.30pm.

          The beginners are likely to be diving around Koh Haa as the dive masters will not take them to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang if they’ve just been certified, as the water is quite deep and there can be strong current in the middle of the ocean. Safety is the priority and all dive instructors and dive masters are medically trained to help you at all times.

          But to get more satisfaction, you need to be able to go deeper so you need to get certified. This is how it goes. There are two ways to get certified. If you’ve never dived before there are different ways that you can get introduced to diving. The ‘Discover Scuba Diving’ course at Narima Diving is one day out on the boat and the previous day is one to two hours. You spend half an hour watching video, one hour in the swimming pool (or as long as you want—think a week), you learn the basics and then you go out on the boat and you do two dives in very shallow water, maximum depth is 12 meters. Afterwards you get a certificate that says you’ve completed this and you can count it towards the ‘Open Water’ course which is a certification course that will give you a license to dive.

         The Open Water course is four days of training. You’ll learn about the safety aspects of diving, your body and you’ll learn about the decompression sickness which is not a problem if you learn properly. You will also learn skills in the swimming pool, there are 18 skills to learn. If you can’t achieve one of these skills, then you’ll have to do it again and again. The first two dives for the Open Water course are a maximum 12 meters and the next day you’ll do two more dives at the maximum depth of 18 meters. Once you’ve completed all the theories and taken the examination, which is not difficult, you will get your certification and have a license to dive anywhere in the world.

          After that, if you’ve fallen in love with the underwater world and Koh Lanta for that matter, you can become a dive master professional by taking lessons here. But that is another story.

         Try other dive centers such as Go Dive, Ko Lanta Diving Center and Lanta Diver.