Giants of Betel Nut Island - KohMak - PUBLISHED with EZdive

Escape to Koh Mak, Thailand's hidden gem and a pristine paradise far from the crowds. This article unveils the secret underwater treasures of "Betel-Nut Island," a tranquil haven in the Gulf of Thailand known for its surprisingly vibrant coral reefs and breathtaking marine life.

Discover dive sites like Hin Gor, a deep-water landscape of giant boulders blanketed in pink coral, and encounter massive, friendly schools of fusiliers that swarm around divers. Learn how local conservation efforts over decades have preserved this aquatic Eden, making it a perfect weekend getaway for those seeking both relaxation and world-class, uncrowded diving.

Dive into the full article to explore the perfect blend of slow-paced island life, delicious Thai cuisine, and some of the most pristine reefs in Thai waters.

1. Above the waterline, a splatter of over 40 archipelago islands dot the Thai coastline near the
Cambodian border, below the waters of Koh Mak were surprisingly some of the most pristine
corals in Thai waters.
Text & Photo | Lawrence Alex Wu
檳榔島的巨人
水平線上，有如水花四濺般，超過四十座的群島一點一滴的散落在靠近柬埔寨邊界的泰國海岸線上，我們在麥島下的海底世界裏，驚豔
的遇見了泰國海域中，一處最原始純樸的珊瑚礁脈群。
Giants
K
oh Mak (Betel-nut Island) provides a peaceful getaway just
a couple of hours flight, land and speedboat ride from Bang-
kok’s rumbling tuk tuks and concrete jungle to a pearly sandy
beach laden with coconut palms in the backdrop of gently rolling
hills. The perfect tranquil weekend retreat for the family, friends and
lovers of Mother Nature.
Landing on the 3 km stretch of the main beach, Ao Kao (White
Bay), we expected a horde of hotel ushers to pounce on us like
most island getaways in Southeast Asia, but the pace and spread of
sparsely populated huts on this island is much like the splattering of
islands themselves – idyllic and tranquil. Instead, we were greeted
by our bungalow’s hefty tanned driver clad in a Hawaiian shirt, Ray
Bans and the relaxed and friendly attitude we found throughout
this rustic island.
Swiftly, Maui-man taxied us and our diving gear to our reserved
doorstep at TK Hut, complete with stereo phonics of lapping waves
and only seconds from the clean turquoise water under shady
palms of beach pine trees with few inhabitants around and even
fewer tourists.
So with lots of nothing-to-do to occupy our time, we quickly
slipped into the slow motion Time-warp that the island infuses, a
perfect refuge from our habitual nine-to-five. However, we did have
one commitment to ourselves and that was to explore the diving
off the rugged coastline. And to our surprise, the diving around this
16 square kilometer island served up an abundance of friendly fish
life (not just on a plate) and some surprisingly breathtaking coral life
to make for a great weekend dive-getaway. Taking The Plunge
“Welcome aboard the ThaiTanic!” greets Steven Holford, owner
of Koh Mak Divers, as we climb aboard our dive vessel for the day.
Sitting less than two meters under the waterline, and gently slicing
through the calm sea and light warm breeze, the ThaiTanic’s 14m
wooden hull could hardly compare with the 46,000 ton, 1-2 cm
thick steel hull vessel sunk by an iceberg. Apparently it had taken
15 years of diving and living on Koh Mak before her name revealed
itself to Steve one night amidst his slumber...perhaps he was
dreaming he was DiCaprio on location in the movie “The Beach”?
So we set course to the area’s deepest site, Hin Gor (just a
name - Gor rock), a site laden with elephant-sized cracked boulders
as though pepper sprinkled on to a 30m deep seamount by a gi-
ant’s fingers. Boulders that were covered in pastels of coral and fish,
painted on heavily by the giant’s brush.
Everywhere we turned were gardens of mixed corals with
school blossoms of busily feeding reef fish that were completely
nonchalant to divers. It seemed an underwater haven not yet
tainted by man’s presence. Then on the following dive, we were
told to watch out for the large school of fusiliers, but I felt in the
end, we misunderstood “watch out” to mean look for them instead
of “don’t get in their way”! This huge resident school at Koh Yak
(Giant Island) could probably tightly pack a double decker bus from
London like sardines in a huge tin can.
Fortunately for us, they were free to swim all around us and
even schooling directly head-on against the direction of my buddy’s
travel. It was almost as though our presence meant nothing to
of
Koh Mak
Surrounded by 50 additional small
islands, in the marine national park
Koh Mak is an ideal destination for
all travelers who desire beautiful
tropical surroundings
unspoiled by mass
tourism.
THAILAND
Koh Mak
Secret Treasures
Betel-Nut Island
top: XXX.
上圖：XXX。
Koh Mak Thailand
51EZDIVE

2. 麥島【檳榔島】提供一處遠離塵囂的寧靜處所，只需幾個鐘頭
的飛航時間，再搭乘快艇，就能從曼谷嘟嘟車的車水馬龍裡與忙錄
的水泥叢林中，進入這片以起伏連綿的山丘為背景，茂密林立著椰
子樹叢的珍珠白沙灘上。這樣完美寧靜的隱居週末假期，最適合家
人、朋友和大自然的愛好者們。
在海灘向外延伸三公里處的奧高【白色海彎】處降落，我們原本
預期會如同在大部份的東南亞島嶼一般，出現一大票的飯店人員虎
視眈眈的撲向我們，然而島上的步調與稀疏四散的小屋倒挺像是小
島本身所揮灑外放出的田園風情與恬靜安祥。與預期相反的，我們
見到的是小木屋的駕駛先生Ray Bans，一身黝黑皮膚，身著夏威夷
襯衫，熱情無比的歡迎著我們，他隨和且親切的態度，在這座質樸
小島上隨處都感受得到。
很快地，這位茂宜人駕駛的計程車載著我們及我們的潛水裝備前
往我們預訂的「TK Hut」渡假小屋。這座有著立體波濤聲的度假中
心，就佇立在海灘上那片成蔭的棕櫚樹下，距離清澈藍綠的海水不
過幾步之遙。有少數的當地居民散居於附近，但觀光客更少。
因此，有那麼多「無事可做」佔據了我們的時間，我們很快地就
融入了島上所充斥的緩慢步調氛圍裏，撫慰了我們習以為常、朝九
晚五的忙碌壓力。不過，我們還是託付給自已一個重責大任，那就
是探索潛游這片崎嶇海岸線的水下風光。而令我們驚訝的是，在這
16 平方公里大的島嶼的周圍，擁有豐碩的魚類生態（不光只是盤中
的珍饈）與嘆為觀止的驚人珊瑚礁群，使得潛游於此成為最佳的週
末潛水之旅。
冒險嘗試
「歡迎來到泰達尼號！」當我們登上我們那天的潛船時，「Koh
Mak Divers」潛水中心的老闆Steven Holford招呼著大夥兒。船身浸入
不到兩米的吃水線下，溫和的劃過平靜海面，輕柔暖和的微風除除
的吹著，「泰達尼號」14米長的木頭船身是完全無法與那艘被冰山
撞沉的 46,000 噸、1-2公分厚的鋼身船相比。它在取名為「泰達尼
號」前似乎已經在麥島以潛水為業
有十五個年頭了，而它之所以有
此命號，是因為S teve在某一晚的夢裏所浮現出的靈感.....或許他夢見
了他就是正在拍攝「海灘」外景的李奧納多狄卡皮歐吧？
於是我們將行程規劃在該區最深的地點－「Hin Gor」。它是一處
滿佈了大象尺寸般碎卵石的潛點，就好像巨人用手指在 30米深的海
底山脈上灑了胡椒粉一樣，而且這些卵石被粉色的珊瑚和魚群覆蓋
住，猶如巨人用刷子在上頭重重的塗上了顏色一般。
不論我們面向何方，到處都是各式各樣、叢叢蔟蔟盛開著的珊瑚
花園，正忙著招待完全無視於潛水客的那些珊瑚礁魚群們。這裏就
像是尚未意識到有人類存在的海底天堂。接著下一趟的潛水，我們
被告知要小心一大群烏尾冬仔的出沒，但是我到後來才知道，我們
誤解了「小心」代表的意思，應該是「尋覓牠們的蹤影」，而不是
「別礙著牠們！」。這些棲住雅克島【巨人之島】海域，數量龐大
的居民們，其緊密群聚的樣子大概就像是開自倫敦的雙層巴士裏頭
的乘客般，擠得像 罐頭裏的沙丁魚一樣水洩不通。
我們非常幸運，牠們完全自在的悠游在我們的四周，甚至朝著我
潛伴的潛游路徑正面迎上，彷彿我們的出現對牠們完全沒有影響。
潛水的行程，又繼續了幾天，每處潛點都有著友善的魚群與美好的
自然奇景，我想大自然之母創造了許許多多不同種類的珊瑚來妝點
這些礁脈，必定有祂的旨意。在「No Name」這個礁脈，我發現一
株豎琴珊瑚恰如其名的搖曳吟唱著。大部份我見過的豎琴珊瑚，大
約都是半米高寬，並且是從一個莖幹延長出數支分岐的支芽；不
過，在我面前的可是超過一米高寬的豎琴珊瑚支幹，這些支幹全來
自於同一個莖幹，而且這些支幹竟然有五支之多！連我的相機都在
抱怨它一次只能容得下兩支入鏡。顯然有人在這片海域中，灑下了
神奇的精靈魔粉。
在和當地的漁業訓練所官員打探一番後，我得知近十年來，他
們每一年都免費在暹邏灣的所有沿岸地區教導當地的漁民與浮潛業
者，有關海濱觀光的益處與適當的捕魚訓練。
top: Giant
Island's r esident school of fusiliers go about their business amidst the coral r eef.
上圖：XXX。
52 Dream it. Plan it. Dive it 53EZDIVE
Koh Mak Thailand

3. them. And so the diving continued for a couple days with each site yielding friendly
schools of fish and surprisingly pristine examples of what must have been Mother
Nature’s intentions when she created the different species of coral that make up
a reef. At “No Name” reef, I discovered a harp coral which sang true to its name.
Most harp corals I’ve seen, stretch to about half a meter wide and tall with a couple
of branches from one rooted stem, but before me stood arms that stood over a me-
ter tall and wide from a stem that sprouted FIVE arms! Even my camera complained
that it could only fit two arms in one frame. Someone had obviously sprinkled fairy
dust over these waters.
After inquiring with a local fisheries training officer, I learned that every year for
the last 10 years, they have been teaching, for free, the local fishermen and snorkel
operations all along the this Gulf of Thailand coast the benefits of seaside tourism
and proper fishing practices.
Methods such as trawling had long been abolished and replaced by hook and
line and safer fishing nets. Mooring buoys were installed and used to avoid anchor
damage to reefs and bigger fishing vessels were all banned by law and regularly
patrolled by coastal police within a 3km radius from the shorelines. And among the
archipelago which Koh Mak belongs, a marine protected park was established in
1982. Surely, these were the saviors of the sea life here.
Getting Grounded Again
Back on land, we had a variety of options as well as Thai food to satisfy our
dive induced appetites like homemade ice cream, locally baked sourdough, pizzas,
schnitzels, bratwursts with the local sustainable seafood – not just a catch phrase
拖網那樣的捕魚方式已經廢止一陣子，取而代之的則是以魚鉤
和魚線或更安全的漁網捕捉；繫泊浮標被設置來避免下錨時對礁脈
的傷害；所有大型的捕漁船都依法禁止進入；海岸線的半徑三公里
處，還會有海岸警察定期的巡視；而麥島所屬的群島間，已於1982
年成立了一座海洋保育公園。無疑地，這些措施就是此處海洋生物
的救星。
再次回到陸地
回到陸地上，有種種的選擇能夠滿足我們因潛水而大開的胃口，
像是自製的冰淇淋、當地烘烤的發酵麵包、比薩、炸小牛肉片、德
國香腸搭配當地有一定水準的海鮮－這可不是隨便說說而已－還有
我們首選的烤肉。三個燒烤去殼扇貝花了我們一美元，完美的滿足
了挑剔的食慾，而在佈滿星空下的露天「F ood Garden Restaurant」餐
廳用餐，最適合為當天的潛遊作個重點回顧，並且聊聊如何安排「
無事可做」的日子。
經歷幾天自我放縱的島嶼生活，享盡了放鬆與休憩之後，我
們經
由最近的城鎮德樂府回到了泰國本土。德樂府的交通路線可以抵達
所有主要的城市，還包括了柬埔寨，不過它可不僅僅是一處轉乘過
境的城鎮。以前，它以色澤清透鮮紅的紅寶石而聞名全球，現在則
自豪於擁有一些泰國最美味的水果，例如紅毛丹、芒果、鳳梨、椰
子、山竹果以及水果之王－榴槤。當我們無意中發現，匯聚了許多
泰式佳餚的小吃夜市就在市中心，那真是我們的大好機會。那些令
人垂涎的小吃中，包括了最美味多汁但不適合怕辣美食者的「Yam
Po Dong 」【醃漬蟹肉沙拉】。一趟下來，我算是嚐遍全泰國的美食
了。
這趟短期旅行我們備受寵溺，這座迷你小島以它獨特的風情深深
擄獲了我們的心房與腸胃。魚群們描繪的風景牢牢刻劃在我們的心
上，原始珊瑚花園的景致、溫暖輕鬆的氣氛與自在的潛游，我們將
再次夢見這座海裏的巨人，並且計劃再度登上「泰達尼號」，重遊
這個我們最新發現的潛水聖殿－麥島。
交通
從德樂府搭乘小巴士前往鎮外有行駛到麥島船舶的碼頭，或是事先
與你在麥島上的飯店聯繫安排。曼谷有飛往德樂府的直航班機，請
查詢網址：http://www.bangkokair.com/。另外還有各種巴士從曼谷的
北站和伊卡邁的巴士站出車前往麥島，大約一個鐘頭一班。
潛水的最佳時機
水中能見度最好（有40米深）的時間為一月至三月。
簽證
大部份國家的旅客可都在抵達後辦裡30天的簽證，除非你越過邊境
經陸路入境，取得的則是15天的簽證。從泰國大使館或領事館辦理
的60天旅遊簽證只有在泰國境外才能取得。
電力
電力規格為220/ 240V，50Hz。插座則是適用於T ype A、 B或 C的兩腳
或三腳插頭。
醫衛
島上有些區域可能有白蛉。而島上有間小診所。
語言
當地人都說泰語，從事旅遊業的人則能說一些英語。
貨幣
泰銖。
潛水業者
TK Hut渡假小屋
www.kohmakdivers.com
http://k ohmak.com
top: Pristine table coral safely pr otected by mooring buoys instead of
crushing anchors.
上圖：XXX。
AD
Koh Mak
Thailand
AnDAMAN
SEA CAMBODIA
Bangkok
Ko Chang
54 Dream it. Plan it. Dive it

4. here - and meat BBQ on the top of our list. The grilled shelled scal-
lops which set us back a dollar (USD) for three worked perfectly for
appetite teasers, and dining under the stars at the open air Food
Garden Restaurant was the perfect setting to recap the day’s diving
and how to manage our state of nothing-to-do.
Relaxed and rested after a few days of pamper-ourselves island
life, we returned back to the mainland via the nearest town, Trat.
From here, transportation routes to all your major cities, includ-
ing Cambodia, are covered but it’s more than just a transit town.
Previously famous for world class rubies in clarity and redness, it
now also boasts claim to some of Thailand’s tastiest fruits such as
the rambutan, mango, pineapple, coconut, mangosteen and the
king of fruits – the durian. Our timing couldn’t have been better as
we stumbled onto the evening food market stockpiled with Thai
delicacies in the center of town, including the most succulent but
not for the chilli-shy gourmand, Yam Po Dong (pickled crab salad)
I’d tasted in all of Thailand.
Well spoilt with our little excursion, this tiny island had made
its way into our hearts and our bellies. With canvases of fish
painted into our minds, gardens of pristine corals, warm relaxed
atmosphere and diving, we will dream again of giants in the seas
and plan to step back onboard the ThaiTanic to revisit our new
found sanctuary, Koh Mak.
Getting There
From Trat, catch a mini bus to the out of town pier for the island or organ-
ize it with your resort on the island beforehand. Direct flights to Trat from
Bangkok are available through http://www.bangkokair.com/ with various
buses running almost hourly from Bangkok’s Mo Chit Song and Ekkamai
bus stations.
When To Go
The best time for visibility underwater (as high as 40 meters) is from January – March.
Visas
Most nationalities receive 30 days on arrival without a visa unless cross-
ing the border by land which gets you 15 days. 60 day tourist visas from Thai Embassies or Consulates are only available outside Thailand.
Electricity
220/240 V, 50HZ is the standard. Plugs are two or three pin of Type A, B or C.
Health
Some area of the island may have sand flies. There’s a small clinic on the island.
Language
The locals all speak Thai and those working with tourists some English.
Currency
Thai Baht.
Dive Operator
TK Hut Resort www.kohmakdivers.com.
http://kohmak.com
A sand field of whip coral meet a head of
staghorn coral, a home to schools of fish.,, ,,
XXX。
AD