Mergui Travel Options

Sailing Cruises

Definitely the most appropriate way to visit the Mergui Archipelago is on a sailing cruise. Accomodation standards are usually good, and a cruise not only shows a big part of the archipelago, it also makes for an impressive experience of the place. Another overlooked advantage of boat cruises, is that they are mostly free of annoying insects.
Price Range: 1000 U$ – unlimited
Duration: 3 days to several weeks
Experience:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 

How to get there

Most boats leave from Kaw Thaung, guests will be picked up in Ranong and transferred straight to their boat at Kaw Thaung after clearing Thai Immigrations. Myanmar immigration procedures will be finished on the cruise vessel. After the cruise, procedures will be the same reversed, so choosing Phuket as an international fly-in, fly-out option is the most convenient entry and exit point for this kind of travel option.

Hotels

The most classic way of spending holidays, just staying in a hotel, is the most undeveloped option in the Mergui Archipelago. Although several new resorts are in the stage of planning and construction of new facilities have begun on two of the islands, there are currently only two hotels in the whole Mergui-Archipelago.

The Andaman Club

Right in front of Kaw Thaung sits the luxurious Andman Club on top of a small island. The facilities are of high quality standard and regular ferries connect the Andaman Club to Ranong on a 20 minute boat ride.
Price Range: from 60,- U$
Duration: 1 day to several weeks
Experience:  ☆ 
Myanmar Andaman Resort

Next to pool and lounge areas, the Andaman Club offers a Casino and high class cuisine. The only downside of it is the small distance from the mainland, so neither do visitors get to see the vastness of the Archipelago. Also the water quality on the small beach is, due to it’s position right at the outflow of the big Kyan river, not what one would expect from a high class tropical holiday destination.

 

Myanmar Andaman Resort

The Myanmar Andaman Resort is currently the only land-based accomodation option away from the mainland, out in the vast wilderness of this island world. McLeod Island is in the middle of the southern Mergui-Archipelago.
Price Range: from 500,- U$
Duration: 3 days to several weeks
Experience:  ☆☆☆ 
McLeod Island
Several divesites and many uninhabited islands are nearby and in reach of the hotels own longtail and speedboats. The Myanmar Andaman Resort is definetely a good option to spend some holidays on Myanmars southern islands.

How to get there

Both hotels offer boat transfers from and to Ranong, Thailand. The Andaman Club is serviced daily, The Myanmar Andaman Resort on McLeod Island offers speedboat transfers every Wednesdays and Saturdays – these are also the designated check-in and check-out days. Individual transfers to and from McLeod can be organised but are quite costly.

Diving Safaris

Scuba liveaboards were the first tourist operations in the Mergui Archipelago and date back to 1997. Travelling southern Myanmar by diving-boat from Thailand is well established and the operators, tour directors and divemasters know their way around since many years.
Price Range: 750 – 3000,- U$
Duration: 3-8 days
Experience:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 
Many operators withdrew their boats to Indonesia in the past and some newer operators market the area as “unexplored” or “nearly undiscovered” which should be taken with a grain of salt. The best dive sites of the Mergui Archipelago are all well-know and discovered decades ago. A mergui diving safari not only offers the beauty of the underwater world. The distances between the single dive-sites are quite remarkeable, and the cruising part of the safari gives a deep impression about the vastness of this place.

How to get there

Most of the diving cruises start in Thailand, mainly in Khao Lak, 40 minutes north of Phuket Airport. Khao Lak has decades of history in the diving industry, so the divecenters operating from there can be regarded as safe, experienced and well-equipped. Three budget divecenters are operating straight from Ranong and can offer a lot lower prices than their higher quality competition from Khao Lak. Leaving from Ranong saves quite some fuel, on the other hand, a diving safari from Khao Lak to Myanmar mostly includes three of the best dive-sites in Thailand, which the Ranong operators don’t offer in their schedules. People on a medium or high travel budget are definitely better off in Khao Lak. It is a true holiday destination in itself, offering miles of beach, stunning jungle covered mountains, a fully developed infrastructure and plenty of interesting accommodation across the full price range.

Ranong is a typical authentic Thai border- and harbourtown. The scene is dominated by a lively boatbuilding-, trade- and fishing-industry. The sea roars of boat engines and the next beautiful beach is miles away. One hour by speedboat away is the lovely Koh Payam, maybe the best place to spend a couple of days in this area. Ranong has plenty of hotels and guest houses to stay a night in.