MV Faah Yai Itineraries

These trips will visit the beautiful Mergui Archipelago and the Burma Banks in Burma (Myanmar). See schedules for exact destinations. These itineraries are published as guidelines only and are not strictly adhered to as conditions change weekly. Please see our map here to get an idea of what cities we're talking about.

As an experiment, the boat will be offering a series of four-day departures from Ranong, Thailand, to Mergui. One itinerary will be to the Western Rocky Area on the border of Thailand and Myanmar, and the other will be to the central areas of Mergui, Shark Cave Reef and North Twin. Hotel pickups are the morning of the departure date for those leaving from Phuket and an evening return. For those boarding the boat in Ranong, you must be there by 5:00 PM to clear immigration, and you will be back in Thailand in the early AM of the arrival date. For details, keep reading. Transfers from Ranong to the boat and back are free. Transfers from Phuket or Khao Lak up the coast are charged at 1,000 THB each way. This is payable upon arrival in cash.

For the other scheduled trips on Faah Yai, transfers between Phuket/ Khao Lak and Ranong are included in the price, there is no extra charge for these transfers. Pick up will be around 9:00 to 10:00 AM in Phuket in order to arrive in Ranong before immigration closes. This applies to all five-day, seven-day or 11-day trips scheduled until May of 2008. Next season's prices will be posted soon.

As of November 1, 2007, Air Asia is offering flights from Bangkok to Ranong. This will replace Phuket Air's service which was cancelled after the tsunami. The flights are three times per week and this should solve a lot of the headache which surrounded Burma-only trips. We will pick you up and return you to Ranong Airport free of charge.

All trips will be dedicated diving trips to the outer islands and the Burma Banks in the Mergui Archipelago. For these trips, the immigration/ diving fee for the four-day trips is $120US, for the five-day or seven-day, $190 US and $220 US for 10-days or longer, although this is subject to change. Please have this ready for immigration officials in US cash only please. No Burmese visa is required.

Note: We can take no responsibility for scheduling or itinerary changes due to changing weather, political situations, natural disasters or other events beyond our control. We strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance for any kind of trip you do anywhere in the world. We also recommend that you have DAN or other diving accident insurance up to date and current in case of an unanticipated evacuation or other treatment that may not be covered by your regular insurance.

Mergui Archipelago Pictures on Flickr

Download Ethan Daniels' Mergui article from Fins Magazine, Jan 2008

Note on Faah Yai's Ranong logistics:

As of November 1, 2007, Air Asia is offering flights from Bangkok to Ranong. This will replace Phuket Air's service which was cancelled after the tsunami. The flights are three times per week and this should solve a lot of the headache which surrounded Burma-only trips.

However, if you are flying into Phuket, we still provide transfers from Phuket or Khao Lak to Ranong to board Faah Yai (the exception are the new four day trips, for these trips either you get to Ranong on your own, or we charge 1,000 THB each way for transfers from Phuket or Khao Lak). If you're only here a day or two before your departure on Faah Yai, Khao Lak is a wise choice as it cuts about one and a half hours off the drive. Go here for Khao Lak Hotels.

For information on what to do in Ranong and where to stay, there are lots and lots of good guesthouses, but not many good hotels. The Royal Princess Ranong is the best value for the money if you want more of a resort hotel. The other hotels are run down and dirty. The Guesthouses are good, though, and Ranong is an interesting town. Old South Thailand for sure.

For information on the sites around Ranong, and there are many, especially the beautiful town of Fahchi and the Isthmus Kra Road to Chumpon (not to be missed), visit this site.

Please remember that even though these are trips to Burma, they do not leave from Burma; they leave from Thailand since there are virtually no services in the southern area of the Mergui Archipelago. You cannot leave from the capital of Burma, Yangon (Rangoon is the old British name). Please do not confuse these two cities even though they sound similar; you leave from Thailand not Burma.

The current political troubles in Myanmar are located in the capital, almost 2,000km away. They do not effect our operations. For maps, go here.