Kawthaung
Lampi Island
Macleod Island
Nyaung Wee Island
Kau Ye Island
Dive the granite pinnacles of Black Rock and Western Rocky
Snorkel the reefs off Pilar Island
Hike the rainforest trails of Lampi Marine National Park
Visit a Moken village at Nyaung Wee Island
Explore the limestone swim-throughs of Cockscomb Island
Kawthaung
Myeik
Zadetkyi Kyun (St Matthew’s Island)
Lampi Island Marine National Park
Bo Cho Island
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December through February offers the coolest, driest conditions and the calmest seas, making it the main charter season. March and April grow progressively hotter ahead of the southwest monsoon, which arrives by May and brings heavy rain and rough seas that close the archipelago to most cruising until it eases in November. Visibility for diving and snorkelling is generally at its best earlier in the dry season.
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Most charter guests fly into Ranong, in southern Thailand, then cross the border by longtail boat to Kawthaung, Myanmar’s southernmost town, where the archipelago begins. Kawthaung has its own small airport with limited domestic connections, so the Ranong route remains the more practical option for most travellers. From Kawthaung, private yachts head directly out into the islands, some barely an hour’s cruise from the border.
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Lampi Island, protected within Myanmar’s first marine national park, offers calm water and genuine wilderness for an overnight stay. Macleod Island, home to the archipelago’s only small resort, provides a rare option for guests wanting some facilities ashore. Kawthaung itself makes a practical first or last night, close to customs and provisioning before or after heading out to the more remote islands.
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Most charters run five to eight days out of Kawthaung, enough time to reach a handful of the archipelago’s better-known islands and dive sites without rushing. Longer itineraries of ten days or more allow a push further north toward Lampi and the more remote island groups, where boat traffic all but disappears. Few guests attempt to cover the full eight hundred islands in a single trip.
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Foreign visitors need a visitor licence covering port fees and government service charges, arranged in advance by the charter operator, alongside a standard Myanmar visa available on arrival at Kawthaung for stays within the archipelago and border area. The yacht itself must also carry a Myanmar vessel licence. None of this can be arranged independently, so the paperwork is bundled into the charter cost well before departure.
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