Singapore to Koh Samui

[LLoyd Burgess]

Hello everyone.
Nice to meet you all. I am planning to sail from Singapore up to Thailand on the 28 th of April. Would appreciate any advice and maybe a few anchorages. Also where is the best place to clear out from. Was thinking of somewhere close to the border......maybe, Kota Bahru.Which is just south of the coastal town of Tumpat.

Cheers Lloyd

[atoll]

leaving Singapore you do the final checkout just east of the airport,where they will ask you to anchor and wait for the border control vessel.

transiting the straits is best done during daylight due to the many ships anchored,you can stay quite close inshore on the northen side,out of the shipping lanes.

tioman is a nice first stop,where you can anchor out or go in the marina if there is space,malaysian check in can be done there.

on the way north some great anchorages off of the other islands on the coast.

watch out for debris and floating plastic off the islands as the tide tends to congregate it in the wind shadow.

at night there are thousands of squid boats all along the coast with bright gas lights,and hard to tell how far away they are,so caution nessacary.

kuala Terengganu has a new marina on the north side where fuel is available,and you can check out from.

along the sea border with Thailand it is a good idea to pass during daylight,as you will find many bamboo rafts anchored demarking the border and they are big enough to cause serious damage to a yacht.

in koh samui you can check in at the port in Na Thon,anchorage outside is okay,but stay clear of the ferries.
with permission you can go alongside if you need fuel and water.
a daylight approach to the island is also advised,as currents run fast and lots of fish trap bouys,and narrow channels.

have fun,but keep an eye on the weather if the monsoon is changing,which can bring strong winds from the opposite quadrant and put you on a lee shore if at anchor.

[LLoyd Burgess]

Thanks ^.

I should have posted from Malaysia to Samui...the boat is up in Puteri Marina atm. Not Singapore. So won't be clearing out of SNG just passing it by. Will only need to clear out up the top somewhere. Clearing out in Terengganu sounds like the go. Plan on pulling the boat out for a anti foul makeover anyway.
I think you can clear out there as long as you in form the custom/immgration guys know you plan to stop only on the islands and leave.

Then after the islands and navigating the bamboo wall,a straight run up to Kho Samui and clear in there.
Wasn't keen on clearing out in a large port...up a shallow river in Malaysia,but didn't know about clearing and then still allowed to hang around the islands on the way thing.
Yesssss....squid boats! played that game also...didn't rate it.
That's for the other info on Samui.
What's the anchoring like around the islands? Looks nice and shallow compared to Indo.

[atoll]

best get a copy of one of these or both,i find the imray guide has better anchorage plans

Southeast Asia Pilot - the definitive cruising guide for the Andaman Sea...and more

https://www.imray.com/Publications/I...ed+Sea/IB0022/

[atoll]

here are a few photos I took,i was on a delivery so didn't get to stop for any length of time on the way apart from Singapore,tioman,samui and pattaya.

the port Na Thon in samui

note the bamboo raftsl,you would not want to hit that in the dark!

[atoll]

hopefully got a picture of one of the rafts here!

and landfall samui

[atoll]

found them!

these rafts stretch for about a 10 mile band along the thai,malay border, for many miles offshore!

[nhschneider]

We sailed from Singapore to Port Dixon and enjoyed our stay at the Admiral Marina, though they have few facilities for yachts other than First World docks. The rest of our passage north was marred by frequent, intense squalls and very heavy fishing boat traffic who know nothing of the rules of the road - they have right-of-way and you don't, even if they're not fishing. We had many friends in cruising boats who anchored at night but they, too, had problems with fishing boats setting drift nets up-current from them and either telling them to get out of the way or letting the net get fouled on the yacht and demanding hundreds of dollars for the damage caused to the nets. It took one of our friends two days to extricate themselves from the net (he could only work on it during the daylight at slack water) and cost them £400.

We know of several cruisers who transited the Mallaca Straits several times without incident but for us it was one of our least favorite passages. We hope your passage is fun and uneventful.

Good luck, fair winds and calm seas.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

We sailed from Singapore to Port Dixon and enjoyed our stay at the Admiral Marina, though they have few facilities for yachts other than First World docks. The rest of our passage north was marred by frequent, intense squalls and very heavy fishing boat traffic who know nothing of the rules of the road - they have right-of-way and you don't, even if they're not fishing. We had many friends in cruising boats who anchored at night but they, too, had problems with fishing boats setting drift nets up-current from them and either telling them to get out of the way or letting the net get fouled on the yacht and demanding hundreds of dollars for the damage caused to the nets. It took one of our friends two days to extricate themselves from the net (he could only work on it during the daylight at slack water) and cost them £400.

We know of several cruisers who transited the Mallaca Straits several times without incident but for us it was one of our least favorite passages. We hope your passage is fun and uneventful.

Good luck, fair winds and calm seas.

I found the situation with fishing boats to be completely different on the south china sea side to the indian ocean side that you traversed.

up the east coast there were only squid boats, squid jigging,very well lit and mostly anchored at night,we only found netters further north in the gulf of Thailand as we closed with pattaya.

[LLoyd Burgess]

Originally Posted by atoll

I found the situation with fishing boats to be completely different on the south china sea side to the indian ocean side that you traversed.

up the east coast there were only squid boats, squid jigging,very well lit and mostly anchored at night,we only found netters further north in the gulf of Thailand as we closed with pattaya.

Nice to hear that the fishing effort is not as intense on the east coast of Malaysia/Thailand. I can cope with the squid boats, as you say they mainly work at night....and you can see them.
Great pics btw the floating border rafts are gold! Even have flags on them...things are looking up! Ha ha.
Pretty sure I have one hard copy of one of those cruising guides on board. Had a suss on the net for the other one. No joy as yet. Might be able to score one at the marina in Puteri or somewhere close in Malaysia. I do like to have all available info when attaching myself to the bottom in a foreign land

What was the Tioman Island like... Did you stop at Redang and the Perithians?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by LLoyd Burgess

Nice to hear that the fishing effort is not as intense on the east coast of Malaysia/Thailand. I can cope with the squid boats,as you say they mainly work at night....and you can see them.
Great pics btw the floating border rafts are gold! Even have flags on them...things are looking up! Ha ha.
Pretty sure I have on hard copy of one of those cruising guides on board. Had a suss on the net for the other one. No joy as yet. Might be able to score one at the marina in Puteri or somewhere close in Maysia. I do like to have all available info when attaching myself to the bottom in a foreign land

What was the Tioman Island like... Did you stop at Redang and the Perithians?

tioman was pretty spectacular,high jungle and mountains with a nice village,a few restaurants,shops and a supermarket with the basics,fuel available in quantity but in containers from the fuel depot,the guy has a trailer behind his motor bike to transport it

thousands of squid boats out there,but as they are mostly not underway no problems passing them if you keep a good watch.

we were in a bit of a hurry as crew had flights so were unable to stop at redang but sailed close by,looked fantastic......like in the king kong movie!

[daletournier]

Hi, Just my 2 cents worth. Tioman is very nice, clear water and jungle. Anchoring out the front can be deep and decent squalls can come through putting you on a lee shore. Also be aware there is dengue on the island, or was in 2014, I contracted it there .
Cheers Dale .

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[daletournier]

Also, Tioman dosen't have to be a first stop. Once around Singapore you can stop at a number of little islands along the way. The fishing traffic in my opnion isn't an issue compared to the Malacca straits.

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[s/v Jedi]

My brother owns and runs a beach resort on Koh Samui, go look him up and say hi for me

It's here: Secret Garden Beach Resort, Restaurant and Beach Bar in Koh Samui, Thailand

Dutch food, live music every weekend

[monus]

try this one;www.sailmalaysia.net/sail-malaysia-cruising-guide.html
Go to the part langkawi-tawau there you will find up to Kuala Tengganu anchor places etc.