Hi Jax,

The tuk tuk fare will probably be a rip off. I know it was when we wanted a car to go from Kata to Phuket, so what I would suggest is that you hire a driver. One that we have used for the past 2 years has charged a 1000B per day and he will drive us for 8 hours. You could make a day of it and do some sight seeing or shopping and then get him to take you to Surin and wait for a few hours, he is always happy to do that. Sometimes if we know we will be gone for a few hours we ask him if he wants to go home and we'll call his mobile when we want to be picked up. I have hired a car from Patong and with a bit of haggling the fare was O.K. but I don't remember how much it cost and then once you are there you don't know how much you will be charged to return. It takes about 20 minutes from Patong to Surin. If you go to Surin take a walk up behind the beach about 2 minutes and go into the Twin Palms Resort and ask to see a room, I was impressed with them and it seemed like it was more of an adults only resort although I know from TA that children go there sometimes. The beach at Surin is so nice in comparison to Patong and not at all crowded when I was there in October, it's like a different world. There's supposed to be an excellent bar about 100 -200 metres north of Surin beach called Diver's, I'm going to check it out next time I'm there. It will be so nice to be able to give the Tuk Tuk Mafia the flick and walk everywhere.

Michelle