Myeik

The port of Myeik provides the access to the archipelago which I think is the most valuable element from the city.
The city is situated on the coast of the Andaman Sea, just north of the Tanintharyi River.

To get to Myeik you must either come by bus or by plane. From north you’ll have the opportunity to get a minibus in Dawei, it takes 6-8 hours to drive the approximately 340 km. The road is fine in the Dawei part, but as it leaves the lowland and enters the mountains it get a bit rough and not all of it is sealed.
In late 2015 the road from Kawthong (the very south end of Myanmar) was opened and buses started to go (12-15 hours) which seems to have killed the boat service between Kawthong and Myeik.

The airport is serviced daily to both Kawthong (45 min) and Yangon.

In the city center you find a traditional Burmese marked place, with food, clothing and hardware stores.
South and south-east of the city center you find an older quarter with buildings of 3-5 stories. I can provide shadow during most of the day, and as you find some bars and hotels around it is a nice place for a slow street walk with breaks.

Kannar Road runs along the harbor and forms a promenade at the sea/river side. If you walk north you’ll end up at a small shopping center. It’s seems like a local marked has been transitioned into a shopping center.

The archipelago is the main attraction of Myeik, until recently the archipelago was off limits to the tourists. But now it’s possible to visit the islands, at least on a day visit. A single operator can provide multi day cruises in the archipelago at rather expensive rates. Day tours can be found from both well organized operators and more unofficial operators.

I bought a day trip through the agency at Grand Jade Hotel. It provided a newer boat – approximately 10 meters with twin outboard engines – lunch, water, fruit coffee, snorkeling equipment. It covered a visit at a waterfall on one island, a combined lunch and snorkeling visit to another island and a visit to the Mogden fisher village.

The beach were we had lunch and snorkeled were quit nice, pristine light colored sand, shallow and calm waters. On the beach the operator had arranged wooden platforms to relax on and chairs and tables for the lunch. Unfortunately the area has some amounts of silt on the sea bed, it makes snorkeling less interesting.
The tour cost was USD 100 per person. The boat had room for 15 passengers, we were 9 so additional space for all. Staff on board were the skipper, 3 boat assistants and a English speaking guide.

We tried to negotiate with an unofficial tour operator about approximately the same trip. But he could not guarantee that the fast boat was available the next day, so he said he might change the destination for the trip over night. And if the boat was changes snorkeling would be impossible. And so his story went on. Price should be the same as the official operator unless we could fill the boat. If the boat was filled we were offered a small discount.