Sea Caves by Canoe!

It was later determined that this was by far our favorite day of the time spent in Phuket! Maybe even the entire trip! Today we were going to be taking a ferry ride and canoes to some of the many islands of Thailand!
We were picked up at 7:30am from the hotel. This was a struggle for my family as you can imagine! And it didn’t help that it was over an hour van ride to the ferry, which left from the east coast of the island!
We boarded the ferry and took off around 9:30. This company specializes in sea cave and island exploration using “Tour-Guided paddle sea canoes” as the on-site mode of transportation! We were going to be touring the Phang Nga Bay which is to the north of Phuket. Wow – what a gorgeous ride! Now this is what I had pictured when we spoke of Thailand. The bay was dotted with hundreds of islands poking out of the water. Most are uninhabited and don’t even have any beachfront.

Our first stop was Lawa Island. Our guides rowed us in on the canoes and we enjoyed a half hour lying on the beach! The sand was very soft. Many of these islands are formed from limestone so the formations are very interesting.

Then it was back to the ferry and a shortride to Ping Gan Island, better known as “James Bond Island “! Apparently scenes form “The Man With the Golden Gun” were shot here! Again we canoed to the island. In contrast to Lawa island, this island was very rugged with not much beach front. We climbed over rocks – and other tourists – to join the masses taking pictures of James Bond Island! This Island was a very narrow rock formation that shot up from the water – maybe 30 ft wide at the base. No beach area at this island. ( See photos below). I must say the scenery was spectacular – blue sky, greenery and jagged limestone rock formations all around.

I think our next stop was my favorite – Koh Hong Island, which means Hall Island. The center lagoon is almost completely surrounded by limestone cliffs reaching for the sky, creating a “concert hall” – hence the name! But I’m spoiling the surprise! We boarded our 3 man canoes again – I was starting to enjoy our own private canoe with personal tour guide! Elise & I went on one, while Leon & Sara on another! They took us towards these huge cliffs and as we got close I could see that there were tunnels through the rocks! We entered a tunnel whose ceiling was so low that we had to lay flat on the canoe! Oh but it was worth it at the end! The tunnel opened up to a spectacular bay! I swung around taking pictures everywhere! The sky cleared and the blue against the green of the cliffs and the brightly colored canoes was picture perfect! I could have just hung around there for the afternoon! But it was back to the ferry for lunch!

     
When we returned to the ferry, the long table had been set with wonderful traditional Thai food! Chicken, fish, noodles, rice and veggies! I don’t know what it is about the spices they use, everything is always so flavorful! As we enjoyed our lunch we chatted with the other guests and met a family who was originally from Detroit, Michigan but was now living in Seoul, South Korea! They had 3 boys about the same age as our girls! It was fun talking ex-pat life with another American family!

After lunch it was off to another island via canoe! This was only accessible via a 15meter long tunnel! Which as before was so low that we had to lay flat on our backs for the entire journey! It was rather dark inside and quite narrow and I must admit that I got a bit chlostrophobic for a little! But once again the end was worth it! This lagoon was very different than the previous trip. Here we entered a lagoon filled with tress growing right out of the water! They reminded me of mangroves that I had seen in The Everglades! And it was totally surrounded by cliffs. Unfortunately there were quite a few other canoe companies visiting and it was very busy, so the atmosphere wasn’t the same! But it was interesting to see.

   
The ride back to the dock was very relaxing and once again we were treated to the beautiful scenery that identifies this part of Thailand – the hundreds of towering islands. It had been a very long day as we didn’t return back to the hotel until 6pm – but we agreed it was a really fun day!

For dinner that night we decided to venture out of the hotel and try a local restaurant. The Main Street is not far form the hotel and what an experience! We arrived at The Red Onion and the reputation preceded it as there was a line of over 10 people waiting! But we enjoyed the wait time because as we sat outside we could take in the sights! Restaurants everywhere, people walking in the street trying to avoid the crazy drivers, holiday decorations, and music playing! A really exciting atmosphere. We finally were seated and it was well worth the wait! I wish we could take a Thai chef and bring them back to Melbourne! The food here is amazing! And the best part was that it was only $35 for all 4 of us! And that included beer & soda!!! No more hotel meals for us! We decided to walk back to the hotel to embrace the atmosphere. We were treated to pre Christmas fireworks as we walked along the sidewalk.
This was later unanimously voted the best day of the entire trip by the family!