Cruising Thailand

We finally got out of Yacht Haven where we had had our boat projects done and cruise the Phang Nga region. This is an area of huge limestone blocks which have been uplifted to create the karst topography of the region. Over the years the limestone has been eroded and allowed the formation of“hongs”, caves often leading into lagoons. As we headed north towards the formation it was amazing to see the islands arising from the sea. Once again this is a tourist mecca where tour boats come out daily. Fortunately the topography does not lend itself to resorts so before 10am and after 3pm we had the place to ourselves. One of the most popular islands is James Bond Island, the movie The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed here and as is the case at many other film locations around the world which we have visited they have capitalised on it. It was a stunning place and we were lucky enough to be anchored nearby and explore ashore before the hoards arrived. It was great to get our kayak back in action and we kayaked around the islands under the overhangs and into caves as we came across them. They can be quite long and you kayak through with a good flashlight to find the way through often opening into a lovely lagoon surrounded by cliffs. We actually could swim in these, a welcome relief from the 30C plus temperatures. At the anchorages there was often too much current and the water was too murky for swimming—the huge jelly fish were another deterrent!! Dozens of tourist boats would come out each day and the tourists would be in pairs in a kayak which was paddled by a guide. After having been asked many times if we were on our honeymoon we found that many of the tourists were honeymooners from Korea. Upon researching we found that the “Moonies” which are based in Korea have thousands at a time participate in a mass wedding—apparently after which many participate in a mass honeymoon!!! The area is huge and we were able to find islands which were not visited by tourists and enjoyed the lovely peace. We were visited by fishermen who would sell us humungous prawns for US$20 a kilo—it seemed a little expensive but they are so friendly it was hard to drive a hard bargain. |After a week here it was time to move on and after a quick restock at Ao Chalong we headed up the west coast of Phuket. The coastline is one of beautiful white sandy beaches with resorts along the shore. They range from the most expensive fancy hotels to backpacker cabins. We went to a lovely bay which borders a national park and does not allow jet skis—the scourge of cruisers who hate creating obstacles for them to use on their race ways. Several yachts were anchored there and many seem to make it their summer holiday spot. A number of reasonably prices restaurants with excellent food and massage places are ashore. The area is a good blend of white tourists and locals and a great market is held 3 days a week—as we bought more prawns for $7 a kilo confirming our suspicion we had paid WAY TOO MUCH at the hong anchorages. The swimming is great and it was nice to find clear blue seas again. We had intended going out to the Similan Islands to snorkel—it is meant to be one of the best snorkelling areas in Thailand. After talking to fellow cruisers we realised we had been much too spoilt with snorkelling in other parts of the world so decided to forgo the trip and take advantage of the half price being offered to haul out at a new marina for haul out and redo the antifoul of our hull. Back to Ao Chalong to pick up some paint supplies—the new marina is not near anything and has no services nearby. We were shocked to find the price of antifoul here—we had purchased 8 litres before leaving NZ for US$360 and here one 2.5 litre can which we needed to finish off cost us more than US$215. There is a product which would have been cheaper but we already had the 8 litres from NZ so wanted it to be compatible. We also checked out of Thailand—no one seems to police it and as we will be entering Malaysia in 10 days it saves the trip back to do it. We are crossing to Krabi right now where we will anchor and try the snorkelling which is meant to be good?? In the morning we will go into the new marina and once again haul and do the antifoul. We will only be there for a couple of days and hope to spend the rest of our time cruising our way back to Malaysia where Kristen and family will arrive on April 2nd.