The countries represented on the boat included the following: Finland, Sweden, UK, Chile, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, India, and USA. So for the tour we visited the following islands: Panak, Hong, Khao Tapu, Tham lod, Panyee. The first island was 35 minutes where we stopped to view natural caves carved by the sea. At one point our entire speed boat was inside the cave.
tide. Also it requires lying down in the kayak to get through the opennings. Very Cool.
Hong Island was really nice and had a cave, a quiet bay (which we made not quiet). We carved an arc into and out of this bay, and I hope we did not piss-off the kayakers in the water. Next we left for Tham Lod for our kayaking. Sea kayaking is excellent and when the scenery is truly amazing, well it’s just perfect. The kayak outfitter operates from a big barge (the ‘mother ship’). Once we were in the kayak we began the tour of caves starting with a large natural cave, so large that even long-tails can transit the cave. It opens from the bay into the sea almost like a tunnel. There are huge mineral formations and as you enter by kayak cool the air is a nice relief. They are dozens of smaller caves that link together a network of quiet pools lit by filtered sunlight. In one of the larger pools was grove of mango’s (my favorite).To pass through the caves, it must be done at low
After the kayaking we returned to the
‘mother ship’ for fruit and drinks and reboarding the speedboat for Panyee Island. Here we took lunch at a restaurant on stilts over the water in the bay. Lunch was a set menu of spicy soup, rice, stir fry vegtables, prawns, and curry chicken. After lunch we left for Khao Ping Kan and Khao Tapu (James Bond Island). This stop was really nice because there were caves, beach and James Bond Island which is very narrow at the base and large at the top. It looks at risk of toppling into the sea. The last top was Naka Island where we swam and chilled on a very private beach.