this was my third time going on this sea cave canoe trip. the first was in 2000 when i was attached to Banyan Tree Phuket. i went alone on a special discount as i was hotel staff and in guest relations no less. and i remembered that i had a fabulous time, even though i was alone as the trip was fun and the guides were so friendly and showered me with so much attention.
i returned again with my parents and sister in 2003. and i urged them to go for the trip as i thought it was such a good way to experience the beautiful limestone formations at koh phang nga.
have you ever seen a monkey swim?
we didn't sign up for the trip when we were on our honeymoon as we had just 3 days on phuket island and decided to go deep sea fishing instead. when hubby said he was leaving the fishing rods behind for this trip, i signed us up for sea cave canoeing with the original sea cave canoe operator.
i had a lovely time exploring the little caverns and the lagoons within the limestone formation. It's not just about enjoying nature, as the experience of being canoed into the squeezy, dark and narrow lanes into the lagoons which only appears when the tide is low. But the tide can't get too low as then, there is no water in the lagoon, and its all mush in there. In fact, 6 months ago, a group were stuck in the lagoons for 3-4 hours as they estimated the tide times wrongly, and were aghast when the tide rose faster than they had expected.
hubby exploring the mangrove cave. the tide was going out, and this part of the lagoon's bottom was not too squishy. the guides know exactly where u can or cannot walk. we def paid attention!
After exploring 3 caves, we stopped off at Koh Raya for a leisurely swim. It was such a nice little remote island and a much better option than James Bond island (nothing to see there but trash- believe me!)
beautiful, isolated koh raya
Just as i remembered, the food was amazing, the service was so friendly and personal. If you do swing by phuket, do check out
www.seacavecanoe.com . Be sure to go to them and not other operators- they're the original and the best in my opinion!
