Kayaking Ko Mak

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I spent two days kayaking around Ko Mak (Koh Maak). Total of about 7 hours in the kayak. Most of the island is flat with sand beach, wooded rocky shoreline or mangrove. The western end is steep cliffs with a few small pocket beaches but this was only an hour or so. Winds were out of the north to west both days and were strong enough to be a consideration when route planning. The south side of the island was flat seas although due to the irregular shape of the island there were some areas where the wind was in my face and the water was a bit bouncy. The west side was rough. Most of the north was a little bouncy but the nearby islands and irregular shape of Ko Mak keeps the fetch low so it was all quite doable. Today the winds are strong enough I would not want to be on the water, and the locals say that this happens in January - December is perhaps a bit better for big kayak trips.

I saw very little live coral, but I stayed close to shore. There is a big shallow bay in the north with a sand bottom looked perfect for 'coral bomies' but sadly only remnants, all dead. The dead finger coral washed up on the beach was quite old. Snorkeling all the dead coral looked long dead with algae growth and very little coral regrowth.

The resorts are clustered on the long sand beaches on the southwest and the northwest. Other resorts are encountered occasionally as are occasional Thai houses. In the east there are long areas with no visible buildings/development although most of the vegetation looks human-affected. I think it would be possible to just pull up on the narrow beach, string a hammock and spend a night but I didn't try it. Pitching a tent would be difficult in most areas as the vegetation is quite thick. I may try this on Ko Kood, maybe next year, starting at the north and heading south.

I used my own inflatable kayak, a Sunny by Innova. There are two person hard-shell sit-on-tops available at some of the resorts.

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