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Published: September 5th 2012
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The morning did not start as planned, Tom did not wake up to go for an early snorkel (he’d struggled to sleep due to the heat) and Sarah was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic by the isolation of where we are staying, we had not realised quite how isolated the bay was, you are literally trapped here unless you pay a small fortune for a 4x4 to collect you or get a boat to transport you.
The weather was cloudier too and lunch was also disappointing, greasy and a bit Western really – not very authentically Thai.
However we then went diving. Tom did a discover scuba diving lesson (video, pool skills and his first open water dive) and Sarah did a scuba review and a sea dive. The dive was ‘only’ in the bay where we are staying, yet turned out to be amazing. No-one else was diving there at all so we had this huge area of reef to ourselves, there was also an area where an artificial reef had been started to promote new coral to grow which was fascinating. The dive was beautiful, one of the best Sarah has done. The water was crystal
clear and warm and it was like being in a giant aquarium at times. During the dive we realised that it was worth being in such an isolated bay to have access to such unspoilt reef. Tom loved his first experience of diving and is now keen to get qualified in the future.
Sarah booked some more dives for tomorrow – to Shark Island and then to a wreck. Tom is also going to go along on the boat and snorkel.
We then sat by the pool with crisps and a magnum each (no healthy snacks like fruit anywhere, which is annoying, but is beginning to get more understandable as even the locals think the roads are a nightmare and find it hard to get fresh supplies brought over). After relaxing for a while we decided to have an early evening dip, although we got cold after a bit and had to go back to the room to shower to warm up!
In the evening we went back to the place we went for drinks on our first day here, admiring the scenery along the way. We realised how beautiful the bay is and how unique it
is to have jungle/rainforest type terrain on our doorstep as well as beautiful beach. Food was gorgeous (fried rice and veg curry), and was accompanied by the sound of water lapping on the beach that we overlooked, abut towards the end of the meal masses of ants came out again so we didn’t hang around. Instead we went back to the beach bar at our resort and shared a large beer chatting about the day.
Yes being in such a secluded space has its issues – fresh food is limited, water is in tight supply (lots of places you have to flush the toilets with a bucket of water), internet connections are rubbish, there are no shops etc etc, however we are constantly amazed by our surroundings and how unspoilt they are. We hate to think that in 10 years time this bay may become over developed, hopefully it will still secluded for a while longer, which almost makes us grateful for the awful roads, to keep the crowds out!!!
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