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We woke up early today to meet a driver for our tour to James Bond Island in the lobby @ 7am. We had a short 40 minute drive before arriving at the pier and boarding our boat for the day. Immediately we knew that this was going to be a FAR better experience than the Maya Bay Sleepaboard tour we booked in Phi Phi. The boat was much larger, plenty of room, breakfast/snacks/drinks were available, and the main tour guide Philipe from Two Sea Tour (http://www.twoseatour.com) was wonderful right from the start. He informed us that we get a 2 hour earlier start than all of the other tours in order to canoe in some caves where you have a short window to get in & out because of the tide. Our group was small (around 16) which is average, and that meant plenty of space to sit and roam about the boat.
The Phang Nga Bay includes a national park that has 42 islands in it (including James Bond Island). They're all made of Limestone and the view of them as you're approaching by boat is breathtaking. It very much reminded us of our experience in Guilin, China with
the huge mountainous rocks covered in lush green (except 40 degrees hotter! LOL). It's just amazing to see them all in the distance, their shadows and jagged peaks. It was love at first sight!
We arrived at our first destination and loaded into our canoes with the person that would be our "guide" for the day. At low tides, the lagoon inside of he cave has no water, and at high tide it becomes impassable, this is why the timing was critical. The cave we entered was called Diamond Cave because there is a rock in there that when the light from our guide's headlamps was shined on it, it sparkled like diamonds. The lagoon experience was so serene, with just us in there. We saw Mangrove trees, walking fish (that can stay above water for 2 hours and skip along the surface, a giant jellyfish, monitor lizard, and various birds. We even took a minute to be totally silent and just listen to the peaceful sounds of nature. It was glorious! We went through a second small cave into a smaller lagoon that we had to even wait a few minutes for so that the tide rose enough
for us to get through the cave. I suspect we were only in the lagoons for around 30 minutes, but by the time we went to leave, Matt & I had to lay completely flat in the canoe with my legs on top of his shoulders just to make it through....that's how much the water had risen.
Next was Hong Island where we again canoed with Mah, our guide. It was crowded here unlike our first cave/lagoon experience, but also much bigger which allowed small boats and rafts to enter easily. The erosion of the limestone rocks created different "shapes," so it was fun to go around and have them point out a turtle. Horse leg, King Kong smoking, etc. LOL
Next was James Bond Island where they filmed a scene from The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974 with Roger Moore. Because of this, the island now sees more than 10,000 visitors per day. National Guard long boats come out to your boat to pick you up and take you into the island. The "island" just has a tiny landing area that you can take pictures of the infamous rock and then a small narrow trail
where you can hike up a bit higher to see it. Our guide came with us to take pictures and Philipe armed each of them with fake plastic guns. One that was painted gold as props for pics. He said so far none of the other tour companies had copied him yet...yet being the key word. Anyway, it was a hoot and despite the rock itself being smaller than you would think, it was really beautiful.
We loaded back onto our boat for a full buffet lunch that was quite the spread. We ate among the beautiful scenery while we boated to our last stop of the day, a private beach to relax and swim. The beach was isolated and gorgeous as ever with the sand being so oddly warm in the cooler ocean water. It also produced a ton of bubbles when you walked on it, so you could make your own mini spa but just tapping your feet on the ground, too fun. Anyway, nothing feels better than being in the water here, so it was a great way to end a wonderful tour and afternoon. We couldn't recommend them enough!!
We got back
to the Marriott a little before 4pm and hit the pool for a last swim and to enjoy our last few hours in the beautiful resort. For dinner we decided to return to the propertyThai restaurant we ate at on Matt's birthday and have 2 lobsters with their delicious banana fritters for dessert. Then it was time to pack up and hit the sack for our early flight to Siem Reap.
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Tom
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Best day!
Sounded like you enjoyed this day more than others....tour guides make a difference. What's better: Thai lobster or Maine....yes, the Thai is sweeter, but tenderness counts too.....enjoy Ankor Wat.......love mom and dad