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Published: February 16th 2023
The sea in this whole area is peppered with small islands. Some inhabited, others are so small no one lives on them.
Many of their shores are lined with coral and sea life.
We booked ourselves onto the " 4 islands" boat trip.
It was to visit Ko Chuak, Ko Waen, Ko Kradan and The Emerald Cave on Ko Mook.
We'd stayed on Ko Kradan back in 2008 with Sharon and Scott so we're especially looking forward to returning to see if it was still as beautiful.
The boat left from Lanta Old Town so the package included transport to pick us up at our guesthouse and take us there.
The sangtheaw ( small open air bus) should have arrived at 8.20am but as in true Thai style it was over 30 mins late and still had several more people to pick up.
We eventually got to the old town, congregated at a waiting station where we were given a simple breakfast and coffee and then all herded onto the boat. By now it was 10am. The boat had been due to set sail at 9am.
The first snorkel drop was at the island of Ko Chuak
an hour's sailing away. Stan and I were the first to drop off the boat as we had our own snorkels, everyone else queued up to find one that fit them. The water was a bit murky but as we swam away from the boat and closer to the rocky edge of the island it improved and made for an interesting snorkel. A decent variety of fish and soft and hard corals. For a while we had the area to ourselves.
After a while we swam back to the boat, as we got close Stan gestured me to him. Down below where he was looking was a very long black banded sea snake. It meandered in and out between the rock crevices on the bottom and thankfully stayed down there. All the same I lingered just long enough to take a good look then I was off back to climb sbourd the boat.
Soon everyone had returned and we were off to Ko Waen where we jumped in and snorkelled all over again. It wasn't quite as good this time. As we snorkelled the crew had been preparing lunch. Chicken Massaman curry, rice, chicken leg and vegetables followed by fresh
pineapple and water melon. Quite a feast!
Before setting off the captain did the usual head count and realized we were one short. Looking out to sea we noticed a figure struggling to get back. As we watched he rolled over onto his back and began floating. It became obvious he was in trouble. The crew threw out a canoe and went to rescue him. Luckily he had a life jacket on. It turned out he'd gone too far and was too exhausted to swim back so had tried to cling onto the rocky edge. It was covered in sharp barnicles so had torn the skin from his fingers.
Once safely back on the boat he had his fingers bandaged and we were off.
As we ate lunch we sailed along to Ko Kradan. This was supposed to be a two hour stop to explore the island.
The sand was the beautiful soft white sand we remembered from before but unfortunately a posh hotel looked like it had been half built but then abandoned leaving a lot of the beach looking more like a building site.
We managed to find a nice spot and donned our masks and
snorkels again. It's so nice to be able to snorkel straight from the beach so you've time to warm up again when you get out.
Thankfully the coral hadn't been damaged too much by the building work.
We had planned to go and look for " Paradise Lost" the place we'd stayed in 2008 in the centre of the island. As we set off to walk the boat sounded his hooter for us to return. The late start had meant we had much less time to explore.
I wobbled back along the floating jetty but Stan decided to try and have a quick look.
As everyone gradually returned the captain began a head count. I had to confess Stan was still not back. He didn't seem bothered and said " don't worry, we can wait" the wait turned out to be quite long, an extra 20 mins long in fact and I began to worry he'd got lost.
The captain and I were about to get off the boat to search when someone shouted " he's coming" . He appeared out of the jungle and along the jetty to the boat.
It turned out he had found Paradise Lost but
it had been much further than he remembered so he'd had to run a lot of the way
He'd managed to take some photos for me to see and I was happy to see it was still the rustic unspoilt bungalows I'd remembered.
No one seemed too worried he'd kept them all waiting and we're keen to hear about where he'd been.
Next stop was the Emerald Cave. An underwater cave you swim through to a completely enclosed lagoon.
Before we all got off the boat the guide gave us a pep talk.... Everyone MUST wear a life jacket and no mask and snorkels allowed. We must make a line and go in single file as the cave was very narrow in parts. Also we must eat h our heads as the roof of the cave was low with lumps jutting down. One or two people were given torches.
As we jumped into the water I instantly thought this was not going to be easy. The life jacket floated up around my ears making it almost impossible to swim. The swell of the waves threw us around as we clung to the rope leading from the boat to
the entrance of the cave. Once everyone was in the water we set off behind the guide. The first part opened up into a huge cavern and I thought oh good not as bad as I was expecting. But no... the guide lead us towards a very small passage. He had a huge light and we could soon see how low and narrow the passage was in parts and realized why we had to remain in single file.
As we approached the passage way , once the guide had set off at the front we were in almost pitch darkness. Stan had been given a torch but it didn't help much. The swim seemed to go on forever and I had to breathe deeply to avoid panic taking over. It felt very claustrophobic.
Finally daylight appeared and we emerged into an enclosed lagoon with it's own little beach.
We stood shivering on the wet sand with the life jackets dripping cold water down our legs. No sunlight got into this deep open cavern so although we could see ok there was no warmth.
Several more groups from other boat trips came through and then it was our turn
to swim back. It didn't seem quite as traumatic going back although at one point I rolled over onto my back and tried floating as it was exhausting trying to swim with a life jacket on, and the guide called " that's the wrong way" I was heading towards a dark passage into who knows where?! I'd missed the correct direction.
Once back on the boat I breathed a sigh of relief. Would I do it again??! Not on your life!!
Once back at the port in the old town we said goodbye to our many new found friends and we were herded onto sangththews and taken back to our accomodation.
Quite an eventful day all round!!
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Scroll right down to see more photos.
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