Sea kayaking in the land of the Pterodactyls
Sea kayaking in the land of the Pterodactyls by Justin Francis, responsibletravel.com
Limestone cliffs familiar from James Bond movies rise vertically out of turquoise waters in Phalong Bay, 30 minutes in a long tail boat from Phuket in Thailand.Judging the tides with the help of legendary Hawaiian kayak guide John Gray and local guide Pong – a former fisherman from the local village who John recruited and trained – we paddle towards the caves at the cliff base.
Following John we paddle slowly into one of the caves, which quickly darken. Giant stalactites hang from the roof, and Pong picks out a colony of bats with a flashlight. The roof of the cave lowers, and we lie flat on our backs on the kayaks gently holding the rocks and pulling ourselves through until we emerge blinking into a spectacular Hong.
A Hong is a lagoon inside the island, totally invisible to the outside world but open to sky above, and surrounded on all sides by a vertical tropical forest that is growing from the 150m limestone cliffs and throbbing with the noise of insects and birds. It’s the land that time forgot, and so unworldly that I would not be surprised to see a Pterodactyl launch itself from a cliff high above my head.
A strange Zen like calm overcomes our small group of 3 kayaks. The chatter during the excitement of our cave paddle dissipates and we simply lie back looking up and the cliffs in a state of total relaxation. After 15 minutes of Hong flotation therapy John spots some Hornbills and monkeys and we dip our paddles silently into the syrupy water and glide over for a closer look.
After exploring 5 more caves we head towards our campsite for the evening, which is a 50m wide patch of perfect and isolated beach nestling under another small Island. After a quick swim from the beach tents and a campfire quickly appear, as do a wonderful meal of fresh fish and John’s stories about 10 years of guiding in Thailand and the problems of preserving this unique and spectacular environment, about which he is so passionate.
Having pioneered kayak tourism in the area he is dismayed by the lack of knowledge, safety training or environmental responsibility exhibited by many competitors who have followed. Conversation turns to the tsunami, and how hard its hit his business. Pong tells me that he used to work everyday, but that this is only his second trip this month. We realize that between now and October when the industry is expected to recover is the perfect time to do this trip – its quiet with very few tourists; the hotels are offering incredible deals; the beaches have been swept clean by the tsunami; and local people are in desperate need of income from tourism.
At midnight we head back down to the water, it’s so dark that stars are visible only just above the watery horizon. As we paddle back towards the caves every stroke of the paddle creates startlingly bright spangling starbursts of phosphorescence in the water. Marveling at that we paddle to the caves, which we enter in total darkness and feel our way through like blind cavers 500m underground.
We feel like real adventurers and nothing has prepared us for the effect of being in a starlit Hong. We sit in silence mesmerized by the stars, fireflies and phosphorescence. Speaking to the eco tourism journalist Richard Hammond and leading travel agent Simon Maunder who’ve joined me on the trip, they tell me that this experience had a profound effect on them for several days afterwards. I’ve often thought that if I could bottle up the benefits of a great holiday – relaxation, new perspectives on life ups and downs, and re energisation – then I could put Coca Cola out of business.
The next day we feel more like we are in the Amazon than Thailand as we paddle down a river through Mangroves. Mangroves, with their unique root system adapted to enable them to live in saltwater, have been destroyed throughout Thailand to make way for intensively polluting prawn farming, and for tourism ventures. The World Wildlife Fund found that while Mangroves would not have stopped the tsunami, they would have created a natural barrier and reduced its impacts.
Crabs scuttle on the muddy banks, and we see more hornbills as we head deeper down the river and the cliffs rise more steeply on either side. John tells us that from his research the last saltwater crocodile was seen in the 1970’s, but that doesn’t stop me scanning the banks for croc-sized mudslides.
Finally, its time to head back to Phuket Island. If I’d had longer I’d definitely have extended the kayaking for a day or day. Although John runs day trips I’d recommend one or two overnights, it will make all the difference to your trip, and to the local people that John employs if you do.
Find this trip on responsibletravel.com here
Limestone cliffs familiar from James Bond movies rise vertically out of turquoise waters in Phalong Bay, 30 minutes in a long tail boat from Phuket in Thailand.Judging the tides with the help of legendary Hawaiian kayak guide John Gray and local guide Pong – a former fisherman from the local village who John recruited and trained – we paddle towards the caves at the cliff base.Following John we paddle slowly into one of the caves, which quickly darken. Giant stalactites hang from the roof, and Pong picks out a colony of bats with a flashlight. The roof of the cave lowers, and we lie flat on our backs on the kayaks gently holding the rocks and pulling ourselves through until we emerge blinking into a spectacular Hong.A Hong is a lagoon inside the island, totally invisible to the outside world but open to sky above, and surrounded on all sides by a vertical tropical forest that is growing from the 150m limestone cliffs and throbbing with the noise of insects and birds. It’s the land that time forgot, and so unworldly that I would not be surprised to see a Pterodactyl launch itself from a cliff high above my head.
A strange Zen like calm overcomes our small group of 3 kayaks. The chatter during the excitement of our cave paddle dissipates and we simply lie back looking up and the cliffs in a state of total relaxation. After 15 minutes of Hong flotation therapy John spots some Hornbills and monkeys and we dip our paddles silently into the syrupy water and glide over for a closer look.After exploring 5 more caves we head towards our campsite for the evening, which is a 50m wide patch of perfect and isolated beach nestling under another small Island. After a quick swim from the beach tents and a campfire quickly appear, as do a wonderful meal of fresh fish and John’s stories about 10 years of guiding in Thailand and the problems of preserving this unique and spectacular environment, about which he is so passionate.
Having pioneered kayak tourism in the area he is dismayed by the lack of knowledge, safety training or environmental responsibility exhibited by many competitors who have followed. Conversation turns to the tsunami, and how hard its hit his business. Pong tells me that he used to work everyday, but that this is only his second trip this month. We realize that between now and October when the industry is expected to recover is the perfect time to do this trip – its quiet with very few tourists; the hotels are offering incredible deals; the beaches have been swept clean by the tsunami; and local people are in desperate need of income from tourism.
At midnight we head back down to the water, it’s so dark that stars are visible only just above the watery horizon. As we paddle back towards the caves every stroke of the paddle creates startlingly bright spangling starbursts of phosphorescence in the water. Marveling at that we paddle to the caves, which we enter in total darkness and feel our way through like blind cavers 500m underground.
We feel like real adventurers and nothing has prepared us for the effect of being in a starlit Hong. We sit in silence mesmerized by the stars, fireflies and phosphorescence. Speaking to the eco tourism journalist Richard Hammond and leading travel agent Simon Maunder who’ve joined me on the trip, they tell me that this experience had a profound effect on them for several days afterwards. I’ve often thought that if I could bottle up the benefits of a great holiday – relaxation, new perspectives on life ups and downs, and re energisation – then I could put Coca Cola out of business.
The next day we feel more like we are in the Amazon than Thailand as we paddle down a river through Mangroves. Mangroves, with their unique root system adapted to enable them to live in saltwater, have been destroyed throughout Thailand to make way for intensively polluting prawn farming, and for tourism ventures. The World Wildlife Fund found that while Mangroves would not have stopped the tsunami, they would have created a natural barrier and reduced its impacts. Crabs scuttle on the muddy banks, and we see more hornbills as we head deeper down the river and the cliffs rise more steeply on either side. John tells us that from his research the last saltwater crocodile was seen in the 1970’s, but that doesn’t stop me scanning the banks for croc-sized mudslides.
Finally, its time to head back to Phuket Island. If I’d had longer I’d definitely have extended the kayaking for a day or day. Although John runs day trips I’d recommend one or two overnights, it will make all the difference to your trip, and to the local people that John employs if you do.