Shadowy silhouettes rose from the distant horizon as our boat from John Gray’s Sea Canoe chugged towards Phang Nga Bay. One of Krabi Provence’s premier destinations, the bay is known for its limestone islands that have been carved and shaped by erosion. Our tour was headed there from Phuket, to spend the day kayaking through the sea caves that pierce through the islands’ interiors.
The crew had already served us and the other passengers a delicious Thai lunch, so now we were well fed and happy to watch the distant islands loom ever larger as we approached Phang Nga Bay. Eventually we passed into the shadow of a cliff as a sea eagle swooped across its craggy face. At the Cliff’s base, knobby fingers of rock hung down over the mouth of a sea cave. The sight renewed my excitement to get off of the boat and start kayaking.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long because the boat moored next to a large island, and the crew started putting long, inflatable kayaks into the water. All of the guests onboard had been matched up with a crew member who would guide us through the sea caves and hongs, and help with a craft later in the day. Vince and I were matched up with Sul, and we followed him down to the bottom deck to all climb aboard a kayak together.
The guides were the only ones who were allowed to paddle the kayaks, which was somewhat disappointing at first. My mind was changed however, when Sul steered us into the first cave, and I realized just how crowded it was with all the kayaks. Between our tour, and another John Gray’s tour that had come from a second boat, there were dozens of inflatable crafts waiting to float through the narrow cavern. Having experienced excursions with novice kayakers before, I could appreciate why John Gray’s didn’t want their large groups free-wielding their own vessels throughout the maze of tunnels and various choke points inside of these islands.
So I got comfy, leaning back onto Vince’s legs so I could look at the stalactites that hung above us as Sul steered us through the cave, and then out to our first hong of the tour.
We passed from the darkness of the cave, into the hong, which was lit by sunlight filtering through a canopy of leaves above us. Hong means “room” in Thai, a fitting moniker, because the lagoon we were floating in was enclosed on all sides by limestone walls. Sul pointed upwards to show us that the opening above us was shaped like a heart, a loose interpretation if I’m being honest. Nevertheless, it was beautiful to see the open sky surrounded by dreamy vegetation.
Sul navigated us deeper into the island, paddling through more hongs and caves, and around limestone pinnacles that jutted up from the emerald, green waters of the bay. Enormous jellyfish drifted beside our kayak, and Sul stopped so We could get a closer look at one of them.
We paddled passed the most striking limestone pinnacle to find that our boat was waiting for us just on the other side. Sul dropped us off, telling us that we had some free time to swim and paddle around on the kayaks if we wanted. And since Thailand is brutally hot, Vince and I decided that a swim sounded like a great idea. We leapt from the second deck of the boat, the impact stinging as we hit the water. Then we swam around until we felt refreshed enough to hop aboard a kayak and do a bit of our own paddling.
We stayed out on the water until the boat crew started calling everyone back on board. It was time to move on to our next destination. The boat zoomed between mushroom shaped islands until we reached Khao Phing Kan, the most iconic island in Phang Nga Bay. Most travelers know it by the name “James Bond Island,” a nickname that stuck after it was used as a filming location for The Man with the Golden Gun. Our tour didn’t include stopping on land, but we got to see its iconic limestone pinnacle as the boat slowly drifted around the island.
While we were all looking at James Bond Island, our kayak guides were busy staging materials for making our own krathongs around the boat decks. Within minutes, the deck was colored with piles of plumeria flowers, orchids, and marigolds. Sul brought all of the materials for me and Vince’s krathong right up to where we were standing on the top deck. We sat down on the floor, and he instructed us on how to construct our krathong atop a base made of a slice of banana trunk, and banana leaves.
Krathongs are typically made for a festival called Loy Krathong, which is usually celebrated sometime in the month of November. The actual dates of the festival change, because it takes place on the full moon during the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar. During the festival, people make krathongs and then float them in bodies of water as an offering to the goddesses of the water and the river.
Sul had a big vision for the design of our krathong. He showed us how to pin flowers to the base, and affix plumeria blooms to the ends of some sticks that he placed in the base. While Vince and I were busy with the plumerias, Sul took a couple of flowers and fashioned them into a pair of lovebirds sitting on a perch. He hung the birds from a branch, and then we finished the krathong by adding candles around the base. Later, we would get to float it inside of a cave, but for now we put it aside because it was time to go back out on the kayaks.
I made sure to look at all of the other krathong as we made our way down to the bottom deck. They all were slightly different, although they used the same materials, and I enjoyed seeing how all of the guide’s creativity came out in their designs.
Once we were back in the water, I noticed that there were a lot fewer kayaks out this time. There must have been another couple of tour groups at the last spot, because there seemed to be about half as many boats paddling towards another nearby cave. The whole experience was calmer with less people, and I felt much more relaxed as I laid back to look at the roof of the cave, which sparkled when Sul shone his flashlight on it.
This cave felt much deeper than the last one, and we had to go through some much tighter restrictions, which necessitated us to lay completely flat on our backs in order to fit through. Finally, we passed through the mouth on the other side of the cave, and found ourselves in a secret oasis, surrounded by lush vegetation. Everyone quieted down as we floated in the hong and looked up at the sky. It was the most peaceful moment on the entire tour, and the guides lingered in the hong for a while, just to let us appreciate the landscape.
Eventually, we retraced our path through the winding cave tunnels until we were back out in the waters of Phang Nga Bay. The boat was there waiting for us, and we climbed aboard, dinner was served. The sun had begun to set by the time we were done eating, so Vince and I went back up to the top deck to watch as the sky lit up with pastel hues.
Some of the kayak guides were fishing from the bows of the two John Gray’s boats. This attracted dozens of sea hawks, who swooped around the boats, and grazed the surface of the water to catch fish. It was an incredible sight to watch them soaring through the air all around us as the sun dipped ever closer to the horizon.
The birds abandoned their feast as the sun crept closer to the horizon. Vince and I turned our attention to watch it dip behind a distant hill, and finally disappear out of sight. Now that the sun was gone, it was time to go collect our krathongs.
We found ours, and very carefully carried it down the ladder to the bottom deck. It was a little hard to get situated onto our kayak while keeping the krathong safe, but we managed, and soon Sul was paddling us back over to a cave. We slipped inside, and into total darkness. Sul pointed out bats hanging from the cave ceiling as we floated further into its depths.
When we found a good spot deep in the cave, Sul stopped the kayak, and lit the candles on our krathong. Then Vince and I made wishes before releasing it into the glassy, black water. We watched it float near our kayak, as it joined the dozens of other krathongs that were already adrift. The scene was completely dark, except for the light emanating from the krathongs, and everywhere we looked, we could see flowers floating all around us.
In all honesty, most of this excursion had been just a little too crowded for me. I kept comparing it to kayaking through the Rock Islands in Palau, which had a similar landscape, but with fewer tourists, and more freedom to explore. But this moment, floating in total darkness surrounded by glowing floral arrangements, was the extra element that made this tour really special. I loved that John Gray’s was able to teach us a bit about Thai culture as we participated in our own miniature version of Loy Krathong, and I’ll treasure this memory for years to come.
At the end of the ceremony, we collected our krathongs, and blew out the candles, leaving the cave clear for the next day’s tour groups to enjoy the same experience. The guides all shut off their lights as we paddled back out of the cave. Now that all of the candles and flashlights were out, we could see that the water around us was full of bioluminescent plankton, which glowed whenever we disturbed the water. Sul even jumped into the waist-deep water, and collected a bunch of it in his shirt, to show us how the plankton’s glow remained on the shirt, even after the water had drained out.
That evening, we sailed back to Phuket under the stars, which seemed to mirror the glow of the plankton that had lit up the cave’s water. This would be our last night in Phuket, and I was very excited to be moving north to Khao Lak the next morning, where we’d be joining our first ever liveaboard dive trip. Phuket had been a lot of fun, but I was beyond ready to spend a few days below the waves of the Andaman Sea!
You can see more details of this amazing destination on my YouTube channel!
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