The last week has been spent cruising the many islands of Phang Nga bay. These islands rise dramatically straight up from the shallow waters of the bay. The islands vary in size from a rock blob to ones that are several miles long and wide. They are like so many haystacks in a freshly cut field. They are mainly composed of limestone and riddled with caves. Their interiors are dense jungle.
The whole of Pang Nga bay is full of tour boats anything from a thirty-five foot go fast type boat with four large outboard motors to converted Chinese junks or fishing boats to "longtails". They come to swim, sea kayak and visit what are called "Hongs". These are what we would think of as lagoons within the islands. Some can be accessed via the tour boats through fairly large channels, others via sea kayak or dinghy depending on the tide height. One we visited through a fifty yard long tunnel, thou at the end the tide was to high to actually exit into the "hong". One favorite stop is "James Bond" island made famous in Roger Moore's playing of 007 in "The Man with the Golden Gun".
Some of the islands have small resorts which are accessed via the ever present "longtail" boats. These are somewhat remote having only a few bungalow rooms and located on long deserted sandy beaches. We enjoyed stays at several different islands. One of the nice things of this island paradise is their proximity to one another. Our greatest distance from one anchorage to another was 14 miles and we made a stop to have a dinghy adventure and visit a "hong"in between.
We found the anchorages to be secure and uncrowded at least after 3 pm when the tour boats had left for the day. The next days frenzy would begin about 10 am. Most times we anchored in 20 to 25 feet with a mud bottom and very good holding. Though this is still the dry season we had squalls each day in the early evening with thunder, lightening, some rain and wind.
We are now anchored in Ao Nang bay off the town of the same name. Another tourist stop with a long sandy beach backed by the small town consisting of hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. Off the bay are seen eight small islands which are just a short ride away. As we have now moved down from the head of the bay these island have clearer water for diving and snorkeling.
We plan to spend several more days in this area before making our way back to Phuket.
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