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A Winters Tale
Looking to extend your summers paddling or escape the winter blues? Add to this idyllic sandy uninhabited islands, easy logistics and friendly people then check out Thailand.
While it’s a long flight and fairly expensive to get there its cheap when you arrive and getting around is easy. The locals being fairly business savvy ,have worked out for themselves the potential for kayaking and its is fairly easy to hire the sit on top variety or they will guide you in more conventional type of sea kayak.
However there are still a few operators who will rent boats to the more experienced sea kayakers looking for a self contained type of trip.
The area we are going to look at is the West coast of the Malay Peninsula. There are loads of islands to explore and depending on your level of commitment you can circumnavigate Ko Yao Yai or KO Yao Noi or go to smaller island chains west of these.
From Phuket you and your boats can be dropped off by ferry at the south end of Ko Yao Yai and you can start paddling from here ,there are some companies on the island itself you can hire boats from , but they have a limited amount of boats to hire . The east coast of the island is stunning; lots of sandy beaches ,you can camp most places but the best is at the very northern end at a small island with a hidden and sheltered small beach with great swimming. The wind seemed to come mainly from the N.E and there is tide to deal with although its only a couple of metre it can affect you landing on some shelving beaches involving a long haul.
From here we went out to the islands in the east about a 2hour crossing and there was a good force 3 blowing again from the N.E which made for a lively crossing. We arrived at Ko Phak Bia and paddled around and landed at an idyllic beach. The long boats with tourists were there, but by 3pm they had all left and we had the island to ourselves and got a small fire going and watched a fantastic sunset!
We were now paddling around the fantastic high limestone cliffs of the arhipelicho, most islands are uninhabited, but one small island has a small concession. And we pooped in for a drink and a swim, after this we linked islands together and ended up on Ko hong, one of the largest islands.
This has a ranger station and a memorial for the Tsunami victims ,it is a stunning bay and again almost deserted after 4pm ,a, large pilot lizard strolled by us after supper and again we were in a fantastic area to watch the sun go down
We visited a few more island a, then crossed back to Ko Yao Noi paddling in t-shirts and shorts and again the wind was blowing from N.E but lighter and with less swell.
Our night on the final island was interrupted ,by a large group of boisterous fisherman and a short night paddle took us to a quieter campsite and a good nights sleep, most of the local fishermen were very friendly and very happy to sell you fish crab and fantastic king prawns as fresh as you will get. We arrived back at small ferry jetty and took the boat back to phuket and a nice Hotel and Shower but I did miss the sunset.
It’s very easy to paddle around and the weather is warm and stable, but the wind picks up later in the day, camping isn’t a problem and its easy to buy fresh fish, water resupply is ok, just restock with bottled water. You can get away with very little clothing as the weather is very warm and also you could just take a tent inner.
The biting insects are bad on some beaches, but anywhere exposed to a bit of breeze is normally ok.
Some operators will hire all the gear as part of the package, but travel light you don’t need a lot of gear, some of the operators don’t supply great paddles and spray decks, so you might wish to take your own.
The main season starts in November and finishes March, going early in the season means you may get a little rain, but it will definitely be quieter and you're more likely to get boat hire as it can get very busy and a lot of operators earn more money of guided trips. Local Maps are easy to obtain and are more than sufficient for your trips.
It’s a fantastic location and you could bolt on a week of great diving or climbing or whatever pushes your buttons.
Olly runs his own guiding company Rock and Sea Adventures and is sponsored by Palm and Lendal.
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