Handpicked experience · Krabi
Krabi, Thailand
A boat that is a car engine on a long shaft, out to a lagoon that is a cave with its roof fallen in, entered through a gap that only opens at certain tides.
Hava a “worry-free” day from afternoon until night time in beautiful Hong island when you join this tour
Enjoy some time for swimming, snorkeling, and sunbathing.
Admire the amazing sunset views with your lovers while sipping soft drinks.
Feast on a seafood BBQ dinner with some free fresh fruits and drinks.
A traditional boat whose engine and propeller shaft are one moving piece
Access to shallow water that a conventional hull cannot reach
A basin ringed by vertical rock and open only to the sky
Water without any swell at all
A west-facing coast, so the sun goes down into the sea
A meal cooked on the beach after the light has gone
A half day out to the Hong island group by longtail boat, with time in the enclosed lagoon and on the beaches, ending with a barbecue on the sand as the light goes.
A longtail has no gearbox, no outboard leg and no rudder. It has an automotive engine sitting on a pivot at the stern, with a bare propeller mounted on the end of a shaft several metres long, and the driver steers by swinging the whole engine and shaft sideways like a tiller.
That arrangement exists because of the water here. Reef flats, sandbars and beach landings mean a boat has to run in almost no depth, and a longtail can lift its propeller clear of the bottom simply by pushing the shaft down at the back. It can also be repaired by anyone who can fix a truck, which matters more in practice than elegance.
It is loud, and it is meant to be. The noise is an unsilenced engine ninety centimetres behind you.
The pool at the centre of the main island is not a bay. It is a chamber that limestone dissolution hollowed out underground, whose ceiling eventually collapsed, leaving a circular basin walled on every side and open to the sky.
You enter it through a gap at water level, and that gap is the whole constraint of the visit. At some states of the tide there is enough clearance for a boat to slip through; at others there is not, and the lagoon is simply inaccessible. That is why an itinerary here is written against the tide rather than the hour.
Inside, the water is shallow and still, the walls go straight up, and there is no swell at all. It is the calmest water you will find in this province.
This coast faces west into open water, so the sun sets into the sea rather than behind a headland. That is what a late departure buys you, and it is the reason the barbecue is timed to run past the light rather than before it.
The trip returns after dark, close along the shore.
Longtails are open. There is no shade at sea, spray reaches everywhere, and the seats are wooden benches.
Take a layer for the return; the temperature drops noticeably once the sun is down and you are wet.
Sea state decides the day, and the group of islands is exposed enough that trips are cancelled outright in the monsoon months rather than run uncomfortably.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
An automotive engine mounted on a pivot at the stern, driving a propeller on the end of a long shaft, steered by swinging the whole assembly sideways.
Because the water is shallow. The propeller can be lifted clear of the bottom by pushing the shaft down, which lets the boat work reef flats and beach landings.
Very. The engine is unsilenced and sits about a metre behind the passengers.
A cave chamber whose roof collapsed. Limestone dissolved underground, the ceiling fell in, and what is left is a basin walled on all sides and open to the sky.
Through a gap at water level, which is the constraint of the whole trip: at some tides a boat fits through, and at others it does not.
Shallow, still and completely without swell. It is the calmest water in the province.
Because this coast faces west, so the sun sets into open sea, and the barbecue is timed to carry on past the light.
The state of the water. This group sits out where the swell reaches, so in the wet months operators call it off rather than take people out in it.