Krabi
Four Island speed boat tour
At 1000 baht for each of us, the all day speedboat tour of Chicken Island, Ko Poda, Phra Nang (Princess Cave), and Tup Island was a bargain.
by Jack Corbett
Poda Island
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We had already booked with Scuba Addicts which was to pick us up at the Somkiet Buri Resort at 7:45 a.m. but for two mornings straight it rained. On the third morning we waited once again for our pickup and tried the number I had for Scuba Addicts, but no one answered the phone. Later we would find out that the number I had was not the best one to use. Not wanting to stay in our hotel room all day or amble around Ao Nang Beach, we took a chance and had the front desk call Ao Nang Orchid Bungalows which picked us up within half an hour and drove us to a central gathering spot in front of its office. Two groups had assembled here, one which was our group, would do the four island tour of Chicken Island, Ko Poda, Phra Nang Cave and Tup Island with the other group departing for Phi Phi to snorkel or sightsee at Bamboo Island, Viking Cave, Maya Bay, and Pi Leh Bay.
Ao Nang Orchid Bungalows also does speedboat runs to the Hong Islands but those are substantially farther out from Ao Nang Beach than where we headed. On the speedboat we soon met a young couple from Singapore who sat in the bow of the boat with us and a Danish couple with their one year old baby boy. Since it had been raining most of the time the seas were rough. But the driver of our speedboat had a job to do, and that was to deliver us to four different islands and still manage to get us back to Ao Nang by 4 in the afternoon.
Sitting in front of the boat we were able to see the swells approaching, then feel each one lift the boat upwards. It wouldn't have been so bad, other than all of us having a greater chance of getting sea sick, had the driver slowed the boat down which would have allowed each wave to gently lift it upwards and then downwards on the back part of the wave. Instead, he drove the boat 15 or 20 miles an hour right into each wave. We would still be lifted upwards, but the boat's speed would often take the boat into the next wave so that it came crashing downwards. Sometimes the boat would travel fifteen feet vertically which made the whole experience seem like a roller coaster when we'd hit the crest of a high wave and abruptly descend into the trough preceding the next swell. That part was fun. But what wasn't fun is when the boat hit the slope of the next wave or was deposited abruptly onto the water's surface. How much of this the speedboat could endure before falling apart was anyone's guess. One thing for sure--our backs would likely give out long before the speedboat died a premature death.
Our first stop was Railay, where we pulled in close to the beach, then waded through shallow water near Phra Nang Cave as the boat anchored offshore. By this time it had started to rain but the cave sheltered us from the skies. We then walked to the other side of the island to a small bay while passing a number of homes that blended into the jungle to our right.
We then went to another island where we snorkeled off the boat with Chicken Island in the background. The water was clear and we could see thousands of multi-colored fish swimming about, but no sharks, barracudas, Stingrays or other big fish.
After that we went to Tup Island. Here we could have snorkeled but it didn't appear that the long sandy beach would provide the best prospects for looking at fish again so most of us either swam in the ocean or relaxed along the beach.
Last was Poda Island. Here the wind turned ferocious. In fact, you can hear how strong it is in the video. I literally got my feet sandblasted by that wind, which whipped particles of sand into them with such force that my left foot ended up bleeding and my girlfriend thought I had scraped it on a sharp piece of coral. Click here to view movie of Krabi's nearby islands, the Somkiet Buri Resort and Phi-Phi
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