Activity Review: Kayaking around Angthong National Marine Park
Of my 3 days in Koh Samui, I've spent 2 of them catching up on housekeeping matters (bill paying, credit card reconciliations, expense tracking, future travel planning). But I decided to spend one of my days on a kayak trip around Angthong National Marine Park, with Blue Stars Kayaking.
I can recommend Blue Stars; they were prompt with replying to my reservation request online. When I reconfirmed by phone, they said they would honor a lower price (2000 baht, ~$57) than the one I had confirmed online (2200 baht, ~$63), since they were running a promotion. That was a nice surprise, and an honest way to do business.
They picked me up at a little after 7:30am. They have several shuttles to the different parts of Koh Samui, so no one has to wake up significantly earlier than someone else (unlike my Kruger safari, where I was picked up at 4:45am while others were picked up at 6am!). This is probably an earlier pick-up time than other companies, because we were the first to arrive at Mae Koh Island to see the blue lagoon and lookout point. After we came back down to the beach, about 4 other boats arrived, so I imagine that it got pretty crowded.
After the little hike, we set off in our sit-on kayaks (the elementary and stable kind) for a paddle back to our boat, passing by another kayaking group.
Lunch was on the boat, and consisted of rice, mixed veggies, salad, sweet and sour chicken, and curry chicken. Then we proceeded to a northern part of the Marine Park, where no one else was. We first swam and snorkeled in the very warm, very salty waters (I know because I swallowed some through my snorkel!). I couldn't see any fish while in the cloudy water, but did see some striped ones while in the boat. Then we got back in our kayaks and went in and around the rock formations. This leg of kayaking was even more fun. The water was a bit more turbulent, for one! Plus, the rock formations look solid, but actually there are a lot of tunnels and passageways that allow you to go through and across them. Some of the passageways even look up into a hole, through which you can see the sky. Very cool.
After the second kayaking, we got back in the boat for the boat trip back to Koh Samui, and arrived back at the hotel around 4pm. I was all ready with tip money, especially for the two Thai kayaking leaders who were very nice in taking pictures of everyone on the water with our own cameras, but the staff didn't linger for tips from anyone. All in all, a nice experience and a great way to spend a day.
