We awoke to find overcast skies; a good thing, as we were spending the morning and early afternoon on a “4 Islands Day Tour” arranged through Opal Travel Speedboats (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303905-d3814132-Reviews-4_Islands_Day_Tour_by_Opal_Travel_Speed_Boat-Ko_Lanta_Krabi_Province.html). We ate an early (for us) breakfast and were on Long Beach by 8:20 AM for our 8:30 AM pick-up. It was cool, you just told them the beach you wanted to be picked up from and that is where they meet you; no having to get down to the piers in Ban Saladan. However, this being Thailand, they didn’t show until nearly 9 AM.

Sister-vessel to our Opal Speedboat.

Interior of the speedboat.

They pulled up, backed the boat right up to the beach, we hopped aboard, and it was off to one final pick-up at a resort farther south on Koh Lanta. It had a rather rocky shoreline so it featured an unusual floating walk-way, dock, and protected swimming area.

225 HP X 3

Picking up final passengers.

Then we headed onwards past the southern end of Koh Lanta Yai.

Heading south past the end of Koh Lanta.

Our first destination was a snorkelling area off Koh Chuek.

Arriving at Koh Chuek.

James giving a quickie lesson on using a mask and snorkel.

Snorkelers gearing up.

Commercial free-divers also at Koh Chuek.

Longtail boat passes by.

Eron leaps in.

Eron the Skin-Diver.

Longtail boat with tourists.

Snorkelling at Koh Chuek.

Recovering the snorkelers.

Including Eron.

Off to the next stop; Morakot Cave.

Once everyone was aboard, we headed off to our next stop; Morakot Cave or, as it is better known, “Emerald Cave” (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1820355-d3512151-Reviews-Morakot_Cave_Emerald_Cave-Ko_Muk_Trang_Province.html#REVIEWS). Whilst the 80 metre swim through the dark serpentine passage that is the cave should’ve been a highlight experience; it was instead, a  ten minute (each direction) exercise in preventing oneself from punching someone’s lights out. Part of the problem was that we didn’t do our due diligence. It was bad enough that we booked our visit for a Saturday; this was also the Saturday of a long weekend – meaning tons of Thai visitors in addition to the foreigners. This made for a huge flotilla of vessels outside the cave, an almost constant stream of people going both directions in the waters of the cave, and “standing-room-only” once through to the small beach and lagoon on the “hidden” side. Add to this the Thai, Chinese, and Europeans’ abhorrence of queuing-up in orderly lines and waiting one’s turn. And the fact that for some reason, all the Thai’s in the cave thought it was a great idea to scream in unison to hear their voices echo – multiple groups of Thai’s going in either direction would be screaming all at the same time. It was so loud that in the event of any emergency, no one would have been able to be directed to help or towards safety. And then, there were the tour guides/leaders themselves; some of them would lead their string of swimmers directly through another’s line and others would shine their flashlights directly in the eyes of their patrons and any others who just happen to be in the way – ruining what little night-vision you do have and/or disorientating the people. All-in-all, I called the whole experience, “A drowning just waiting to happen.” It was too bad really, as the swim through the cave and the hidden gem of a beach/lagoon on the other side are a definite natural wonder; the Thai tourism authorities really need to take a good long look at introducing limits as to how many people are allowed to to be in the cave at any one time – this would also serve to limit the numbers of people on the beach and in the lagoon. When we were there, the sheer numbers of people in the relatively limited space of the hidden beach lagoon had churned the waters into a greyish-green muck; it is reportedly supposed to be crystal-clear and turquoise.

Other vessels are already there and waiting for their turn to approach.

Tying off to another boat to let our swimmers into the water. The cave opening is just past the stern of the white vessel.

Cave opening on the “hidden” side.

Small beach with cliffs all around.

Sheer rock faces with lush vegetation.

Another tour group has made it through.

Jungle begins just past the beach.

After another frustrating, disorganized, and potentially deadly swim we all made it back aboard. Now, we headed to Koh Kradan or “Coconut Island”. It was here that the crew set up lunch for us; there are literally no facilities in the area that we came ashore at other than a couple of portable tables so people just sat on logs, sat on the sand, or stood to eat their food. However, we were very pleasantly surprised with regards to the included lunch. It featured some nicely flavoured stir-fried veggies, Thai-style fried chicken (very nicely done), and Massaman Curry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massaman_curry) with chicken and potatoes – easily one of the best interpretations of this curry we have tried since Chiang Mai. They also had steamed rice, sliced pineapples and watermelon for dessert, and soft drinks. After lunch, we had about 90 minutes of free-time on the island.

Beach on Koh Kradan.

Longtail boats off Koh Kradan.

Tree may not last another storm season.

Our speedboat; Opal No. 999.

Tsunami warning siren tower.

Muslims having fun in the sun and the surf.

Our next stop would be a snorkelling reef off Koh Mah.

Point on Koh Mah.

Snorkelers off Koh Mah.

Look out below!

The water’s fine.

The reef is less than three metres down.

While were at Koh Mah, the weather turned and the swells started to come in. So, the crew recovered the snorkelers and we headed back out to open water.

The sea is getting a little choppy.

A few minutes underway and we came up to, “Bat Island”. Here, a colony of large bats lives hanging upside-down on the surface of the cliff-face. There are no other signs of life on this rock except for a ramshackle “hut” on the far end of the island.

Colony of large bats lives on the cliff-face.

Bats are in clumps all across the cliffs.

Only other sign of life is this weather-beaten shack.

As the weather reports have indicated that the waters on the west side of Koh Lanta Yai are now too rough to safely land passengers on the beaches, James (our tour leader) told us they would instead be taking us north past Koh Lanta Noi and landing us in Ban Saladan where taxis will be taking us back to our resorts. As this route will take us close, the crew made a stop by “Monkey Island” off Koh Lanta Noi. This “island” in the mangrove swamps is home to resident troupes of monkeys.

Monkeys in mangrove swamp on “Monkey Island”.

Home-stay guesthouse in the mangrove swamps.

We reach the end of the tour in Ban Saladan. We literally backed onto the ramp at the centre of town, jumped off, said our goodbyes, and hopped up into waiting taxis.

Backed right into centre of town. Taxis are already waiting at top of ramp.

James saying goodbye to everyone.

Back at the bungalow, it was time for a shower and then a siesta… ahhhh. We chose to walk down to the Thai Cat for our final dinner in Koh Lanta; again, the lightning and thunder accompanied us on our walk. This time, the rain started just as we reached the restaurant. Tonight’s Barracuda steak wasn’t quite as good as yesterday’s exceptional Grouper filet but the service was superb as usual. As I was having my cigar, we got to talking to some of the staff; especially after overhearing that a couple of them were “leaving” next week. It turns out the Thai Cat is a seasonal restaurant; it and it’s attached bungalow rentals will be shutting down as of April 25th until reopening in October. When my cigar was done, we said our farewells and headed back to our bungalow… tomorrow will be another early morning.