Showing posts with label Swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swimming. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Tham Morakot, Trang


Tham Morakot one of the fantastic attractions of the Unseen in Thailand
is located at the west of Ko Muk. The exciting journey to Morakot Cave besides
seeing the marvelous nature creation is the way to reach the cave by swimming
one by one into the entrance of the cave.


This can allow only a small boat to pass through during low tide along
the channel of 80 metres long. After passing the entrance to the other side,
one will stand at the large hall roofed by the sky looking like standing
inside the very large funnel. The sand beach will be seen in the middle to the hall
surrounded by high cliffs. Some species of plant are found either on the beach


The sunlight during midday will be straight through the mouth of the funnel.
The reflection of the sea creates the emerald color
as the name “Morakot Cave” which means ”Emerald Cave”.


Tham Morakot is visited by swimming or by small inflatable boats.
Starting from a ship, the swimmer has to enter the cave
until he reaches a water filled chamber,
which is lit by sunlight through a hole in the ceiling.
The entrance passage is rather small and low,
and it is passable only during low tide.


The name of the cave means Emerald Cave.
It describes the emerald colour produced by sunlight filtered through sea water.
Inside the cave is a secluded beach of white sand.


To get to Ko Muk and Morakot Cave, boat service leaves Kuan Tung Ku Pier
at 08.00 hr everyday charging 40 baht per person.
One trip by the rented boat will charge 400 baht and takes 30 minutes to Ko Muk.


Upon arrival at Sapanyao Pier in front of the island,
one have to rent a long-tailed boat to Morakot Cave rested
at the other side of the island (100 baht each).
Another way is to rent the boat from Pak Meng Pier
straight to Morakot Cave at Ko Muk.
The rate is 1,800 baht/day taking about 40 minutes.


*

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Nai Thon beach, #Phuket #Thailand


Nai thon Beach is one of these little known beaches on the west coast of Phuket,
far from the crowded areas such as Patong Beach or Kata Beach.
People coming here are searching for a peaceful place
with just enough facilities and hotels not to feel too remote.


Phuket being such a small island you always can rent a car
and drive to Patong for a fun night out or further south for a discovery day.


The beach is an amazing long and wide strip well shaded by tall trees
and divided in two by a small rock formation.
Walk beyond these rocks to reach a more private area of Nai thon.



The sand is smooth and swimming is great during high season. Loungers, umbrellas
and drinks are available as well as several small restaurants.
Some of them start to look trendy, a sign of increasing popularity
and already new hotels are building nearby such as Pullman.



No Jetskies  or parasailing in sight yet, only few long tails boats bobbing here
and there and beach vendors are still discreet.
parking your car is easy in the shade of trees anywhere along the beach.
Across the road are few more bars, restaurants, a mini mart and even a tailor and a dive shop.


This is definitely a high season kind of beach, it looks
and feels quite abandoned during low season
and swimming is not recommended (July to November)


The easiest way to reach there is to drive to the airport
and turn left at the T intersection just before reaching it,
then drive few kilometers and turn right at the signs pointing to ‘Andaman White Beach Resort’
and Trisara Phuket Resort. The closest beach, not to miss,
is the secret Banana Beach, just 3 kilometers away.



Friday, May 30, 2014

The Banana Beach, #Phuket


Banana Beach in Phuket – Phuket is a world famous holiday destination and every corner
of this tiny tropical island has been explored, invaded, sold, developed and exploited.
Yet the tiny Banana beach is hiding itself from the crowd, but it won’t last long.



Considering that Banana Beach is pretty large with shallow clear blue waters,
large palm trees and an excellent sand quality,
it is a mystery why it hasn’t been developed like the rest of the island.
It’s not totally deserted though, a restaurant has been there
as long as I can remember… which is almost two decades.



 They can serve you a great seafood lunch, probably caught no far from here.
Price is a bit higher than other restaurants,
but once you see them carrying everything down the hill,
you’ll forgive them.  Added to that, there are not many places in Phuket
where you still can have a peaceful lunch on the beach
with your feet in the sand in the shade of coconut trees!



 Banana Beach is pretty hard to find if you don’t know where to look.

Just finding the road passing by its entrance is tricky for most visitors.
The best way is to go to the airport, and when you are almost there,
at the T-junction turn left instead of right as you would for Phuket Airport.
Drive 2 or 3 km, then take the intersection on the right and follow the signs to Naithon Beach.



If you are lucky or if you planned well, it will be low tide, sky will be spotless
and Banana Beach will then take its full spend our.
Such a great place to spend an afternoon, swimming is great, snorkeling is good
and you can even get a beach chair and an umbrella.



A couple of longtail boats are gently bobbing on the clear water….
and only a handful of lucky tourists are enjoying the privilege of ‘knowing’,
what more can you ask for? In low season, it might feel a bit abandoned,
but I still like to go down there, these are places that will changes sooner than later.