A Relaxing Sunset Cruise
By Lauren Gerzina & Justin Hayes
Cruising, Snorkeling, and Bioluminescence
The morning was fairly uneventful. We woke up, caught a Grab to Shatterbox Coffee to have coffee/breakfast, and then went back to the hotel to prep for our afternoon boat ride.
We had to meet up for our tour at the Vacation Village Phra Nang Inn at 1:15pm. This location was right in the heart of Ao Nang, very close to the beach, so we decided we should get lunch in the downtown area. That meant we could finally go back to Brightside Bistro so that Justin could get his GF pasta again.
We arrived at the restaurant at 11:45am because we wanted to give ourselves enough breathing room before the tour. We both ordered the Amethyst Lemonade and the GF pasta. The pasta took about 20 minutes to make, but we both scarfed it down quickly. Too quickly. We did not want to wander the shops in the heat while waiting for the tour guide, so we decided to chill, relax and order some sodas. We finally walked over to the hotel at 1pm and met up with our group a few minutes later.
Once everyone checked in, we walked toward the beach, split into two groups, and climbed into some longtails while in about one foot of water. Once the seats were completely full, we backed out and rode for about 10 minutes towards Railay Beach Bay where our Thai Junk was moored.
We climbed onto the junk and claimed some seats on the port side under the shade. The company owner, Michael, greeted us and showed us around the ship and gave some general rules/safety tips. All non-alcoholic drinks were complimentary, and cocktails were about 5USD. After everyone else boarded, we set off toward the local islands.
After about an hour and a half ride, we got to a small uninhabited island (we didn’t catch the name of it, but it was slightly to the southwest of Chicken Island) for some snorkeling. Michael warned us that there had been some sea lice (jellyfish larvae) but after being stung, the feeling should wear off quickly.
As an aside – usually sea lice in Florida are HORRIBLE, leaving you with itchy welts wherever you are stung for days afterwards . . . so we were pretty concerned. As it turns out, they really were just stings that went away quickly. Even after Justin got stung on the upper lip, it left a welt for about an hour and then disappeared. We much preferred this type of sea lice.
We were the first people in the water. We swam about 50 feet toward the shore before we were greeted with beautiful views of corals, schooling fish, etc. The visibility was fantastic and the marine life was so alive. It was Justin’s first-time swimming in the Indian Ocean (Andaman Sea), which meant very different varieties of animals to discover. Lauren pointed out three different kinds of clown fish (and the HUGE anemones they lived in), giant clams, a nudibranch, etc.
The other super cool thing about snorkeling here, was that it was up against big, beautiful rock cliffs that rise out of the ocean. It was beautiful swimming between many rocks and coral heads. We absolutely loved the snorkeling here. We snorkeled for about an hour and then headed back to the boat since we were tired of being stung.
We left this snorkeling location within five minutes of boarding and set off towards Chicken Island. During this ride, we talked for about ten minutes with a very friendly female on staff who was from the UK. We chose this particular excursion because it has five stars on viator with 1200 reviews – incredibly impressive. From talking to the staff, we realized why it was so highly rated. This trip was completely curated to meet the desires of the customers – nothing felt rushed, there were plenty of activities to choose from at every stop (kayaking, paddle boarding, lounging, swimming, etc), and the staff went over and above to make sure people were happy (constantly trying to refill drinks, asking us about our vacation plans, etc). You would never know there were other activities based on what Justin and Lauren did at every stop, we just wanted to be in the water looking at all the fishies.
We finally anchored at Chicken Island and saw tons of enormous pink, yellow, and green jellyfish swimming all around us. Michael warned us that they would hurt if you touch it, but they weren’t “dangerous” and easy to avoid.
Again, we were the first in the water. And there were not just “a few” jellyfish. On our short swim towards shore/the reefs, we must have zigzagged around about 50 jellyfish. It was a bit harrowing. The snorkeling again was very good (though not as good of viz as the last stop) and we got to see a large variety of fish/corals.
As the sun started to set, we decided to head back to the boat so that we could easily see/avoid the myriad of jellyfish. We waited a bit back on board for others to return and then the boat took off, cruising around a bit to get us different views of the sunset with islands and other boats for good pictures.
We anchored again near Secret Beach on Poda Island during peak golden hour. We all got pictures at the front of the boat with Michael’s drone and just relaxed while enjoying the views. Some people decided to climb the cliffs near the boat to jump off. Four of the staff (including Michael) jumped from (at least) 50 feet up. They had to rock climb to get to a ledge point to jump from. People cheered and took videos as they jumped and some people on the boat decided to jump from MUCH lower points afterwards (and one girl even subsequently lost her Apple Watch).
Then dinner was served on the boat - a variety of warm Thai dishes (and Justin could eat all of them!). During dinner, Lauren talked to another member of staff named Ricardo, who had just returned to Thailand after a three year trip home to Argentina. He gave us many tips for exploring Buenos Aires and Patagonia, which we hope to utilize sooner rather than later – maybe our next big trip?
When the boat was in complete darkness (and had turned off all its lights), it was time to hop back into the water for a night swim. This part was absolutely magical. The water had bioluminescent plankton! Lauren had kayaked before in Peurto Rico in bioluminescent water, but had never swam in it. And Justin had never experienced it before. It was SO. COOL. This was completely different from what Lauren had previously experienced, which looked more like a cloud of bioluminescence in the water. Here, as you moved your arms/legs, it looked like each individual bubble had a tiny star in it. Absolutely gorgeous.
We climbed back in the boat after a while admiring the plankton and then headed off back to the mooring position near Railay. We got back to shore at 8:30, called a Grab, and hit the hay since we had an early pickup for diving the next day!
This sunset cruise was perfect. 15/10 recommend to anyone visiting Ao Nang/Krabi.
