Having had such a great time canoeing during the Phang Nga and Beyond tour just a few days earlier, we keenly signed up for a similar tour for our penultimate day in Phuket. In contrast to the earlier tour, where canoeing was just one of several activities, John Grey’s Hong By Starlight is an afternoon and evening tour dedicated entirely to canoeing!
Being honest, the tour didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts. Our midday pickup was the first of several, and once our minibus was full, we spent what seemed like forever travelling to the marina. I had assumed we’d be leaving from the same quay as the Phang Nga tour, but instead we found ourselves being dropped off at a very much less glamorous marina where we waited for several other mini-buses to arrive. It was rather chaotic, not a bit like the smoothly-run small-group tours we have become accustomed to.
We waited on benches at a cafe-cum-convenience store selling all sorts of over-priced accessories for ill-prepared guests. Several mentions were made of there being no drinks served during the tour, but guests were more than welcome to stock up with liquid refreshment here!
Eventually the remaining guests arrived and we were shuttled to the far end of the jetty on open-sided taxis. Here we boarded a rather unglamorous ‘ferry’ that would be our base for the next 7 hours.
Along with 30 other guests, we were directed to the open-sided (but covered) upper deck. With benches on all sides and a long table down the middle. It was comfortable enough, and we were soon joined by our host who ran us through the dos-and-donts of piloted sea canoeing. In contrast to our previous experience – where we were taken out on conventional carbon fibre shelled canoes provided in-situ – John Gray have their own inflatable canoes which are carried on board.
These canoes – design by John Gray himself (the tour company owner, of course, who also happens to have been the first to discover some of the hongs and lagoons that we would be visiting later) – are apparently virtually impossible to capsize. Being inflatable, they also have the benefit of a plan B in the case of slightly higher-than-expected tides: if you can’t fit through a particularly tight tunnel entrance, your pilot can simply let some air out!!
As we sailed towards our first anchor point, we were served a Thai buffet lunch while several of us kept half an eye on the increasingly leaden skies. As luck would have it, the rain storm that coincided with our arrival at the first island didn’t last long, but our first paddle did need to be cut short to get us back on schedule.
It was only once the rains had stopped and we were receiving our final briefing that we realised quite how many crew members there were on board. I had assumed we’d be meeting our canoe pilots in situ (as we had for the Phang Nga tour), but in fact, all of the pilots had boarded our boat before us, and had been holed up on the lower deck while we’d been enjoying our lunch.
Each couple (along with a solo passenger or two) were paired up with a pilot, so there must have been at least 16 of them on board. Though I can’t remember our pilot’s name, we spent most of the afternoon with him, both out on the water, and back on board. He was very friendly and this arrangement certainly added a degree of “intimacy” to the large-group tour feel. We must be very thankful too for having been paired up with one of the most enthusiastic pilots – each time we took to the water, our pilot made sure we were at the front of the queue. This meant that we got more time out on the water, and often had an unspoiled view of our surroundings.
Because of the rain delay, our first paddle was a bit of a non-event. We should have been taken through tunnels to visit a lagoon, but the tide was too high and so instead we had to be content with exploring this first island from the ocean-side.
All in good time though! By the time we’d arrived at our second island, we were back on schedule, and so we able to make our first of several tunnel forays. As before, we needed to lie flat on several occasions to avoid being guillotined by the razor-sharp rocks overhead.
Inside the lagoons, we were introduced to the same mangroves and mudskippers that we had previously seen, but this time the mudskippers were fatter and slightly less camera shy!
The rain clouds cleared just as quickly as they had arrived earlier that day, and we spent much of the afternoon in glorious sunshine. So much so in fact that our pilot very kindly went out of his way to find shade for us wherever he could.
While exiting a tunnel at the end of our second paddle, we encountered a solo canoeist from another tour party coming in the opposite direction. Most of John Gray’s guides have been doing this for years and are very comfortable even when navigating the tightest of tunnels, but the same can’t be said for every visitor here! Our guide grabbed one of the rocks overhead and pulled us to one side, as far away from the path of the oncoming canoe as he could. Judging by the trepidation in her voice as she passed by, she was a lot more stressed by the encounter than our guide was, but it never felt like we were going to collide. If we had, she would have just bounced off us like a bumper car!
Back on board, we moved on to our third and final island. Here, we paddled into a enormous cave. Hanging from the cave roof a few metres above our heads were several hundred bats.
Later, our guide made a detour into an inlet where he had spotted a fisherman. Whether this guy is always at that particular spot, or whether we just got lucky that day, I don’t know, but we had a brief opportunity to look at his catch and ask some questions. Our guide explained that the most valuable catch in these waters is very large shrimp. Though they are sold by weight, shrimp over a certain weight cost more per kilogram than the smaller ones.
At the end of our third paddle, we were given the opportunity to try our hand at piloting. Our pilot jumped off and handed the oar to Kit. Cue inevitable selfies as we made a few laps of the boat … with only the occasional collision!
Back on board, we had work to do. In what would prove to be one of the highlights of the day, we were tasked (with a considerable amount of help from our canoe pilot!) with making a Krathong – a buoyant, decorated “basket” which is traditionally floated on a river or canal during the annual Loi Krathong festival. Celebrated in several south east Asian countries (though having a different name in each), Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon on the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar.
A Krathong can come in many shapes and sizes. Indeed, each guide on our tour had a slightly different design that they helped their “team” to create, though common materials of banana leaves and various flowers were used by everyone.
At the centre of any Krathong will be one or more candles. After our creations were complete, everyone got back out on the water for one final paddle, and we waited for the sun to disappear over the horizon before lighting the candles and setting our Krathong afloat.
In the almost total darkness of a cave entrance, our guide showed us how to “awaken” the phosphorescent plankton floating beneath us by trailing our hands quickly through the water. Though not quite as spectacular as a cave full of glow worms (something we experienced during our first visit to New Zealand), seeing thousands of glowing white dots in the an otherwise totally dark (and silent) cave was quite an experience.
Back on the boat, it was time to head back to the marina. During the hour-long voyage, we were served a delicious seafood buffet dinner. There could have been no more perfect way to end the day except for perhaps a Thai beer… I guess we really should have listened to those suggestions to bring some drinks with us on board!
