LAID BACK IN THAILAND

CATHERINE LAWSON AND DAVID BRISTOW ENJOY A SEASON OF EXPLORING AND EASY SAILING ALONG THAILAND'S SPECTACULAR ANDAMAN SEA COAST

- CATHERINE LAWSON AND DAVID BRISTOW

We’re sailing through Phang Nga Bay between towering limestone spires. They’re so close in this deep squeeze of current that I can see long-tailed macaques scaling a rock pinnacle off to port. I post a clip to Instagram and a friend tells me it’s fake: “No way can that be real,” he says, and I shake my head in sheer wonder.

We push on, ghosting across a giant bay so calm and protected that we could drop anchor just about anywhere. A handful of tourist speedboats make a beeline for the over-loved ‘James Bond’ Island, so we sail elsewhere and find our own patch of watery wild beneath Koh Phanak.

‘Koh’ means island in Thai and more than 100 are studded over the Andaman Sea. Deep within many of them are hidden lagoons with water almost too blue to be true. Rock walls that are entirely submerged at high water reveal tunnel entrances at their base when the tide goes out. These lure us ashore in our dinghy to creep deep inside, wading through shallow pools and climbing past stalactites and glistening flowstones.

In the cave tunnels, our torch beams catch blind cave spiders unawares, and spotlight tiny insectivorous bats clinging overhead before the literal light at the end of the tunnel leads us out into a sunny opening, like a rainforested room. The Thais call these magical hidden lagoons hongs.

Some of Phang Nga’s tunnels are wide enough for us to paddle our kayaks through. Others require muddy rope climbs to scale to lofty viewpoints etched with indigenous art and quartz crystals.

There’s a Javanese stilt fishing village to explore and many beaches, and all of it stacks up to some of the best shore adventures we’ve enjoyed in months.

Here’s the surprising thing we quickly discover about cruising in Thailand: you can know it as a traveller – the cheap beachside bars, hammocks and bungalows – but when you cruise there you see what you can never experience with your heels dug into the sand.