Gym's Ramblings: Spring 2023 - Exploring Mu Ko Ang Thong

Like something out of a 007 movie, this is just one of
42 cool islands in the Ang Thong Marine Park

About an hour northwest of Koh Samui by speedboat, is a protected Marine National Park that was established in 1980. The park includes 42 islands inside a total area of about 102 square kilometres. You can only access the park with sanctioned tour operators that pay the entrance fee for you and provide access to the the limited facilities that they have on the islands. This keeps the number of people that visit the park to a manageable number and helps protect the fragile nature of the ecosystem. On March 26, 2023, Gym and his dear companion joined a group of seven Brits, two Aussies, two Americans and two Maltese on an excellent day-long tour of the park.

The tour was operated by Oceana Samui Charters and the boat and crew did a wonderful job. It cost 9,000 baht ($360 cdn) each, which sounds steep but it included a hot lunch, kayaks, snorkelling gear, unlimited soft drinks and water, park fees and great guides.

It was a beautiful day and the sea was mostly flat but Mrs. Gym was turning green until they let her sit in the copilot's seat at the front. She then turned back to her normal colour for the rest of the trip. Gym was glad she got better because he got his phone a little wet at the first stop and her camera was needed to capture some of the cool stuff they saw. Thank you, Mrs. Gym!

The first stop of the day, was a snorkelling opportunity by Koh Wow island. The reef was in pretty good shape and there was some pretty good marine life to look at there. Gym struggled to take some underwater pictures and did not end up with any at all. His phone's underwater case must have been defective and the phone got a bit wet and ended up shutting down. Notwithstanding this unforeseen setback, he enjoyed the chance to get in the water and see a couple of levels of brightly-coloured tropical fish. And his phone did recover later that evening.

The second stop involved climbing the height of about 15 stories up steep stairs from the beach on Ko Mae Ko island, to the rim of the limestone cliffs surrounding Thalae Nai Lake (also known as Emerald Lake). It is a saltwater lake that is not connected to the sea at the surface. It is however connected by a submarine tunnel and fish are able to transit that tunnel to the lake, from the sea. Up on the viewing platform, one has an intoxicating view not only Emerald Lake but also of the picturesque, nearby islands.

The third stop was lunch. Koh Paluay is the only inhabited island inside the boundaries of the park. The local population of about 500 are mainly fishermen but they also make a few baht by feeding tour groups and selling knick-knacks, liquor and cannabis. Apparently, there may also be a limited number of rooms to rent there. Gym thought the lunch was excellent. There was a tasty fish soup, followed by a rich fish curry on rice and dessert. After lunch the tour group was lucky enough to see a pair of Hornbills in a tree. These are big, odd-looking Toucan-like birds. They were posing near the bananas that were put out to attract them.

The last place we visited was Two Brothers Beach, for kayaking or beachcombing. Gym and his dear wife chose beachcombing because they never have gotten along when they have shared a kayak in the past. They can't find the zen that is required to coordinate paddling and end up using the paddles as weapons. Beachcombing is always a much more suitable choice for them. The beachcombers' most interesting find that day was some brain coral that had washed up on the sand.

The day slid by quickly and as the sun began to get low on the horizon, the speedboat headed back to the dock at Koh Samui. Our travelers slept well that night, bushed after a significant amount of excersize in the hot sun.