Level: easy
to moderately strenuous (depending on the season)
Season:
November through mid April is
moderate
The
middle of April through October is mildly strenuous
Accommodations: Big
tents with air mattresses, lights and fans
We'll meet our guests in Pak
Bara at a specified hotel either the evening before the departure
day or the morning of the day. Pak Bara is the pier for boats heading
to Tarutao National Park. Pak Bara is in the most southern province
of the west coast of Thailand. In fact, Tarutao is only five miles
from Langkawi, Malaysia.
G uests
can either fly into Hat Yai (Thailand) and take a taxi to Pak
Bara (less than two hours) or you can fly into the Trang airport.
Flying into Langkawi, Malaysia is also an option. Transportation
to and from the Hat Yai airport is included. Transportation to and
from Trang or Langkawi is NOT included. We can help you arrange
these locations if required.
Transportation arrangements
must be made seven days in advance. During the 'peak' tourist season
(late December through the middle of January), we strongly recommend
booking your transportation as far in advance as possible.
Note:
this is just a sample itinerary. Each trip is customized according
to our guest's desires.
Day
1
The first paddling trip
starts from the pier. "Pak Bara" means mouth of the Bara river in
Thai. A thriving mangrove forests lines the far shore. We often
encounter a good variety of birds in the mangrove including Little
herons, Whimbrels, Collared kingfishers, Brown-winged kingfishers,
and occasionally others. Mudskippers, small fish that walk out of
the water, like to climb up on the mangrove roots.
We'll do a short crossing to an island called Ko Khao Yai
which literally means "Island Mountain Big" or Big Mountain Island.
It is. There are beaches all the way around the island that we take
advantage of frequently. Long-tailed macaques (monkeys) and sizeable
monitor lizards also frequent these beaches to forage for food.
We'll stay in Pak Bara this evening.
Note: for trips less than eight
days in length we usually head straight out to the outer islands.
Day
2
The public ferry will take us to
Tarutao Island. There's a tidal river flowing through a dense mangrove
forest which exits into the sea near the national park campgrounds/bungalows.
Brahminy kites, White-bellied sea eagles, a variety of kingfishers,
woodpeckers, hornbills, monitor lizards, Long-tailed macaques, Dusky
Langurs (monkeys), and a lot of different exotic birds add character
to an already lovely area.
We'll paddle a stretch of coastline to finish the day.
The evening will be spent camping on one of the many fine secluded
beaches on the west side of the island.
Day
3 
The ferry will take us out to the
outer islands. For bookings of four or less guests, we utilize the
public ferry to access the outer islands. Larger groups have the
option of a private escort boat. With the increase in gas prices,
private escort boats have become extremely expensive. Nothing is
lost by taking the ferry. If fact, it's faster so you get to the
good stuff sooner.
We only offer camping as there
are too many bungalow operations on Ko Lipe and this has negatively
impacted our ability to enjoy staying on this island. Sometimes,
we use the national park bungalow on Ko Adang (depending on the
group).
The big attractions on these outer islands are crystal-clear water,
verdant jungle that grows all the way down to pure white sand beaches,
birds, monkeys, and superb snorkeling.
We'll paddle around Ko Adang, stopping periodically to go
snorkeling. We'll camp on the north side of Ko Adang.
Check out our snorkeling page
at snorkeling.
The amount of marine diversity in Southeast Asia is far above that
of the Caribbean and other parts of the world.
Day
4
We'll continue paddling
around Ko Adang. We'll take our time as this is a gorgeous island.
The jungle on this stretch of the island is thick with tall tropical
trees. The snorkeling is very good.
Day
5
Ko Rawi is our next goal.
We'll paddle along the coastline, stopping to explore secluded beaches
and to go snorkeling.
Day
6
We'll go back to Ko Rawi
to paddle the other side. One side of Ko Rawi forms a beautiful
channel with another island called Ko Butang. We'll spend the entire
day slowly exploring the magnificent coral, interspersed with beach
naps or beach exploring.
Day
7
 Ko
Butang and the other small islands in the area provide us with
a different feel from the previous days. These islands are small
enough to paddle all the way around easily. This is perhaps the
best snorkeling day. We've found huge areas of completely undisturbed
coral. The marinelife is abundant. Huge Moray eels are very common.
Large grouper can still be found if you're willing to look under
some of the larger coral heads. One area has nice variety of sea
anemones. They cover a large portion of a bay.
Day
8
We'll pack up and head to the bungalows
on Ko Adang or camp somewhere close to Ko Lipe so we can catch the
ferry back on the following morning.
Once we arrive in Pak Bara, PaddleAsia's services are finished.
We will gladly assist you in arranging this evening's stay (if required).
If you are going to the Hat Yai airport, we will make the arrangements.
Transfers to Hat Yai or the Trang Airport are included.
Note:
The weather is usually consistent from mid-November through
April. Weather conditions can alter the itinerary.
No experience
is needed for our trips. However, Tarutao is available to novices
from November through mid April only. The majority of our guests
have never paddled before. No problem, we'll teach you proper paddling
technique.
Our trips
are all-inclusive: all transfers (airfare not included), all
equipment, all camping equipment, all meals, all snacks, coffee
and tea, and insurance. |
