Khao Sok National Park - Bird watching & Wildlife tour

Level: very easy (our easiest)
Season: all year

Our Khao Sok National Park trips are the best wildlife spotting trips available in southern Thailand. They are also the easiest.  Just about anyone can join this trip.  We spend most of our time watching monkey's playing in the trees and spotting tropical birds.  This is a soft adventure.  The pace is slow and easy as the main focus of this trip is spotting southern Thailand's wildlife.  Khao Sok also offers some of the highest limestone karst mountains in the world.

The birding superb; the wildlife sightings are unbelievable. Hornbills are actually common. We frequently see several species of hornbills. We see Great Hornbills, Bushy-crested Hornbills, Wreathed Hornbills, and Helmeted Hornbills on almost every trip. If you’ve never seen a hornbill, this will be a very special treat! Dave has sighted and is familiar with most of birds in southern Thailand. You don’t have to be a seasoned birder to enjoy the pleasures of birding in this tropical wonderland. Dave’s enthusiasm will make your birding time both educational and fun. Long-tailed macaques, pig-tail macaques, dusky langurs and even gibbons are seen on most trips. One thing is inevitable, you’ll see and/or hear monkeys! We’ve had numerous wild pig sightings. Elephants can still be found in the park, but they are uncommon. It's not uncommon to see elephant tracks however.

Click here to see a list of common birds found in Khao Sok National Park.

Click here to go to the individual Khao Sok page.

Trang - tropical islands tour

Level: easy during the high season and moderately easy during the low season 
Season: seasonal - experienced paddlers only from mid April through October  

Another multi-day destination, south of Krabi, is Trang province. Journeys from one island to another. Relax in comfortable bungalows set in garden environments. This is soft adventure far from the crowds.   Most of these islands are visited by very few Westerners. It’s an undeveloped tourist destination which suits us just fine. Due to the beauty of the islands, especially the limestone karst cliffs and headlands, and their near proximity to one another, these crossings are appropriate for active novices. As each crossing is no more than six nautical miles, they are appropriate for daytime paddling.

Click here to go to the individual Trang page.

Phang Nga Bay - the most famous tour destination in the south

Level: very easy 
Season: all year

Phang Nga Bay is a large, lovely body of water that seems different in every change in weather and light. There are many secluded islands that can be explored at your leisure in comfortable touring kayaks. In these areas, where only the occasional fisherman is seen, wildlife is plentiful.

Phang Nga Bay is one of the most popular tourist destinations in southern Thailand. Every day over a dozen canoeing companies and countless independent operators take tourists to a few well-known locations in the Bay. The result is similar to road traffic in Bangkok. It's noisy, congested, and chaotic. The tourists see the famous "hongs", or inner island lagoons in some of the islands, and make the obligatory trip to see "James Bond Island".

Paddling at your own pace, you'll quickly learn the difference between White-belly Sea Eagles and Brahminy Kites (another large raptor) by the wing configuration while in flight. Other frequent sightings include Pacific Reef Egrets, a wide variety of Kingfishers, Little Herons, Frigate Birds, and Blue Rock Thrushes. Sometimes we catch sight of Oriental Pied Hornbills or Southern Pied Hornbills perched in trees or in flight.

We frequently come upon monitor lizards sunning on rocks, and often see Crab-eating Macaques on the beach or moving in trees near the water. Sometimes we see Dusky langurs in trees high on a cliff face. Monkeys are common in the bay.

We stay in bungalows on an island with a wonderful view of limestone karst formations spread out before us. We enjoy the laid back quality of island life. We aren't too interested in tent camping, which we find very uncomfortable in the tropics. A proper bed and a restaurant are our choice. 

Click here to go to the individual Phang Nga page.

Tarutao Adventure - scene for TV's Survivor Thailand show

Level: moderately easy during the high season (November through mid April) and mildly challenging, depending on the weather during the low season (mid April though October)
Season: seasonal depending on your skill level

Our Tarutao trips are full of wonders.   We often encounter sea turtles, dolphins, monitor lizards, macaques and langurs (monkeys) and a variety of exotic tropical birds. Tarutao is a rather large Island. It’s approximately 30 nautical miles around. There are a lot of small beaches and rocky points. The TV series "Survivor" was filmed on Tarutao in the summer of 2002. We now offer special Survivor Thailand tour packages.

The islands to the northwest of Tarutao offer crystal clear water with amazing marine diversity and primary jungle that reaches right down to the white sand beaches. Unlike Phang Nga Bay, these islands consist not of limestone, but of granite. Huge boulders line many pure white sand beaches.  There are rivers that flow out through the jungle and intersect the beaches. We paddle up these rivers as far as we can, then trek in a little ways further. This is a superb way to see the dense primary jungle. The wildlife doesn’t seem to mind us too much as they often stay around as long as we’re quiet

Click here to go to the individual Tarutao page.
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  We rent our high quality sea kayaks and equipment to experienced paddlers.  We will set you up with everything you need.   

Click here to go to the Rentals page.