9 November - Koh Rok to Koh Muk, Thailand

Koh in Thai means island. So we are at Muk Island. Yes, really. Despite the name, it boasts breathtaking scenery & a special feature - Emerald Cave.

But why are we here when we said we were going to sail overnight to Phuket? No, there's no problem, thankfully; just a change of plans. When we left Langkawi, we fully intended to keep going until we reached Phuket. We had some good sailing & a fair bit of motoring, but then we were within reach of an island named Koh Rok (there are lots of islands off the west coast of Thailand) that had been recommended to us, & our friends Gloria & Michael of Paikea Mist were there, so we decided to stop for the night. Another reason is because we realized it was our wedding anniversary, so that was another good excuse to stop.

Last night we partied at Koh Rok with Paikea Mist & Serenity, drinking champagne & eating fancy chocolates, then got up this morning & went for a snorkel in lovely clear water before sailing a short distance to Ko Muk. This being a special day, our friends had convinced us that we should not just sail all day to get to Phuket, but instead join them at Ko Muk so we could party some more. Now that we're so close to our destination, we feel comfortable stopping, since we can easily make it to Phuket from here.

And Koh Muk is glorious. We are anchored right next to soaring limestone cliffs undercut at the base for that very Asian look that we've seen in so many photographs, & which made such an impression on me during my first visit to this part of the world 25 years ago. There are small islands off in the distance, fishing float flags adding color to the scene, & very foreign-looking fishing boats all around. We're only about 3 miles from the Thai mainland, so there are tour boats with dozens of Asian tourists & a few “farang” all decked out in fluorescent lifejackets. There were several groups of these at the cave when BB & I swam over to check it out, so we waited until the noisy bunch were gone & then had the place to ourselves. It's aptly named the Emerald Cave because the water inside reflects a very green light - rather eerie, but very beautiful. There were several tunnels to explore & one of those tunnels led to a small private grotto with steep vine-covered cliffs draped down to a lovely little beach. Simply awesome.  That grotto could only be reached by swimming through the cave, & we had it all to ourselves for a good 20 minutes before the next group of tourists invaded. I did lots of cartwheels, happy to be in such a beautiful place.

We continued the celebration of our 3 years married by having pizza night aboard Migration, with champagne. We were treated to a rosy sunset, & it was a gorgeous starry night. We were very pleased we'd made the decision to slow down a bit to enjoy a very fun & adventurous day.

says ADR