{"id":922,"date":"2016-05-21T22:57:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T05:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/?p=922"},"modified":"2016-06-01T22:19:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T05:19:07","slug":"national-marine-park-koh-hong-archipelago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/?p=922","title":{"rendered":"National Marine Park – Koh Hong Archipelago"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sceen<\/a><\/p>\n

If you have every considered visiting Thailand one of the country\u2019s prominate attractions are its\u2019 amazing vertical islands, called karsts, that dot the seas all around the coast of county.\u00a0 There are literally hundreds of them, and one of the most famous is called \u201cJames Bond Island\u201d. It was featured in the movies \u201cThe Man with the Golden Gun\u201d and \u201cTomorrow Never Dies\u201d.\u00a0 The islands are made from the limestone that has been left behind after the softer rock eroded away over the eons. They\u2019re magnificent structures, and as far as Susan was concerned they were the reason for our visit to Thailand.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Setup: Unforeseen Events<\/a>
\nIntroduction: Planning for Thailand<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific International First Class – San Francisco To Hong Kong<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: The Pier, Hong Kong International Airport<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Dragonair International Business Class – Hong Kong To Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Anantara Layan Phuket Resort – Deluxe Seaview Suite<\/strong><\/a>
\nBoat Transfer &\u00a0Check-in:\u00a0The Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai – Ocean View Pool Villa Suite<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort<\/strong><\/a>
\nDay Trip: National Marine Park – Koh Hong Archipelago<\/strong><\/a>
\nFinal Thoughts & Monkey Business – Santhiya Koh Yao Yai<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Thai Royal Orchid Lounge – Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Lux Pay In Lounge – Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Dragonair International Business Class – Phuket To Hong Kong<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Regal Airport Hotel – Superior Room<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific International First Class – Hong Kong To Chicago<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: American Airlines Flagship Lounge – Chicago<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: American Airlines Domestic First Class – Chicago To San Francisco<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n

\"map<\/a>Our day trip<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Beautiful sights<\/p>\n

After a couple of days of research and questioning we decided on visiting Koh Hong Archipelago in the National Marine Park. We negotiated with a local cabby named \u201cMr. Him\u201d who was one of the sweetest gentlemen you could ever meet on Koa Yao Yai. We choose a private traditional Thai long boat for our journey and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve had a more delightful experience on the water. The cost of our tour was 5,000 Thai Baht ($140.00 U.S.) and it included bottles of water, sliced fruit, and snorkel equipment. The excursion was 4 hours and we met Mr. Him\u2019s associate Mr. O (and Capitan of the vessel) at 10:00am on Klong Hi Pier on the north side of the island.<\/p>\n

\"boat<\/a>Our ride for the day<\/p>\n

\"boat\"<\/a>Another pic of the boat<\/p>\n

\"Mr.<\/a>Captain\u00a0Mr. O<\/p>\n

After a couple formalities we pushed off and started our journey around the Andaman sea. The first island we visited was Hong Island Bay and Pelay Beach. Once you arrive at the island you pay a small national park fee in order to visit and your long boat docks with the rest of the long boats visiting the bay. The beach is beautiful and snorkeling was good.<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Pelay Beach<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Approaching dock<\/p>\n

\"dock<\/a>Dock to national park<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Lots of long boats<\/p>\n

\"sign\"<\/a>Park sign<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>View from beach<\/p>\n

Right after that we visited the interior lagoon of Hong Island (Hong Island Lagoon). This is a fairly dramatic enclosed water lagoon that has entry and exit through a tight opening. Other boats gather in the lagoon and relax and swim in the warm shallow waters.<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>On the way in<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Coming around<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Entry into the lagoon<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Inside lagoon<\/p>\n

\"logoon<\/a>Tranquil lagoon swimming<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Exit lagoon<\/p>\n

We then toured around several small Islands including Ko Lao Ka, Ko Pak Ka and Ko Lao Lading. These islands don\u2019t have any large beaches, but do have dramatic cliffs and caves around their shores. Several of the caves have inhabitants that are local fishermen, and they would give you a friendly wave as you cruised on by.<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Touring around<\/p>\n

\"islands<\/a>Vertical sides to the islands<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a><\/p>\n

Cliff caves<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Dramatic features<\/p>\n

At this point we visited and beached on Koh Phak Bia, which is a series of 1 main island and 2 smaller islets. There is small sandy beach\/ land bridge that connects 2 of the islands and makes are a wonderful place to \u201cdock\u201d and spend some beach time. There was a monkey on this beach which Susan got very excited about. Upon seeing Susan\u2019s reaction to the monkey Mr. O proceeded to take us around to the next island Ko Phakbia, which Mr. O called \u201cMonkey Island\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Around to Koh Phak Bia<\/p>\n

\"bridge<\/a><\/p>\n

Land bridge beach<\/p>\n

\"bio<\/a>Nice formations<\/p>\n

\"sign<\/a>National Park sign<\/p>\n

\"monkey\"<\/a>Locals at the beach<\/p>\n

There are no beaches on Monkey Island, but there was a small cove we visited. Mr. O had fruit and packaged noodles that he shared with the Monkey\u2019s. Susan freaked out over this and absolutely enjoyed the show. At one point there were 20 to 30 monkeys, all sizes and ages, vying for their portion of the handouts. Susan had been on the search for monkeys the entire time in Thailand and the scene on Monkey Island was her favorite part of the trip.<\/p>\n

\"monkey<\/a>Monkey Island<\/p>\n

On our way back to Klong Hi Pier our final stop was Ko Nok, a small island with a large triangle beach. The sand was great and the water was shallow and warm. This island sits mostly by itself in the sea off the coast. It was a great way to finish a perfect day on the water exploring the beautiful islands of Thailand.<\/p>\n

\"island<\/a>On way the home<\/p>\n

\"island<\/a>More cool islands<\/p>\n

\"sceen<\/a>Ko Nok Island<\/p>\n

\"triangle<\/a>Thai long boats<\/p>\n

\"picknic<\/a>Somebody setting up a picnic<\/p>\n

In Summary:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Our day trip to the Koh Hong Archipelago was a highlight of the trip. It gave Susan one of her favorite memories, the visit to Monkey Island. Having your private Thai long boat and Capitan is an enchanting way to travel around the scenic Thai islands, and\u00a0Mr. O really took care of us. For the cost of $140US it\u2019s hard to beat this deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have every considered visiting Thailand one of the country\u2019s prominate attractions are its\u2019 amazing vertical islands, called…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-santhiya-resorts","category-thailand"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7dlYm-eS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=922"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1805,"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions\/1805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}