KAYAKINGDemo

Phi Phi Islands Sea Kayak

Ko Phi Phi, Krabi Province · Thailand

Easy3 daysAsia~£200 est.

Overview

The Phi Phi archipelago in the Andaman Sea is one of Thailand's most dramatic seascapes — limestone karst towers draped in jungle, rising straight from water so clear you can see the shadow of your kayak on the seabed at 8m depth. The standard tourist experience arrives by speedboat and leaves by afternoon. The kayak experience is something else entirely. Three days of paddling gives you access to the sea caves, hidden lagoons, and morning coves that the tour boats never reach. The hongs — enclosed tidal lagoons inside hollow karst formations — can only be entered by kayak at low tide, ducking through tunnel entrances less than a metre high to emerge into cathedral chambers open to the sky, with herons nesting on the cliff walls and mangrove roots descending into crystalline water. Maya Bay — the beach made famous by The Beach — is best approached by kayak in the early morning before 7am, when the speedboats haven't yet arrived and the beach is empty of everything except sand, cliff, and sea. The national park closed the bay for three years to allow coral recovery; the water clarity has improved dramatically since reopening. Camping on Phi Phi Don with a kayak allows access to the bay side beaches after sunset, when bioluminescent plankton lights the water blue with each paddle stroke.