CFW

Has anyone taken the June Bahtra chinese junk boat trip on Phang Nga Bay in Phuket? Love to get opinions & recommendations.

TracyB

Hi, we took Long Tail Boats to Phang Nga Bay and I thought it was awesome!!

sandi

We did the day-trip on the June Bahtra and it was a delight. There were about 24 people on board, plus a crew of about 4 or 5 and the captain.

The scenery was beautiful. At a point you get into a longtail boat to go thru the caves and other places/islands where the June Bahtra can't. Everyone wears life vests (by law). The stop at James Bond Island is touristy with many souvenir stands, but interesting. Lunch was delicious. And they take you by zodiac (for about 1/2 to 3/4-hr) to a small island where you can swim or relax. Note that the water is extremely salty, so watch for any open cuts or freshly shaved legs.

Most on the boat were couples, all ages, various languages, though crew is milti-lingual as is the captain, lots of honeymooners.

They pick-up at your hotel by 9am, drive up to the marina, you pay an extra Park Fee (believe is was 200Baht), and they provide return transfer to your hotel, arriving by about 5pm. It was a great day!

CFW

Sounds great! We'll book it. Where did you stay on Phuket? Any other things you would recommend? restaurants?

bg_collier

If you're willing to live with a little bit of discomfort, I second the motion of taking a long-tail. The discomfort is due to the low seats and little leg room. But, the beauty of their design is the shallow displacement and thin width, allowing them to cruise way up into the mangrove forest tributaries and through the water caves. Brilliant stuff. Of course, you'd have to find a boat that does all that, but I thought the side trips were as interesting as the open sea. Maybe more so.

On my website, I've got a number of photographs taken from trips on longtails in the bay, so this is what you might see:

http://www.brucegcollier.com/galleri...level2_all.htm

Scroll through the thumbnails and you'll readily recognize them.

Nothing beats sailing the Andaman Sea!

Regards, Bruce
www.brucegcollier.com

TracyB

Wow, your picture's are amazing!! I looked through your Egypt and Greece one's as well, as I have also travelled there, and they are breathtaking!!

Hanuman

Bruce,

Beautiful photographs!

CFW

Stunning photographs. Would love to learn more about your travels in Thailand as it seems you sent to some interesting places off the beaten path.

bg_collier

TracyB, Hanuman, CFW,

Thank you very much for your kind words and for taking the time to view the photos.

CFW - I can't say I've been off the beaten path compared to many, but I definitely enjoy finding the road less traveled. Ao Phang-Nga and Issan were the two places I enjoyed the most in my travels to Thailand. I'm getting off-topic now, but I can't say enough good things about northeast countryside, especially Prasats Phimai and Phanom Rung. Felt like I had the places to myself. That's an exaggeration, of course, but a completely different ballgame than Chiang Mai, BKK, etc.

Regards, Bruce
www.brucegcollier.com

john44

Can anyone advise of approx cost of day trip to Jamas Bond Island on Long Tail Boats,

TracyB

We paid $40.00 Canadian each for the whole day which included p/u from our hotel in Patong, lunch and the longtail boat ride to James Bond Island..It was a great day..

sandi

Our cost was USD$65 with transfers from/to our hotel, lunch for the June Bahtra then tranfers to longtails. It's more than reasonable for a full day out on the Andaman Sea.

They also have a Sunset Cruise w/dinner at about USD$35 or $40. There is a website with details of this activity and some others, listed under a company called East-West Siam.

hipvirgochick

This sounds like a wonderful day trip. How to choose between between day trip to Phi-Phi/Kai or Phang Nga Bay if we only have time for one? Although we'd like to do some quality snorkeling and visit Phi-Phi, the long tail excursions to Phang Nga sound perfect. We're staying on Phuket and it doesn't sound like there's great snorkeling there. Please offer opinion based on your experience.

easytraveler

If you are going on a "cruise" in Phang Nga Bay, bring some kind of raingear, like a poncho (which would be best). Umbrellas don't work very well. We were half way across the bay when the skies opened up and it felt like the heavens were dumping water on us by the bucketful. Half an hour later, it cleared up and we had brilliant sunshine. In a long boat, there's nowhere to run for shelter - lo!

Also bring bug spray. They took us to some kind of cave where I was so bitten inside of ten minutes, I had to beat a hasty retreat with HUGE swollen bites all over my arms and face. Others went deep into the caves and came out unscathed.

It's such a beautiful area! Enjoy!