Krabi
province is basically a coastal bay, filled with 200 tiny islands. Although
some of these, like Koh Phi-Phi are big enough to have accommodation on
them, the majority are small uninhabited lumps of rock and beach, dotted
around the bay. Whenever you see pictures of Phuket, you will spot three
or four pictures of Krabi beaches in there, despite the fact that they're
a day-trip away (I don't think I've ever seen a advert for Phuket that
didn't include a picture of Phi-Phi Leh island, which is 2 hours away
by boat!). So the way to see the real beauty of the area is to go on a
boat trip. The trip cost us £5 each, which includes a pre-packaged lunch
of fried rice, and was one of the few 'good value' things here.
We
started off visiting two different rocky islands, for a spot of snorkelling.
Charlotte was soon splashing around like a seal in her flippers, whizzing
all over the area to see what she could find. She was particularly fascinated
by the sea cucumbers, as she'd heard they were the only animals which
breathe through their bottoms. She'd not swum with flippers before, but
found them great fun. Emily couldn't get her snorkel mask to work, but
used her goggles instead, and enjoyed everything until the moment she
was surrounded by clouds of fish eating the rice that the boatman had
thrown in. Both of the girls were in the water for over an hour, and came
out looking like prunes.
After
using all their energy on snorkelling, it was nice to end up on a beach
at Poda Island, where we ate lunch, built sandcastles, and lounged in
the warm water. The sea here is so warm that it doesn't cool you down
as much as you'd want - its like sitting in a warm bath. Life's tough
isn't it!