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ARTICLES, SPEECHES AND OTHER READING
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Ko'olau Moloka'i is legendary for rough seas |
After one successful landing, my sweep guide shouted. I spun around, face-on to a building wave. There are better situations than standing on a rock bottom as cresting wave sucked out the shallows, but this was far worse. A kayak sat on the cresting lip, about to get pitched forward "Over The Falls" directly down onto the rocks. My easy exit was to dive beneath the wave, but with disaster looming, I swam up the vertical face to the peak, put my hand on the bow of my client's kayak, and pushed the boat down onto the back of the wave. A With the kayak now on the on the back of the wave, the wave became a cushion of water that crash beneath the paddlers. The momentum of the break pushed my friends onto the rock beach, where my beach guide grabbed their bowline.
My clients were safe, but my momentum tossed me backward with surprising force. Free falling in front of the wave while facing it, I knew I would hit the rocks on my back. If I hit flat on the wide rock I use as a "channel", I would land flat, and might survive. A foot either side and I would break my back on the boulders.
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Deep Inside A Secret Spot |
As I tumbled down the froth, I thought "Either I die, or I'm going to Thailand."
I landed prone, jolted but uninjured.
It's been ten years since I left Hawaii's rough waters, and I'm still in Phuket, exploring the calm lake-like waters of the Andaman Sea. I oppose travel to Burma, and never liked Mahitir, so I limit myself to Thai waters. That's plenty - its 500 kilometers from Burma to Malaysia, and Thailand's seas are such magic that each day brings a new surrealistic adventure. My new playground is so varied that in the morning, I might crawl the dark muddy waters of a smelly, cramped bat-populated limestone cave. In the afternoon, I may be suspended in the invisible waters of a lively coral reef.
Even more Amazing, both mystical and complicated experiences rate as World-Class. Thanks to Similans diving, Thailand's reefs are famous. And now, thanks to SeaCanoe, Thailand's sea caves are also famous.
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Anapuhi Cave, Ha'upu Bay, Moloka'i |
I started kayaking into sea caves in Hawai'i, but despite excitement of surging water, strange sound effects and sturdy lava walls, nothing compares with exploring tidal limestone caves by kayak. Most sea caves that Westerners visualize are created by surf battering a cliff, digging a tunnel down a fault line for a few meters. These caves usually have high ceilings, hard walls and rarely extend more than a hundred meters.
Asia's stalactite-filled limestone caves are completely different. Unlike the drama of crashing surf, the creation of Thailand's sea caves is quite subtle, virtually unnoticeable. The changing tides find a crack and eat it away over the eons - but only within the tidal range. The ceilings are low, but the tunnels can extend for miles inside an island.
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With training and sensitivity, it's possible to visit limestone sea caves with virtually no environmental impact. |
The complicated sparkling beauty of sedimentary caves has always fascinated humans. Rainwater percolates down through all karst, especially tropical, gathering and depositing minerals to form the flowstone sculptures we all know. But limestone caves are delicate. A misplaced footprint or gentle bump can damage a cave forever. However, a properly trained kayaker can explore limestone sea caves with no impact - not even a footprint. Of course, environmental sensitivity, volume limits, professional training and basic respect are necessary factors, but a skillful kayaker can enjoy a limestone cave with no impact.
As an added bonus, many Asian tidal sea caves open into a cliff-lined lagoon formed by collapsed potholes. Connected to Our World only through the caves, these chambers become perfect examples of what the Planet was like before we came along. Once we started discovering them, we called these chambers "Hong's", Thai for room.
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Honeymoon Hong, Phang Nga Bay |
"I can't believe it - that Hong is the most beautiful place I've ever been," said a Phuket-based dive master on a recent trip. We just visited a still-pristine secret Hong a day's journey south of Phuket. I was shocked. This lady lived her lived her life on the World's most beautiful coral reefs, yet her "Hong" experience moved her the most.
With the entire Andaman Coast within range of our overnight expeditions, we still enjoy the privilege of visiting still-perfect sea caves. However, be warned that pristine experience is lost on Phuket day trips. Our success spawned almost 20 untrained copycats now who simply don't understand or respect limestone. The "Labor of Love" concept that forms the heart of true Ecotourism is totally absent. Their uncontrolled high volume greed killed the pristine ambiance of the caves closest to Phuket - and got our manager shot when he complained about a scheme that locked us out of the sites we commercialized - financed by a "surcharge" of "only tourists".
Our sin was advocating professional training and realistic volume controls.
Don't be discouraged. Away from the day-trip crowds, South Thailand is still a paddler's paradise. From November to May, the waters from Koh Tarutao to Koh Surin are as calm as they are blue, and the islands are stunning masterpieces of limestone, granite and coral, often packed with wildlife.
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Klong Son, Tarutao |
Somehow, Tarutao National Park has escaped poachers, chainsaws and dynamite fishermen. The hardwood forests and mangrove swamps harbor bountiful wildlife. On one recent one-week trip, we saw mouse deer, macaques, two-meter sea eagles, pythons, jumping sailfish and porpoise, water monitor lizards and Bramany kites.
There's more - rock gardens so much fun they eat up the days. Whenever there's a scattering of rocks sticking out of the sea, there's a lot of fun in a kayak. Add a surge to this natural obstacle course and there's extra fun, although the skill level also rises. The top two rock gardens I've found in 20 years of sea kayak exploring are near Tarutao. Of course, when we tire of breathing, its time to grab masks and snorkels, jump in the kayaks and explore the nearest coral reef.
None of this requires the skill of tidal cave kayaking, and many folks either rent or bring their own kayaks. In season, the seas are that benign.
Off-season, the Andaman gets rough. Half the days are "Tradewind" calm, breezy with whitecaps. However, the Andaman gets downright nasty, with short frequency overhead troughs that make navigation a survival experience - fun for experienced sea kayakers, but downright dangerous for the typical family outing.
In the low season, we hunker down close to the coast, sticking to coastal mangroves and rock gardens, and the protected waters of Phang Nga Bay. High season crowds are down, and with the addition of Long Beach bungalows on Koh Yao Noi, we take our overnighters under a roof when rain drives us from our tents.
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Ptay for rain, Hong Yai, August 2002 |
Low season has an undeserved reputation. Locals love the cooler weather that's better than High Season Hawai'i, and we've found an odd bonus. Rainy season is when the rivers run in the South, so we developed a program that combines protected coastlines and inland rivers. There's even one river that runs through a mountain. Cave river running is something we picked up in Lao, where we paddle a nine-mile cave.
Of course, in Lao you can't paddle through a cave and run a rock garden in the same day.
That experience is only available in South Thailand.
Who knows, I might be here a few more years.
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©2005 John Gray Sea Canoe
Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. 124 Soi 1 Yaowarat Rd., Taladyai, Muang, Phuket 83000, Thailand Tel. (66-76) 254505-7 | Fax: (66-76) 226077 E-mail: info@johngray-seacanoe.com |
