We decided we wanted to explore other islands in the area while on Koh Phangan. This lead us to the Ang Thong Marine Park, and the day tours that are available with various tour companies. The marine park is a protected area consisting 42 islands in the Gulf of Thailand. Most of the islands are limestone hills, sinkholes, caves, and inland lakes. There is one nomadic village at Ko Wua Ta Lap and one other at Ko Phaluai – all of the other islands are uninhabited.
While looking through the tour options, I discovered that it was possible to stay overnight on Ko Wua Ta Lap. Since we were planning our trip from Koh Phangan, rather than Koh Samui, we had limited options for tour companies (a lot more boats leave from Koh Samui).
We decided to visit one of the tour desks near our resort to see what options we had for booking a tour and accommodation on the island. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any details on the overnight options, and after calling a couple tour companies, were unable to help us.
We decided to do a bit more research on our own. We found a few tours that allowed the overnight option, but the cost was quite high. It was almost double the cost of a one day tour, they were charging nearly the same amount for the return boat back to Koh Phangan the next day. I understand why they need to charge, as we are taking up two places on the second day tour, but we weren’t too sure we wanted to spend that much more for basically a boat ride back to the island.
We were deciding to go ahead with the more expensive option (or no trip at all), when I found Orion Boat Trips (https://www.phanganboattrips.com/). I’m not sure how I found it, as the overnight option wasn’t really advertised, but it was a selection while making a booking for the one-day tour. And, it only cost 100 baht more for the overnight option! We thought it sounded too good to be true, so we read through all the details and the fine print. From everything we read, it seemed legit so we decided to book and see what happened.
The next hurdle was booking the bungalow on the island. To book a bungalow you must use the National Park website (http://nps.dnp.go.th/reservation.php), which is not very good. There are only 5 or 6 bungalows available on the island, accommodating 2 to 8 people. Before reserving a bungalow you have to create a user account on their website. Once you have an account you can search for the national park (Mu Ko ang Thong), enter your check in/check out dates, and search for availability. The search results will contain details about each bungalow available and the price. We booked a bungalow for 2 people. It had a seating area, bathroom, bedroom (with fan), and a patio out front with a drying rack for clothes.
When reserving the bungalow, you can select to make payment via a bank transfer or payment at a specified bank. In the terms (additional information) it does note that payment needs to be made within 2 business days, or the reservation would be automatically cancelled. I was worried about this part, because it was Friday afternoon and I was booking for the following Monday, plus bank stuff usually takes longer over a weekend – I wasn’t very confident in the booking actually being a success.
After selecting the payment option, you enter your details and make the reservation. The bank details needed to complete the transfer are not provided until you complete the booking. You will find the details listed on the confirmation page, along with reference numbers to use. I did not receive an email confirmation for the booking but took a screenshot of the confirmation so that I could show them upon arrive (in case there were any issues).
Now all we had to do was wait for Monday to see how smoothly all the booking arrangements went…
Shortly after making the booking with Orion I was contacted via email asking for pick up/drop off locations. Once provided I received a pickup time. I didn’t hear anything from the marine park bungalow…
The driver from Orion was a few minutes early on Monday morning. We hoped in the pickup truck and made our where to the boat pier. Along the way, we picked up two other couples.
When we got to the pier, we checked in at a table setup along the water bank. I mentioned that we were staying overnight (just to confirm and make sure all was good). She made a note in the book and asked where we wanted to be dropped off the following day. She also mentioned that if the tour for the next day was cancelled (bad weather, etc.) we would have to stay on the island for an additional night. From there we boarded the boat.
They had light refreshments available as we got on the boat (fruits and drinks). The boat wasn’t scheduled to depart until 9:00am, so we had about 30 minutes to wait for additional passengers before we left.
We had a large boat, but only had about 30 people on board. Everyone had plenty of space and were able to spread out across the boat. About halfway into the journey, the boat crew walked around the boat offering drinks and fruit.
We arrived at our first stop a little over an hour later. We anchored next to Ko Nai Put island and got off the boat to do some snorkelling. I was expecting to see lots of other boats anchored with masses of people in the water, but it wasn’t too bad. There was another large boat on one end of the area, a couple speed boats anchored together, and a few fishing boats – nothing overly crowded. While we were snorkelling the other boats left so we were the only ones in the area.
After our snorkel we were provided lunch on the boat. We had fried chicken, rice, and a couple vegetable dishes. Everything was quite nice, and better than expected for tour boat food.
While we were eating we travelled about 30 minutes to another island – Ko Mae Ko. Half the group had booked kayaks, so they were dropped off on one side of the island (and were kayaking to the other side to meet us). The rest of the group stayed on the boat and made our way to the other side of the island. While on this island you had the option to hangout on the beach and swim, or climb to the lagoon lookout. The climb to the lookout was pretty steep, but worth the amazing view at the top.
After we climbed the lookout, we had time for a swim, before boarding the boat again. From here we headed to our last stop, Ko Wua Ta Lap (which is where we were staying the night).
On Ko Wua Ta Lap you had the option to climb to the lookout (500m up), hike into the cave (300m up) or hangout and swim on the beach. We decided to do the cave with the group (and hoped we had energy to do the lookout later in the day or the following morning).
The climb to the caves we a bit more of a scramble than we expected. We thought the climb to the lookout was the “harder” climb but turns out it was the cave. I was wearing a pair of flip flops, climbing over limestone rocks, pulling myself up with ropes, all while trying not to fall or slip. The whole time I’m climbing the 300m to the cave I’m thinking about the return trip and having to go down the “path” in my flip flops… I made it but would recommend better footwear!
The cave itself was cool, but the journey into the cave was the highlight. The scramble into the cave was (even with flip flops) a lot of fun and worth the effort. After the cave hike we jumped in the water to cool down (it’s bloody hot in Thailand)! After our swim we went to check in to our bungalow.
As expected, there was an issue with our booking. They couldn’t find the reservation. I didn’t receive a confirmation email but had taken a screenshot – on my laptop which I did not have with me (oops). After a short panic, I remembered that I took a screenshot of the bank transfer confirmation, which included our booking reference number (phew). With this information they were able to find the booking and informed us that the booking had been cancelled because payment was not received (remember the two-day payment policy I mentioned before). Luckily, I had confirmation of the transfer with my bank, they then reversed the cancellation, and everything was sorted.
We were shown to our bungalow – which was much better than expected. It had a seating area, bathroom, bedroom (with fan), and a patio out front with a drying rack for clothes.
We returned to our tour group, reminded them that we were staying overnight, and said our goodbyes while the group headed back to the boat without us…it was quite fun waving goodbye to the group and having the beach/island to ourselves.
We took it easy for a little while, then decided to tackle the 500m climb to the lookout for sunset. I wanted to allow enough time to make it to the top before sunset – after all we’d already done a 300m climb to the lagoon (other island) and a 300m scramble to the cave.
Shortly after beginning the climb (while taking a short break) I saw a monkey in the tree. He wasn’t too far away, but while we were watching him, he came right over to us and stopped in a branch directly above us. He was soooo cute, we had to take a ton of pictures (which I was OK with as I was happy for the rest!).
Eventually, we continued the climb. There were lookout platforms about every 100m (which we used as a break). We saw several more monkeys while we climbed to the top. Near the top, we ran into another couple making their way down who were also staying the night (only the four of us!). They didn’t see any monkeys on the way up – so we were either really lucky or they were just more active at that time of the day (dusk). When we got to the top lookout we did see that there were several monkeys at the next lookout below (which the other couple were snapping pictures of).
The lookout wasn’t the best position for the sunset, you could see it, but only from a corner of the lookout as one of the hill peaks was directly in front. It still would have been a nice view, but unfortunately there were too many clouds for us. Forgetting the lacklustre sunset the view of the islands was amazing. You could see all the islands in the grouping – plus they had a map to show you the names of the islands. In the distance we could see the island where we snorkelled, as well as the island with the lagoon lookout.
After sunset we made our way back down the hill (luckily we remembered our flashlights). We saw a few more monkeys near the top, but as we got further down the hill it was too dark to see anything. We could hear them all around us though.
After the lookout we got ourselves cleaned up and headed to the island restaurant for dinner. It’s quite a large restaurant and only the four of us (us and the other couple) where there for dinner. The restaurant was setup to cater for larger groups. Some of the day tours that visit have their lunch provided by the restaurant (which we saw the next day for lunch).
The food for dinner was nice, but very spicy (Thai spicy, not European spicy) – so be warned.
After dinner we headed back to the bungalow to call it a night. While walking into the bungalow I saw something move on the floor right inside the door – I jumped back outside the room to assess the situation. I thought it was a cockroach at first, but then realised it was a frog! We tried to get him outside, but he went behind the door. We left him while we got ready for bed and then tried again. Finally, we got him to jump out the door. The bungalows are well built, but you must remember that you are on an island, surrounded by jungle and wildlife – you have to expect bugs, lizards, and other such animals. The cute little frog was the only thing we found inside the bungalow!
We got up early the next morning to watch the sunrise on the beach. We got up early and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. We were the only ones out and about – it was perfect. Along the water’s edge there were tons of crabs making their way home. As we were sitting on the beach we could see the silhouettes of the crabs running back and forth.
Just like the sunset, the sunrise was not very good for us. It was really cloudy, so not great…
We hung around the beach for a bit, then headed back to bed for a rest before fully getting up. While half asleep, a lizard started to call/crook just outside the wall near my bed. The call is soooo loud and scared the life out of me. I jumped up before I had a chance to realise what was happening. The lizards on these islands are sooooo loud – and very funny to listen to. It sounded like it was on the pillow next to my head, but I had seen the large lizard outside the bungalow wall earlier in the day so I knew it wasn’t inside (even if it sounded like it).
A couple hours later we got up and headed to the restaurant for breakfast. The breakfast options were quite good and very yummy – eggs, sausages, pancakes, and toast. As we were finishing breakfast (10:30ish), the first boat group was arriving. The water was a bit rough, so the groups came in on the other side of the island (the backside).
We got ready for the beach and headed towards the cave entrance. The beach isn’t very large, but if you walk towards the caves there are large rocks on the beach and a few small cove-like areas to relax on the beach.
We found a great area, slopped perfectly to create a headrest so we could comfortable layout and read our books. We stayed there for quite a while, before getting in the water for a swim. The swimming area on the island is roped out. There’s a front section (where you can swim) and a back area where you can swim but must wear a lifejacket. On the beach there is a lifeguard complete with a lifeguard tower. Quite the setup for a small island…
After swimming we made our way to the restaurant for a late lunch. The restaurant was busy today as they were catering for two different tour groups. It didn’t impact us though as their food was already made. There was plenty of seating as well.
After lunch we went back to our place on the beach, did some more reading, swam a bit, and before we knew it it was time to go. Our group arrived back on the island around 2:30pm. I spoke to one of the crew members to let him know that we were there and would be coming back on the boat with them. All was good, no issue at all. I’m not sure if he knew about us, but he didn’t seem fussed about it.
Around 4pm our group was called to make our way to the boat. All tours for the day had to enter from the back of the island. I was quite surprised that it was a bit of hike up the hill and then down to the water. From the dock we took the small boat to the big boat (the large boats can’t get too close to the shore). Once on board there was sandwiches available for us – a variety of ingredients so we could make our own sandwiches. I thought the sandwiches were better than the lunch!
The group back was a little larger than our group the previous day (by a couple people) so we still had plenty of room to spread out throughout the boat. The ride back to Koh Phangan was about 2 hours. The water was a bit rough, so we were probably going slower than normal, but is still a long journey. Other tours offer speedboats, but we saw a few of the speedboats near the docks (they are small enough to stop at the dock) and they had nearly as many people as we had on a much smaller boat. I’m not sure where they all sat, but I can only imagine it being a bit crowded. Our boat was much slower, but plenty more room and a nice view on the journey. Overall, we had a great trip with Orion Boat Tours and our stay on Ko Wua Ta Lap island.