All at Sea in the Andaman

by Maggie Joyce on 9 Feb 2010
The Southern end of the Andaman Sea between Phuket and Malaysian Langkawi offers warm safe water, spectacular scenery, fiery cuisine, friendly folks and some great sailing.

The Phuket to Langkawi Yacht Rally combines company and local knowledge enhancing the prospects for a successful trip. The distance is less than 200 miles with the southernmost Thai islands just four miles off the Langkawi coast on the one trip.

The northern Thai Islands are iconic with rust streaked limestone peaks that rear up from the sea in random fashion. Characteristic of these formations are hongs, (rooms in English) open to the sky and entered by sea through tide affected tunnels, which may challenge the claustrophobic.

The rally format provides for a series of short races to stimulate an occasional adrenalin rush to offset the lethargy that quickly accompanies cruise mode. Race one is to Railay Beach on the eastern shore of Phang Na Bay. The northern end of Rai lei Beach is a large 'dot' on the world back packer circuit while the southern end offers an array of beach-front restaurants and bars. The cliffs behind the beach offer great rock climbing if that is your scene.

The water is shallow and the tidal movement up to two metres so it was necessary to anchor quite a way off the shore. The shallow draft of our chartered catamaran lessened the depth considerations but also offered a number of other advantages - expansive cockpit, galley and saloon on the same level, space, privacy and stability. The dinghy, used daily when visiting the shore is conveniently launched from davits.

After clearing the northern end of Phang Nga Bay with Phuket on the western shore we headed off south in another race to Phi Phi Island. Billed as the most beautiful island in the world Phi Phi has been somewhat swamped by tourism more recently by the Tsunami. The long-tail taxis, fishing boats, jet speed boats and sight-seeing ferry boats make for a noisy stop-over but water is available here so we endured the pace and filled the tanks. After the day trippers departed the bay was a truly magical place.

Further to the south on the eastern shore of the Andaman Sea is the island of Lanta and Old Lanta Town. Totally untouched by mass tourism teak built houses sit on stilts along the shore facing a narrow street where local merchants sell their wares. Originally settled by sea gypsies from Indonesia, then the Chinese and Malay Moslems the three distinct communities today sit harmoniously alongside each other in this authentic untouched hamlet.

Nearby is Koh Muk, with its Hong and talcum smooth white sand beach, reasonably priced food and a simple but comfortable bungalow style resort buried in the jungle behind the beach.

We had three consecutive lay days to wend our way to Tarutau, start point for the next race to the Koh Butang group. Billed as the highlight for diving and snorkelling, Tarutau was declared a national park in the 70's and today abounds with wildlife including sea eagles, kites, otters, monitor lizards and monkeys.

In the south bay of Koh Lipe the fine sand fronted all the beach-side restaurants and bars. Many offered deck chairs in which to recline, savour a cocktail and watch the moon rise. 'Walking Street' leads to the Poo Bar and Restaurant, featuring seafood BBQ and live music. The Porn restaurant, (you guessed it), owned by Mr. Porn, reportedly had the best food of the whole trip. Well that was until we reached Datai Bay on Langkawi at the end of race five. The 6 * Andaman Hotel served a sumptuous meal on the beach - prawns, lobster, lamb, curries and other spicy dishes topped off with outrageous desserts.

Early next morning we accompanied the naturalist from the hotel through towering 1,000 year old trees where a pair of sea eagles nested having announced their successful return from a fishing expedition.

No-one really cared about race results at this stage of the game. The Thais and Malays are welcoming, relaxed, gentle, and displayed warmth and humour. The rally coincided with the middle of the dry season. Winds were generally light, but we had a great sail to Tarutao from Koh Muk averaging 8.5 knots with the wind at 60 degrees apparent. Dodging the marker buoys for the fish traps turned the trip into a slalom course and near the Butang group we encountered the 'Thaitanic' a huge group of trawlers operating together harvesting squid and adding another dimension to our race to Datai from Koh Lipe.

The last night is in the Sheraton with all facilities to scrub up for the final night party.

Another rally is planned for 2011 – again in January. Details from Mariner Boating on (61+2) 9966 1244.