Ko Muk is famous for the Emerald Cave, a limestone tunnel that lead into an island cave, semi submerged by the sea. The only way to get there is by boat, so we arranged to have a long-tail to take us there.
The captain spoke little English and my Thai is still non-existent, but I trusted him. I’d much rather be in a local boat, even an old one made of wood, with a local, than in a brand ferry with dozens of other tourists. We left the village and went around the island, getting closer and closer to the huge vertical limestone cliffs. The water was bright green and I’m sorry to say the pictures don’t do it justice.
We eventually made it to the entrance that would lead us to the cave. Boats cannot get through the 100-metre-long narrow tunnel—there is barely enough room for a kayak to get in. So we jumped in the water and started to swim. Once you are past the entrance, the tunnel gets even narrower and it’s pitch-black inside, which makes it for an interesting swim when you don’t know where you are going. But a few minutes later, we saw light and emerged into a beautiful lagoon, surrounded by cliffs. No pictures of it this time because cameras don’t like water!
After we swam back to the boat, the captain took us to a small hidden beach. He went to collect seashells for dinner while we wandered around. There were thousands of tiny little sand balls made by tiny little crabs on the deserted beach and no footsteps around. We were truly alone.
On our way back to Ko Muk, a few hours later, the captain suddenly stopped the boat and pointed at the sea. We squinted and surveyed the surface of the water but weren’t sure what we were looking at. Showing us was easier than explaining I guess—the captain, fully clothed, simply jumped into the water and brought back two giant starfishes.
I think we were lucky to start with Ko Muk. We are now heading North and the beaches are likely to be way more touristic.
What a beautiful cave with emerald color water!. I like the photo of you two on the boat!
This sounds like a great excursion!
Awesome! Just be careful with the limestone, since they’re very slippery and sharp too! The karst formations look superb!
Alone on the beach! That sounds like my kind of paradise! I’d go with the old boat too if I have the choice. Thanks for recommending Ko Muk. Will mark it on my travel list next time! 😉
Wow that looks so beautiful. It’s amazing, the places you get to go to and see! What amazing experiences!
It looks superb, being alone a tropical beach … can you ask for better?
Fantastic, you have the beach to yourself and Feng.
Apparently, the beach here is better than the ones in Langkawi. But then Langkawi’s beaches ain’t the best in Malaysia.
I have been to this place and must say the beaches in Thailand are awesome. The color of water changes from one place to another.
It’s amazing to see you travel to so many countries in one go.
Koh Muk looks wonderful. I felt like I was in another world the last time we went to Thailand beaches. Being from Canada where it is – cool right now – you’ll make many envious.
Both of you looked great in that boat 🙂
Very very cool. You were trusting indeed to leave your stuff and enter the dark tunnel. You’ll never forget that even though you couldn’t take your cameras. What an adventure.