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Southern Thailand – Tham Morakot, the Emerald Cave

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.

Limestone Cliffs
Limestone Cliffs
Cliff Above Us
Hidden Beach
In the long-tail boat
Green Sea
On the boat
Fishing Starfishes
Emerald Cave Entrance
Heading to a Hidden Beach
Paradise Beach
Alone
Huge Starfishes
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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