February 4-12, 2016 - We arrived in Krabi and settled in to the Laughing Gecko in the city of Ao Nang, a place with bamboo bungalows - Thai style old school. It was very rustic and a little run down, but it would be our home for the next several days. Ao Nang is a busy city and a great place to be to access popular beaches such as Rai Leh Beach and Phi Phi Islands. We were here during the Chinese New Year, so the town was BUSY.
I wonder if there is a Canadian connection here.
Seeing as we were starting a beach vacation, the girls got some beach hairstyles.
And we celebrated Eva's 6th birthday with a cake at Movenpick.
Our main objective for this trip was to get our scuba licenses, so we walked down the beach and asked in dive shops comparing not only prices, but also their ability to devise a suitable option for both snorkellers and divers, because Veronika, Viktor and Eva would be snorkelling with my dad, while Stepan, David and myself were going to complete our Open Water Divers license.
The first day was a little chaotic, the kids did not get any quality snorkelling in, but spent most of the time on the boat...not too much fun, however the next day, the dive center hooked us up with a guide for the kids and my dad to go snorkelling and they had the best time, and saw many of the underwater life that we saw diving - sea snakes, lion fish, puffer fish, "Nemos", and many more.
Samandar Uariachi, aka Sammy, our Moroccan diving instructor. Such a great teacher and so experienced. He was a former commercial diver, and told us many things about his former job. Hard to imagine that there are people out there working 8 hour shifts underwater!
Theory time...studying for the test.
Celebratory dinner with Mr. Eat (no word of a lie...he told us that was his name), the owner of Krabi Dive Center. Thank you again for listening to our concerns and accommodating us to snorkel and dive together as a family.
Veronika, Viktor and Eva with their snorkelling guide. They loved her. She is also a dive master at one of the local dive schools.
Nopprat Thara Beach on the outskirts of Ao Nang.
Loving searching for critters (especially little crabs) at low tide. At one point we saw so many crabs, that it looked like the beach was moving.
After completing our dive course we headed to Railay Beach to meet up with our CIS friends and colleagues for a day. Railay (Thai: อ่าวไร่เลย์), also known as Rai Leh, is a small peninsula between the city of Krabi and Ao Nang in Thailand. It is accessible only by boat due to high limestone cliffs cutting off mainland access. These cliffs attract rock climbers from all over the world, but the area is also popular due to its beautiful beaches and quiet relaxing atmosphere.
Stepan and Jordan leading the kids...2 families, 4 kids each, makes for a big group!
Although we saw signs posted around the beach, Railay was not severely affected by the tsunami of 26 December 2004.
We found a beautiful little beach at the end of Nopparat Thara Beach, cut off from the mainland during high tide, but accessible by wading through waste deep water. There was barely anyone there, so it was the perfect place to spend the afternoon.
My dad relaxing on the beach.
Stepan's friend, Petr Vondracek was also in Thailand on the Island of Phuket. We decided to make a day trip and visit him. This was a 20 year reunion for the two, who grew up together in the Czech Republic.
Along the beach road at Surin Beach in Phuket...this is the gas station.
Surin Beach - beautiful.
Stepan and Petr
A big hug goodbye after a relaxing day of catching up on a beautiful beach in Phuket.
Last day in Ao Nang - let's try some SUP.
Can't get enough of the delicious Thai food.
Viktor, Veronika and Eva did an art class at a gallery on the beach strip.
We realized that we did not even scratch the surface of what Thailand has to offer with respect to beaches and islands. We are definitely planning another trip to enjoy and further discover this beautiful corner of our planet.
No comments:
Post a Comment