CORAL ISLAND (Day 14)

We had breakfast and loitered about the pool until our tour van picked us up.

Instead of heading north this time, we went south. 40 minutes later we were at Chalong Bay, where we walked through some shallow water to climb on a speedboat.

After a while, we arrived at Banana Beach on Coral Island (or Koh Hae).

We wandered along the beach until we hit forest, then made our way back.

Bits of coral

When we got back, they were setting up for some parasailing.... for only about US$12.50! We couldn't resist that! Ron went first.

Setting up

Taking off

The ride

Landing

Then it was my turn. The life vest was a bit old and only two of the clips worked. Hmmm. $12.50. Instructions were to run into the water... but you got pulled up very quickly by the speedboat. It wasn't very hight but it was impossible to get any kind of depth perception from the water. The wet harness actually made things a bit chilly.

To land, you had to pull cord marked with a red ribbon. This turned the chute so you could land on beach.... into a pack of guys waiting to catch you.

Setting up

Taking off

The ride

Landing

Survived!

We lounged on the beach for a while until lunch was ready. At least there were two vegetarian items this time, but most of the dishes had meat... fried squid, chicken legs, even a whole fish with teeth!

We then waded back in the water, watching the amazing array of fish that darted about in the clear water. If you stood still near a coral patch, they'd surround you... probably 100 fish! They'd even swim right through your legs!

Back in the lounge chairs, we were served watermelon and small bananas on a tray.

When it was time to go, we had to walk quite a ways out in the shallow water to get to the boat. Our boat driver had fallen asleep so we had to yell at him for quite a while until he woke up

A sea cucumber

A look back at Banana Beach

Eventually we were returned safely to our hotel. We changed to slightly cleaner clothes, then waited for the airport shuttle. About 90 minutes later, we were waiting at an airport gate. Things ran late but by 8 pm we were in the air. An electrical storm was in full swing by the hills, with large bolts of lightning.

Back on the ground in Bangkok, we grabbed a taxi and headed to our old hotel.

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