If you have been keeping tabs on my Instagram and my recent honeymoon posts, you will know full well we were recently sunning it up on the gorgeous island of Koh Samui. When I say recent, I literally mean this time last month – sad face!
When researching Koh Samui, the first thing I knew was that we had to head to Anthong National Marine Park. It looked absolutely stunning! Set 2 hours from the cost of Koh Samui, a cluster of 42 islands featuring gorgeous sands and pool formations offering gorgeous views left, right and centre. It just had to be done, especially on our honeymoon!
And we did it! As soon as we could! So sit tight, I will be taking you to Anthong from the comfort of your own home!
Read : Koh Samui – Thailand’s perfect Island / Jungle Jeep Safari – Koh Samui
Thankfully, we booked our tour with the best on the Island. Koh Samui Tour Shop picked us up from our very own hotel and onto the ferry port to board our boat. We then made our way to Anthong. One thing I will note here, is there are two kinds of boats that can be taken. Either Ferry or speedboat. The ferry was much more relaxing, however, on the way home especially, it was really rather slow.
Anywho, we were offered coffee, tea and a spot of breakfast. We were also informed on how the day would work out and who needed to be where.
For our package, we chose to do the kayaking around some of the island. I certainly had never kayaked and I really wanted to do something new and different, especially on our honeymoon. It was here that I started to panic just a little as to what I had let myself in for! I had never done it before and I had real visions of us being the ones that tipped within ten minutes. This could be the reason me and my new husband bicker on honeymoon – oh crap!
The De-brief.
Once we were de-briefed and closer to the islands, the first wave of kayakers were advised to assemble to start their journey. The rest of us stayed on the boat, where we would be taken to shore shortly after the kayakers had got on their way. Much to the disgust, I can imagine , of the first kayakers, the rest of the boat had assembled on the roof to see them off, and ultimately catch sight of any tippers. Within a couple of minutes there was one!
The Viewpoint!
We soon were ashore the first island and directed up some rather step steps to the view point. I will note here, I didn’t pay too much notice on how I would get down these rather steep steps at this point, just soley fixated on not losing my footing and either injuring or killing myself.
If you are bad with steep steps or even heights, do not even attempt! I am usually neither but even this made my tummy turn and give me a slight panic attack on the way down.
Despite the steep stairs, the view was totally worth it! B r e a t h t a k i n g!
Kayaking – The Fear!
After a short stint of taking in the stunning views, we headed back down to the beach for our turn on the kayaks! I was terrified that we would over turn, and that my beloved phone in a 99% waterproof bag would die. I would have been brave a taken a couple of snaps whilst we were kayaking, but I was petrified stopping and ultimately moving would result in a phone over board.
Alas, it was nice to breath and take in the surroundings without a phone screen! It was a little tough, and there were some disagreements and I was mainly stressed that we would overturn, I found it pretty hard to relax.
Albeit, the views were simply stunning. I am sooo glad we took the plunge and gave it a go!
Once we had kayaked around the island we were taken back to the boat where we served Thai lunch. Shortly after, we were taken to another island where you could head off to another view point, snorkel or just enjoy the scenery.
We did the latter. We were both exhausted by this point and wanted to cool down on the picturesque sands of Wua-Ta island. After a good three hours of paddling in the sand and taking in the scenery, we headed back to the boat to make our way back to Koh Samui. It took a good couple of hours to get back to the mainland, of which seemed to drag to no end!
Anthong National Marine park was everything I expected and more. The tour was superb and I’m so glad we chose to kayak around the island. In the spirit of a review, the only negative was the boat. I wish we had chosen the speedboat, especially for the way home, when you just want to head back to the hotel and jump in the pool!
For anyone going to Koh Samui, this is a tour not to be missed, whatever the time of year.
We were told all too often July was the monsoon season and nothing will be ‘good’ and yet we both agree we couldn’t do it in the height of their summer. It could be overcast as can be seen with some of my images and yes there were some downpours ( instagram stories if you’re interested ) but im so glad we didn’t listen! It was still ruddy hot!
If you want to go on any Koh Samui Tour, best book with Koh Samui Tour Shop. We booked them for both this and the just jungle jeep safari and had the best time on both!
Now someone, pleaseeee take us back!
Charlotte x
** This is a collaborative post with Koh Samui Tour Shop. All opinions are my own.
