A while ago I realised that no-one could agree on how many islands there were in the Koh Chang Marine National Park. Many websites said 52, others said 46. The National Park website just says over 40. In addition it was clear that some islands went by more than one name which added to the confusion. So, how to get an accurate figure. Two ways – the simple way would just be to get a map and to count the number of islands. Job done & dispute settled. But that’s a bit boring and wouldn’t provide me with any content for this site.
The harder way would be to visit all the islands in person and count them in real life, as maps can be incorrect. This is what I have done. Only real islands are counted, even if they are nothing more than rocks but their name begins with ‘Koh’. Nothing with the Thai prefix ‘Hin’ ( a rocky outcrop, usual not visible at high tide ) is allowed. ‘Visiting’ the island means getting close enough to see if there is anything worth getting out and exploring or if there is a beach worth stopping off at.
Visiting the islands would be relatively easy if I had a speedboat – but I don’t. Or if I was well off and could just hire a speedboat for a few days – but I’m not. However, I do have a kayak, nothing fancy just a sit on top Feelfree, but it floats and goes in a relatively straight line.
So just to make the task a bit more of a challenge I decided to kayak to all the islands from Koh Chang. Some of these day trips were pretty lengthy eg. 25 kilometres, which is around 6 hours of paddling in pretty hot weather, and it wasn’t always easy finding a day when I had free time, plus good weather – not windy, plus not having too many aches and pains in my dodgy elbow and shoulder. ( I did cheat on the Koh Rang islands as I didn’t have time to kayak down to Koh Mak when the weather was suitable – so went from Koh Mak to those islands by kayak instead.)
Ban Bang Bao, Ko Chang, Ko Chang, Trat, Thailand
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Location in Thailand
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