The Sunset cruise was changed by mutual consent of all parties to a trip to the ‘James Bond Island’.

A late and confusing start. The pickup time for the tour was moved to an hour later, we did not see this as the whatsapp message from the tour organiser came in after we went to bed. Also we did not read the fine print in the itinerary and did not see that this was a group tour so we had no control over the timing of the day. Well it seemed to work out anyway and nobody complained much about anything. A half hour ride to the Marina through the much developed Island roads, definitely not many farms to be seen

The Marina Terminal was full as we received our instructions on how to conduct ourselves on the tour and after a half hour wait we boarded the speed boat. On the boat we drove at high speed to get to the first stop – Hong Island. This is where we transferred to small inflatable kayaks and were paddled around a system of caves and inlets. Wonderful opportunities for great pics – look at the ‘pics for the day’. One good touch was when the paddler took a pic using a leaf with a heart cutout over the camera lens – ingenious.

Fifty minutes later back on the boat for a twenty minute ride to the Island – “James Bond Island” wiki-ref here. This is a must stop for most tourists to Phuket and the place was not that busy because this is the start of the high season, but I can imagine the place in that time. Just a photo-op place and some trinket shopping. But be aware that the beach surface is shell and small stones – wear water shoes as you have to wade into the water to get off/on the boat.

Twenty minutes later we embarked  for the next stop, and then disembarked, at a pier, for lunch at a floating village. This village has expanded from a collection of huts where the ‘paddlers’ live to a huge dining complex for the hordes that visit JB Island. Again another huge shopping village of the same trinkets we have seen elsewhere. An hour for lunch, buffet style, very good and definitely tourist food – no spices!

On to the next stop one we did not get involved in – a visit to some caves. The first sign that a visit was imminent was the handout of hard hats to the passengers. Arriving at the beach and another wade on to the beach we watched as all the others went. About ten minutes later they emerged and seemed quite satisfied with the experience.

The last stop was the ‘Palm Beach Club’ a normal beach place – one bar, one beach, plenty of water sports and best of all real sand. The reward for the day was a very different ‘Pina Colada’ not creamy but still tasty and a pretty good kick: could have stayed all sipping those things but the third one would have you singing Jimmy Buffett songs!

The drive back to the hotel was longer due to gridlock and the fact that we had to drop others off at other hotels. But it did show that Phuket is really just one long piece of urban sprawl.