The next morning we got picked up in a longtail boat right in front of where we had stayed, great service :) We had booked onto a day trip that as the last stop would drop us off at a beach on Koh Rawi where we would camp for the night and then get picked up the following day. There was only one other person on our tour; a nice Italian lady, and the three of us were all smiles as we set off. The water changed in colour from perfect torquise near the shore to a darker and darker blue as sailed off. It was a calm and quiet day and the water was still and almost velvety. Memories from our sailing trip in Komodo national park in Indonesia came to me. Soon we reached our first stop in the middle of the ocean, several other longtail boats indicated that this was a popular place! We donned our masks and plopped in, there was a really strong current and I had to swim relatively hard not to be swept away. As more and more snorkelers got in to the water it got pretty hectic, and combined with the current and a far from perfect visibility it was a bit challenging. The view under water was worth it though, the most colourful coral I’ve seen in a long time lured us closer. I’m glad we got some of it on video so I can review it again now without swimming full force into a current :) Back on the boat I overheard some of the boatmen talking in Malay and I asked our captain if he too spoke Malay – and he did! He perked up visibly by being able to communicate with us suddenly and he and I chatted away in a great mix of Malay/Indonesian and Thai. I loved it! Being this far south in Thailand and only about 50km or so from the Malaysian border it seemed quite a few people spoke Malay.
