Departing Ko Wai in hot calm conditions, we motored toward Ko Mak, the largest island in a small group in the Gulf of Thailand south of Ko Chang.
Huge though Ar Marg is, she has very shallow draught, so we threaded between the western shore of Ko Mak and the islet of Ko Kham with only two metres of water beneath the hull.
We dropped a few metres of chain and went snorkelling among the coral bommies. The bottom reminded me of the Datai reef in nearby Malaysia, which was smashed by a tsunami in 2004. This looked very similar; big blocks of broken reef that have been rolling around the sea bed, with corals and other organisms still clinging on, until they are partially buried in silt and sand.
The tenacity of reef life is incredible. As each block settles into its final resting place, it forms the core of a new reef segment. Eventually, in deep time, the fringing reef will restore itself. Meanwhile we swam around purple head corals reaching for the light, soft corals hiding in the shadows, sea slugs, giant clams, sea urchins and, through and around the boulders, fish of all colours and sizes.
We motored around the northern bay (noting an interesting-looking cocktail bar, the Blue Pearl, perched on the end of Ao Prao Pier), and then we continued around to the south side of the island. We passed between the Rayang island pair Nai and Nok (inner and outer), the former being mainly jungle and the latter scattered with tourist resorts, some of them apparently quite luxurious.
Bypassing the islands, we dropped anchor off Ao Kao Beach on the south side of Ko Mak, and settled down to a slightly eclectic lunch of sautéed mushrooms, quail’s eggs, chopped sausages, with a side of pot-noodle. Lunch led to a swim and a nap and a lazy afternoon aboard.
A bit of a squall
At around eight o’clock, as dusk fell and we began thinking about going ashore, the wind picked up. We weren’t too happy about the way that the clouds were moving, and then the wind veered around to the south, putting us on a lee shore. Light gusts came with increasing frequency, and we and the two other yachts in the bay lifted anchor and motored away from the beach.
The light was failing, and our rental agreement forbade us from travelling after dark, so we couldn’t venture too far away. The chart showed a couple of opportunities, but the easiest one seemed to be hard up against the small beach that we had passed earlier on Ko Rayang Nok. There was another yacht there already, but we pulled in even closer, dropping the pick in 5 metres, in the wind shadow of the island.
Ko Rayang Nok appeared to be deserted. We were by now quite far from Ao Kao Beach, really a bit too far to shuttle the whole crew ashore, a task which usually needs two trips in the tender. Mirjan, Shanice, Ivana and I elected to stay aboard on anchor watch while the rest took the dinghy to Ko Mak.
The first squall hit an hour or so later, and those of us still aboard were glad of our sheltered spot. Local fishing boats and even a small ferry anchored nearby and battened down to wait it out. We phoned the shore party and advised them to stay in their beach bar, which we inferred was no hardship.
By midnight, the weather had calmed down again. The local boats moved on, and our crew returned, very very wet but singing loudly and whooping in the swells.
After a couple of drinks everybody went to bed, but I stayed up a little later to watch the anchor with a small nightcap of local rum. It all seemed calm enough. The trampoline was wet from the rain, so I retired to my cabin instead.
Ao Kao Beach
I woke early to calm blue skies and cleared up, emptied the bins, secured the dinghy, made coffee, started the generator and the water-maker. The crew emerged blinking into the daylight for coffee, a side of fruit, and of course a shot of rakija.
We were still far from Ao Kao’s restaurants, so we fired up the engines and motored the yacht back to the beach, dropped the anchor in the now calm waters, performed the dinghy-to-shore shuffle, and went in search of brunch.
Last night’s shore party knew where to go, and we soon settled down to a fantastic spread of tom yum, fried rice, morning glory, spring rolls, and chilli garlic prawns.
David and Mirjana realised that they were out of cash, and so borrowed the restaurant owner’s moped to go to the next town’s ATM.
While we waited for them to return, Ivana and I decided that since there wasn’t enough wind to sail, and since it was far too hot to explore the island on foot, it would be appropriate to have a beer. One thing led to another, and soon we were all at the Cha Cha Beach Club drinking cocktails and playing pool.
At midday, we felt a welcome breath of fresh air coming in over the water. Soon it was a proper breeze, and we hurried back to Ar Marg to do some sailing.
Ao Soun Yai Beach
In common with many charter boats, Ar Marg is not exactly a tuned racing vessel, but we did get 6 knots out of her in a 10 knot breeze. It was just nice to make progress with the engines off, and we had a good time out on the water. By evening, we returned to Ko Mak’s northern bay.
We had hoped to drop anchor near to the bar on Ao Prao Pier that we had noted yesterday, but the bottom was all rock and we couldn’t get the anchor to hold. We gave up and stopped further round the bay on a sandy bottom, near to a couple of other charter yachts.
After a swim, we went to shore for dinner. Ao Soun Yai Beach beach is lined with resorts, so we left the dinghy tied to one of the ubiquitous floating plastic jetties, and went for a walk.
For some time, we wandered those resorts, but they all were dark and empty and closed. We hiked away from the water and quite far inland without finding anything open, and then stumbled across a scooter rental / repair shop which also appeared to operate as a restaurant for locals.
They welcomed us in and brought us Chang beer and then an endless succession of succulent seafood dishes, including a marvellous ‘big fish’ poached in lime and chilli. This was a far cry from our experiences in the more touristy islands of the Andaman Sea in 2025. The restaurant appeared to be part of the family home, and they were happy and proud in their business.
At the end of the meal, one of the family drove us back to the jetty in their taxi, where we motored back to the yacht and chatted and played drinking games until the rain came in.
We have enjoyed Ko Mak, but tomorrow we will move on to another group of islands.