I told the kids that we would go gadget free this trip. The only cartoon channel was in Thai and they have more Chinese and Russian channels on TV than English. Even the discovery channel was translated to Chinese. Yes, Phuket has a huge Chinese and Russian tourist base. Nevertheless, the kids made do and survived the 1st day and night on the Thai cartoon channel and Chinese discovery channel. Yay! Surprisingly, nobody complained.
Many small tour stalls lined the streets of Phuket. Our size is also a great strength to bargain for good prices. However, I hate that we could never tell if what we had paid is indeed a good/ right price. The thought of lugging a group of 9 to look for bargains is also nightmarish. Ended up, we booked the Rachai and Coral Island Snorkeling tour with Klook. Everything was booked with the click of the finger, after we had happily checked the itinerary and compared the different snorkeling tours. The price was decent too. It was so easy and stress free.
Our hotel came with bfast. We each chose a main bfast set and had free access to the mini buffet bar. We met for an early bfast at 7am; the transport was coming at 8am.
I totally want to live by this motto.
The van came on time. It was comfy and spacious.
We got very excited when the driver said that the pier was 5 mins away. It turned out to be a very long 5 mins. It wasnt 35 mins later and many "are we there yet" from Zaky before we finally arrived at the meetup place. Daddy Lim made use of every opportunity.
We ended up snacking again on the provided snacks, biscuits and drinks while waiting for the others to arrive. As the tour was on a speedboat, I was surprised to see that it was a huge group of about 30.
The tour provider was friendly and humorous and made the safety briefing much bearable. With the briefing and logistics done, we were led to the speedboat. It was a huge speedboat and we filled up all the space available. In fact, I do find it a little tight.
I bought a water-tight hp sleeve and was supposed to be the official photographer for the trip.
It was about 20mins boat ride before we arrived at the 1st snorkeling spot. Look at the blue waters and sky!
This is the kids' 1st ever snorkeling experience. The full face snorkeling masks that we bought for the kids can finally be put to use. Daddy Lim and I had our own snorkeling gears from Decathlone too. He also bought a rash guard especially for the trip but I totally forgotten. I brought wet shoes for the kids only to leave them in the hotel room. Hohoho. Old age lah.
The 1st snorkeling spot was mainly greyish corals and a few fishes. The kids were still very awed by the experience. Me too! Lol. While the full face mask worked perfectly for Zaky, Lil Shauna struggled and ended up exchanging her mask with me. It was a little hard to breathe but otherwise alright once the technique is mastered.
It was also C and T's 1st experience. T was terrified by the open sea and didnt quite enjoy the snorkeling. We had 45 mins in the waters but didnt stayed that long as first timers. We were not the only ones and many had gone back onto the boat before us. Spotting jelly fishesfloat8mg alongside us basically sped up the already short snorkeling session. Haha. Lil Shauna kept complaining that something bit her and she had these little red spots. We had them too but tolerated them better. I totally forgot my photographer role and only remembered when I came back onboard. Lol.
The speedboat brought us to Rachai island for lunch and R&R at the beach.
Lunch was simple but decent. The kids spent the remaining time soaking at the beach. The sea is such pretty blue, right??!!
We were brought to a 2nd snorkeling spot near Coral island after lunch. This spot had so many more fishes! Zaky freaked out at the sight of the schools of fishes swimming so near to us. He koala-bear me for a while until he finally calmed down. Lol. The remaining time was much more enjoyable than the 1st experience. This time, I did remember to take pictures but found it difficult with the sleeve, wet fingers and glaring sun. Taking pictures underwater was impossible. I ended up only with this picture. Haha. Ok, I had a video of the fishes too. Mission considered accomplished.
If we had indeed spent 45 mins in the waters, it was a very fast 45 mins. We were soon asked to go back to the boat to head back to shore. Lil Shauna had gone onto the boat earlier. She hated whatever that bit her, which we googled later and suspected to be sea lice but very much harmless.
The sun was blazing hot in the mid day. While many wanted to hide in the shelter part of the boat, Zaky wanted to sit in the front of the boat, right out in the open.
The ride was slightly bumpy but comfortable with the wind in our hair, mitigating the blazing heat. The ride was about 30mins. Sheltered or not doesnt stop the Zzzz monster.
Back on shore, we didnt have to wait long for the van to send us back and we all knocked out from the activity.
The water soaking didnt stop and we adjourned to the pool. Woohoo! It was a small pool but when there is good companion, there is fun. We even bought munchies to have our own picnic by the pool. Shiok! Especially paired with a cold can of coke.
Dinner and deserts followed.
Then the beach again! We had to lure the kids away by promising the fish spa that they had been eyeing. Daddy Lim also benefitted.
The kids had more fun in our room after showering. Daddy Lim nobly took care of the kids while the mummies went for a well-deserved massage. Auntie S and I had a body massage while Auntie SL opted for a foot massage. It was so cheap at THB 250 and so, so good!!! I could have this massage every day. Awwwwwww...
Daddy Lim was still alive when we returned. The kids were much zombified in front of the TV from the too much sun and sea. Needless to say, sleep was very easy. We survived another gadget free day. The kids were tempted when seeing T on his Pokemon quest and tried their luck a few times but took the rejection in their stride. There were afterall so much other fun stuff to indulge in.
Mummy Lim
No comments:
Post a Comment