The second day was the island hopping day! We bought the tour for 700baht each. It’s called Hong Island longtail boat tour. There’re several speed boat tours, but longtail boat is the only pregnant-friendly option (other than ferries). Although, I wouldn’t recommend if you are close to 6 months or over.

If you are 4-5 months pregnant like me, I suppose it’s fine. But do not let the tour company knows, otherwise they won’t take you in although it’s perfectly safe. They just don’t want to get sued in case of an emergency. For us, we had to ask a few agents that would allow a pregnant lady to join.

Anyway, we had to wait for the pick up at 8.30 in the morning at our hotel lobby and this is our ride! It was like a modified pickup or something, but man, was I thrilled. hahaha.

That morning, the weather was so clear, it was so nice!  Look at the longtail boats behind me. We took the smallest one, which seats about 20-25 pax.

Climbing the boat needs an extra care and effort. Now, this is the reason why I wouldn’t recommend if you’re too pregnant. I was able to climb in and out of the boat with no problem. With a lil’ help of course, but only to avoid falling. Having a dry bag would help too. We didn’t, so we had to be extra careful not dip our bags in the water.

The boat ride was very smooth. It’s not bumpy like speed boat. Granted, it is slow. but it is pregnant friendly and it doesn’t cause me any motion sickness. and I do get motion sickness in the car (because of the pregnancy thing, otherwise I won’t).

Daeng Island

First stop was the Daeng Island. This is where we snorkeled. Only adults were allowed here. That’s Daeng Island in the picture, a very small one, indeed. And neither jetty nor human made infrastructure were seen.

Now, that’s me, snorkeling. The snorkeling mask has a way to make anyone looking horrid as ever. I say, whatever! For the sake of appreciating the nature and God’s creations.

We were able to see the bottom, but it was slightly cloudy. Perhaps because it’s raining season.  We spent about 30 mins here before getting on the boat or the next island.

Hong Island

Then we went to Hong Island. Such a beautiful beach, MasyaAllah! It was right at noon and it was blazing hot. But since we were in and out of the water, I could hardly feel the heat. Maybe a little sunburn here and there, but that’s okay! It’s my opportunity to get some tan on my face. Weee!

The water was pretty clear nearing to the shore. But deeper, it was a lil’ cloudy. Probably because it’s raining season. Perhaps the water will look much better during peak season (Oct – Mar) but everything will be (super) expensive and crowded then. Expect to pay extra 20o baht on tours, extra 100-150 baht on massages, and hotel rates triple.

Noktahhitam uploaded a video on the fishes, so I thought I’ll just put it here. No point uploading the same video! The fishes were not shy at all. In fact, they were pretty aggresive and they would try to eat whatever’s being held up! They even bite your fingers! Thankfully, they are not piranhas, so no harm was made.

Paradise Island

After swimming at Hong Island, we went to Paradise Island. Below is exactly our view as we had our lunch. Lunch was provided by the tour company, and worry not, they served us Halal food.  If you were to take one of these tours, be sure to ask whether the food is halal.

We had our lunch on this swing, while having a beautiful view of the beach. Ah, it was such a bliss. and not to mention quite romantic, although my butt was hurting from the wood en swing. Hahahah

After lunch, we swam on the beach. Ok, I have to admit, it was more like chilling in the water than swimming. There were also some small fishes there. The tour guide even caught several squids for his bbq dinner. HAHA. So cute.

It was a pretty deep water. I wanted to go further but we didn’t since we left our life jacket in the boat. Although I can swim, I am terrified of deep water. I fear that I might get lost, and drown because I get tired of swimming my way back to the shore. haha. So we just chilled near the shore or went as far as we could while keeping our heads above the water.

Paradise island was our last stop. We were supposed to go to Poda Island but the tour guide feared the harsh wave. So we went back to Ao Nang. Not long after we got back to our hotel, it was raining. The rain was pretty heavy.

That evening, we wanted to go to the night market again, but we found another market in Ao Nang. So we just stopped there and bought some foods to bring home.

At the market, it suddenly rained heavily and we were trapped at one of the stalls. It just happen to be selling Yum wun sen. So, we decided to try it and it was really GOOD! It is basically a seafood salad where you can choose your seafood, and your vegetable. Then she mixed it with hot soup and cooked the seafood and the veges. It was spicy but we already asked for less spicy.

Oh, a good tip for eating in Thailand. Unless you want your intestines to explode, always, always ALWAYS ask for less spicy. Their tolerance level towards spicy food is just unbelievable.

Then, we had a really good pad thai (fried rice noodle). Seriously, it’s true when they say, “You haven’t really had a pad thai unless you try the authentic one in Thailand”. It tasted really authentic and awesomeeee!

That night, we were so tired, we both fell asleep before it was even 9pm. Hahahah!