Level: easy to moderately strenuous (depending on the season)
Season: November through mid April is moderate. The middle of April through October is mildly strenuous and the outer islands are often inaccessible 
Accommodations: Big tents with air mattresses, lights and fans

We'll meet our guests in Pak Bara at a specified hotel either the evening before the departure day or the morning of the day. Pak Bara is the pier for boats heading to Tarutao National Park. Pak Bara is in the most southern province of the west coast of Thailand. In fact, Tarutao is only five miles from Langkawi, Malaysia.

Guests can either fly into Hat Yai (Thailand) and take a taxi to Pak Bara (less than two hours) or you can fly into the Trang airport. Flying into Langkawi, Malaysia is also an option. Transportation to and from the Hat Yai airport is included. Transportation to and from Trang or Langkawi is NOT included. We can help you arrange these locations if required.

Transportation arrangements must be made seven days in advance. During the 'peak' tourist season (late December through the middle of January), we strongly recommend booking your transportation as far in advance as possible.

Note: this is just a sample itinerary. Each trip is customized according to our guest's desires.

Day 1

The first paddling trip starts from the pier. "Pak Bara" means mouth of the Bara river in Thai. A thriving mangrove forests lines the far shore. We often encounter a good variety of birds in the mangrove including Little herons, Whimbrels, Collared kingfishers, Brown-winged kingfishers, and occasionally others. Mudskippers, small fish that walk out of the water, like to climb up on the mangrove roots.

We'll do a short crossing to an island called Ko Khao Yai which literally means "Island Mountain Big" or Big Mountain Island. It is. There are beaches all the way around the island that we take advantage of frequently. Long-tailed macaques (monkeys) and sizeable monitor lizards also frequent these beaches to forage for food.

We'll stay in Pak Bara this evening.

Note: for trips less than eight days in length we usually head straight out to the outer islands.

Day 2

The public ferry will take us to Tarutao Island. There's a tidal river flowing through a dense mangrove forest which exits into the sea near the national park campgrounds/bungalows. Brahminy kites, White-bellied sea eagles, a variety of kingfishers, woodpeckers, hornbills, monitor lizards, Long-tailed macaques, Dusky Langurs (monkeys), and a lot of different exotic birds add character to an already lovely area.

We'll paddle a stretch of coastline to finish the day.

The evening will be spent camping on one of the many fine secluded beaches on the west side of the island.

Day 3

The ferry will take us out to the outer islands. For bookings of four or less guests, we utilize the public ferry to access the outer islands. Larger groups have the option of a private escort boat. With the increase in gas prices, private escort boats have become extremely expensive. Nothing is lost by taking the ferry. If fact, it's faster so you get to the good stuff sooner.

We only offer camping as there are too many bungalow operations on Ko Lipe and this has negatively impacted our ability to enjoy staying on this island. Sometimes, we use the national park bungalow on Ko Adang (depending on the group). 

The big attractions on these outer islands are crystal-clear water, verdant jungle that grows all the way down to pure white sand beaches, birds, monkeys, and superb snorkeling.

We'll paddle around Ko Adang, stopping periodically to go snorkeling. We'll camp on the north side of Ko Adang.

Check out our snorkeling page at snorkeling. The amount of marine diversity in Southeast Asia is far above that of the Caribbean and other parts of the world.

Day 4

We'll continue paddling around Ko Adang. We'll take our time as this is a gorgeous island. The jungle on this stretch of the island is thick with tall tropical trees. The snorkeling is very good.

Day 5

Ko Rawi is our next goal. We'll paddle along the coastline, stopping to explore secluded beaches and to go snorkeling.

Day 6

We'll go back to Ko Rawi to paddle the other side. One side of Ko Rawi forms a beautiful channel with another island called Ko Butang. We'll spend the entire day slowly exploring the magnificent coral, interspersed with beach naps or beach exploring.

Day 7

Ko Butang and the other small islands in the area provide us with a different feel from the previous days. These islands are small enough to paddle all the way around easily. This is perhaps the best snorkeling day. We've found huge areas of completely undisturbed coral. The marinelife is abundant. Huge Moray eels are very common. Large grouper can still be found if you're willing to look under some of the larger coral heads. One area has nice variety of sea anemones. They cover a large portion of a bay.

Day 8

We'll pack up and head to the bungalows on Ko Adang or camp somewhere close to Ko Lipe so we can catch the ferry back on the following morning.

Once we arrive in Pak Bara, PaddleAsia's services are finished. We will gladly assist you in arranging this evening's stay (if required). If you are going to the Hat Yai airport, we will make the arrangements. Transfers to Hat Yai or the Trang Airport are included.

Note: The weather is usually consistent from mid-November through April. Weather conditions can alter the itinerary. 

No experience is needed for our trips. However, Tarutao is available to novices from November through mid April only. The majority of our guests have never paddled before. No problem, we'll teach you proper paddling technique.

Our trips are all-inclusive: all transfers (airfare not included), all equipment, all camping equipment, all meals, all snacks, coffee and tea, and insurance.