Sunday 9 February Paradise is called Koh Payu

Paradise is a mooring ball off Koh Payu, sheltered from the prevailing breeze and swell on a new mooring with opalescent sand shimmering through 8m of water, an underwater sculpture trail under the boat and diving within 100m. It's our favourite place in Thailand so far. So good we came for two nights and stayed five.

swimming pool at Padu

Diving was either from the boat looking at the sculptures; twelve figures representing the twelve animals of Chinese years, a bell tower and a reposing nymph, before the tsunami the nymph balanced on top of the bell tower, or we took the dinghy and dived the eastern headland. Depending on whether we had current determined whether we dropped down to the reef at 25m, explored the boulders with their covering of fan corals, or stayed on the shallower protected reef close in to the rocks. Still not the fabulous coral of Wakatobi, Take Bonerate or the intensity of Komodo, but good enough to keep us coming back. Again, big shoals of fishes like parrots, a sea snake, my personal sweeties the puppy like cow or trunk fish. 

bell tower at 8m

 

sculpture trail

 

turtle over boulders

The anchorage was busy all day and night with visiting dive boats and snorkellers. The water is so inviting I was snorkelling between dives – just couldn't get enough until it really was time to head back to Phuket. This was when the freezer was alarmingly empty and I was rummaging the cupboards for inspiration from store cupboard goodies. Sadly one cannot live on gin and diving alone.