After the night of storms, we were supposed to be on our way to the boatyard. But these five deserted islands of Ko Ha were holding us back: the water was the most pristine we had seen from Langkawi to Phuket, the tidal beach was revealing itself again, and the nesting terns were singing and swooping with joy. When would we get another opportunity to stay somewhere like this? It wasn’t time to leave yet.
The main reason to visit Ko Ha is for the diving and snorkelling. Tripper boats arrive from the mainland throughout the day, disgorging groups of snorkellers into some of the clearest water in the area.
The lagoon between the islands packs a variety of coral into its healthy garden, and with a depth of no more than six metres, it opens up an aquarium of colourful reef fish to even the most timid of swimmers. Liveaboard dive boats stay longer, their passengers getting to play around in the underwater caverns and swim-throughs for which the islands are famous.
Like most places in this part of Thailand, it can get crowded during the high season, which runs from November to April. But in late May the tripper boats were all tucked up back on the mainland, their skippers over-seeing repairs and maintenance. We were the only ones here.
So the American and Jamie began the day with a dive. American had already lost a speargun over the side of his boat earlier in the morning, which he would retrieve on the way back from their underwater odyssey. Ko Ha is under the protection of the Ko Lanta Marine National Park and fishing is prohibited, so he wouldn’t be allowed to fire it anyway.
After using the mooring line as a guide for their descent, they checked the ropes and heavy concrete slabs fastened to the sea bed. Both boats looked as safe as we could hope for. A moray eel made a dash from the concrete block beneath SY Esper to a coral funnel from where it observed them, its nose pointing upwards.
Although a certified diver, I prefer to snorkel these days, but I could do neither during this break at Ko Ha because I was recovering from a minor skin operation. This meant no swimming until the wound had heeled.
