John Gray's Hong by Starlight with Sea Cave Kayaking and Loy Krathong Floating
» Phuket » Phuket » Phuket
Enjoy an afternoon of sea cave exploring in Phang Nga Bay, including the limestone caves and hidden cliff-lined lagoons discovered by John Gray in 1989. Expect a great nature and wildlife adventure with an experienced guide and enjoy the best Thai seafood buffet during your holiday aboard the convenient escort boat. Finish your trip after dark by floating your own self-made flower “Kratong” in a spiritual and spectacular natural light show.
Basic accident insurance
Caveman's SOTAR sea kayaks
Hotel round-trip transfer on the entire Phuket island including airport pick-up and drop-off service
Kayak equipment including a dry bag
Life jacket
Lunch, dinner, bottled water, herbal tea & seasonal fruits
National Park entrance fee
Professional and experienced English speaking guide
Hotel pickup from remote locations in Phang Nga, or from private villas/rentals
- INFANT: : 2 - 6
- CHILD: : 7 - 12
- ADULT: : 13 - 99
- Face masks required for travellers in public areas
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required for travelers
- Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The tour program is subject to change due to weather & sea conditions
- Face masks required for travellers in public areas
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required for travelers
- Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The tour program is subject to change due to weather & sea conditions
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Experience may be cancelled due to Insufficient travelers
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
What To Expect
John Gray's Sea Canoe
This full-day kayak trip from Phuket starts at midday to avoid the crowds, with a convenient pickup service by luxury air-conditioned minivan from the entire Phuket Island. Don’t eat lunch, as you will be served a healthy and nutritious meal onboard the comfortable and modern twin-engine escort boat after leaving from Ao Po Pier. During the boat ride you will watch a raptor show and get a detailed briefing about the nature and geological site of Phang Nga Bay. Learn the basic do’s and don’ts of how to securely enter the caves and hongs.
Start the first kayaking session with your well-educated and experienced guide through limestone caves and lagoons in the dramatic setting at Panak Island. The hand-made kayaks are specially designed for your trip, and you can feel absolutely safe because there was never a capsize, a puncture or any accident. Your professional guide paddles you and your partner through 'Tidal Nape' sea caves inside Phang Nga Bay’s marine limestone karstic islands into 'hongs' (Thai for room). The hidden cliff-lined lagoons are populated with macaques, water monitors, kingfishers, mud-skippers, egrets, sea eagles and brahminy kites. Return to the escort boat and move on to the second island with two more caves and hongs to explore.
You will finish after dark by floating your own self-made flower “Krathong” in a spiritual and spectacular natural light show. Guests say that the evening Loi Kratong ceremony complete with fireflies and dinoflagellates (bio-luminescent plankton) is a 'spiritual experience'.
Eat a delicious seafood/vegan buffet on the trip back, you return to the pier two hours after sunset. Only the highest-quality ingredients are used to prepare the lunch and dinner, fresh from the local market. Seafood is net caught and chickens are free range. Brown, red, and black rice is served with homemade Massaman curry.
Itinerary:
• 10:30 - 12:00: Hotel pickup service in Phuket
• 12:00 - 13:00: Meet the crew at Ao Po Pier & get instructions
• 13:00 - 13:10: Departure by escort boat to Phang Nga Bay
• 13:10 - 14:10: Enjoy lunch on board the tour boat
• 14:15 - 16:15: Kayak into the cave at Koh Phanak
• 16:15 - 16:30: Continue to Hong Island
• 16:30 - 17:30: Sightseeing & kayaking at Koh Hong
• 17:30 - 18:15: Free time for relaxing at the beach or kayaking
• 18:15 - 18:45: Make your own Krathong & have dinner on the boat
• 18:45 - 19:15: Float the self-made Krathong in the cave of Phanak Island
• 19:15 - 19:30: See phosphorescent plankton
• 19:30 - 20:30: Head back to Phuket
• 20:30 - 21:00: Transfer to your hotel
Start the first kayaking session with your well-educated and experienced guide through limestone caves and lagoons in the dramatic setting at Panak Island. The hand-made kayaks are specially designed for your trip, and you can feel absolutely safe because there was never a capsize, a puncture or any accident. Your professional guide paddles you and your partner through 'Tidal Nape' sea caves inside Phang Nga Bay’s marine limestone karstic islands into 'hongs' (Thai for room). The hidden cliff-lined lagoons are populated with macaques, water monitors, kingfishers, mud-skippers, egrets, sea eagles and brahminy kites. Return to the escort boat and move on to the second island with two more caves and hongs to explore.
You will finish after dark by floating your own self-made flower “Krathong” in a spiritual and spectacular natural light show. Guests say that the evening Loi Kratong ceremony complete with fireflies and dinoflagellates (bio-luminescent plankton) is a 'spiritual experience'.
Eat a delicious seafood/vegan buffet on the trip back, you return to the pier two hours after sunset. Only the highest-quality ingredients are used to prepare the lunch and dinner, fresh from the local market. Seafood is net caught and chickens are free range. Brown, red, and black rice is served with homemade Massaman curry.
Itinerary:
• 10:30 - 12:00: Hotel pickup service in Phuket
• 12:00 - 13:00: Meet the crew at Ao Po Pier & get instructions
• 13:00 - 13:10: Departure by escort boat to Phang Nga Bay
• 13:10 - 14:10: Enjoy lunch on board the tour boat
• 14:15 - 16:15: Kayak into the cave at Koh Phanak
• 16:15 - 16:30: Continue to Hong Island
• 16:30 - 17:30: Sightseeing & kayaking at Koh Hong
• 17:30 - 18:15: Free time for relaxing at the beach or kayaking
• 18:15 - 18:45: Make your own Krathong & have dinner on the boat
• 18:45 - 19:15: Float the self-made Krathong in the cave of Phanak Island
• 19:15 - 19:30: See phosphorescent plankton
• 19:30 - 20:30: Head back to Phuket
• 20:30 - 21:00: Transfer to your hotel
10 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Ao Po Pier
-
60 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Phang Nga Bay.
-
60 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Ko Pa Nak
-
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Ice Cream Cave
-
60 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Hongs of Phang Nga
-
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Koh Panak Cave
-
1 hours • Admission Ticket Free
-
• Admission Ticket Free
Reviews
Beautiful
lisafN8120SX, 20-09-2022
Great experience. Beautiful scenery and we were well fed with delicious meals and snacks. My guide Musa was amazing - as a solo traveller he made sure I was looked after and also kept asking for my camera so that I could be photographed in all of the best places (so nice to have some non-selfie pics LOL). It was a full day experience so there was no feeling of being rushed through any of the places. Would highly recommend
Excellent day trip
993katya, 18-09-2022
Highly recommend!! Everything was well organised and the canoeing, mangroves within the caves as well as experiencing the caves at night were all real highlights. It was a really fun day out.
Breathtaking Scenery-Must Do Tour
thehollywoodbol, 25-09-2022
Fantastic from start to finish. Incredible scenery and a lot of fun . They pick you up from hotel and you make three boat stops where you go with your guide in the kayak. Meals are very tasty and you get to see things you would never expect . Don’t miss this tour it is so worth it.
Fantastic experience you will not regret
E7049YBdonnal, 29-09-2022
This was one of the best tours I have done. The crew were all very friendly and organised, the food was amazing the caves magnificent highlight for us was the lanterns at the end. All crew were very safe and knowledgeable big thanks to our guide sun who went the extra mile to ensure it was a lovely memorable experience for us. I could not fault anything about this trip from pick up to drop off.
DO NOT MISS THIS!
lisah732, 29-09-2022
I highly recommend this day trip. My husband, daughter (who is 22) and I went on the excursion. The food is all cooked on board by two amazing ladies. It is authentic, fresh and delicious. The trip includes lunch and dinner. The kayaks hold 3 people, two guests and a guide. Because we were a group of three, Sun matched up my husband with one of the other guests. Names of guides were drawn by each group of two. We had Done and Min. These gentlemen were awesome! Knowledgeable, funny and able to answer any question we had. We quickly felt comfortable and relaxed with them.
Most of the caves we went into led to lagoons that are on the interior of the large stone islands. These were beautiful and so interesting! We saw monkeys, smallish monitor lizards and these little fish that could move themselves on the sandbars with fins that were more like arms. Before dinner, the guides turned the kayaks upside down and tied them together end to end. We took turns trying to run all the way to the end. Everyone cheered on the individuals attempting to make it to the end. It was so much fun and a great way to make everyone on the boat feel like a team.
There was plenty of staff on the boat to answer questions and they were always offering interesting tidbits of information. What you see on the kayak trips was amazing, but the staff on the boat was the icing on the cake. One of the comments I had seen in reviews for excursions was that with bigger boats, it would take longer to get everyone in and out of the kayaks. That was absolutely not my experience. Sun and the guides had the process perfected and it moved quickly. I had also heard that getting in and out of the kayaks was hard. I am a 58 year old woman who carries more weight than I should (thank you Covid). I was able to get in and out of the kayaks without a problem.
Our day with John Gray tours ended with the bioluminescent plankton. It was amazing. I can't think of a better way to spend a day. Make sure you bring baht to tip the guides and boat staff. They work hard and deserve it.
Most of the caves we went into led to lagoons that are on the interior of the large stone islands. These were beautiful and so interesting! We saw monkeys, smallish monitor lizards and these little fish that could move themselves on the sandbars with fins that were more like arms. Before dinner, the guides turned the kayaks upside down and tied them together end to end. We took turns trying to run all the way to the end. Everyone cheered on the individuals attempting to make it to the end. It was so much fun and a great way to make everyone on the boat feel like a team.
There was plenty of staff on the boat to answer questions and they were always offering interesting tidbits of information. What you see on the kayak trips was amazing, but the staff on the boat was the icing on the cake. One of the comments I had seen in reviews for excursions was that with bigger boats, it would take longer to get everyone in and out of the kayaks. That was absolutely not my experience. Sun and the guides had the process perfected and it moved quickly. I had also heard that getting in and out of the kayaks was hard. I am a 58 year old woman who carries more weight than I should (thank you Covid). I was able to get in and out of the kayaks without a problem.
Our day with John Gray tours ended with the bioluminescent plankton. It was amazing. I can't think of a better way to spend a day. Make sure you bring baht to tip the guides and boat staff. They work hard and deserve it.
Amazing and totally worth it!
Rebecca P, 22-12-2022
This trip was very well organized, the staff was very friendly and the food was delicious! This is definitely a 5 star experience, don’t miss out, it’s gorgeous!!!! BUT…it says to book this tour to avoid the crowds, well that’s because you are the crowd. They do a great job of spacing out the canoes so you aren’t bunched together but it’s still a lot of people at one time. 10 out of 10 though!
Amazing tour!
Daan_B, 21-12-2022
Amazing trip! Although we found it expensive at first we are happy that we went on the trip. The staff is amazing and the tour is super well organised from start to end. Special thanks to our guide on the canoe (Saman), he is awasome!
No, the reviews aren't lying to you! Book this now!
amyoN9416EU, 21-12-2022
My fiancee and I did this tour shortly after we got engaged and it was absolutely magical. The minute I booked my flight and hotel to Phuket, I also booked this. I had done sea kayaking when I was 16 with my family and loved it so much that I wanted my fiancee to experience it as well. This excursion was absolutely fantastic. No, the reviews are not lying to you.
We went through so many caves and lagoons, had some great food, had a good amount of free time, got to build Krathongs (traditional thai floating lanterns), floated those Krathongs in a bat cave, and then got to see bioluminescent algae.
Our main tour guide was great, and very informative. Our personal paddler was also wonderful, despite not being able to speak english, we could still tell that he was trying his very best. He was a fantastic photographer and took one of our favourite photos to date. The main tour guide also made sure to stick close by to us as we were paddled through the caves and lagoons so that we could still get information and fun facts. They were both wonderful and so pleasant to talk to, joke with and just be around.
I would say a word of caution if you are claustrophobic in any way as the extremely tight entrances to the cave spooked me quite a bit despite me not being scared of that kind of stuff. I would also warn people who think it would be a good idea to bring small children to this, as i witnessed 2 different families with young children struggle to keep their kids still on the kayaks. To be honest I felt bad for the families because they were so busy trying to keep their children still and well behaved, that they couldn't enjoy one of the most beautiful places on earth.
All in all, this was such a fantastic experience, from the jaw dropping scenery, good food, fun crafts and great conversations shared with the guys and other guests. I would recommend this to teenagers and adults so that they can fully appreciate this fantastic experience.
I've done this excursion twice now, and I will undoubtedly be booking again when I return to phuket, I just can't get enough!
We went through so many caves and lagoons, had some great food, had a good amount of free time, got to build Krathongs (traditional thai floating lanterns), floated those Krathongs in a bat cave, and then got to see bioluminescent algae.
Our main tour guide was great, and very informative. Our personal paddler was also wonderful, despite not being able to speak english, we could still tell that he was trying his very best. He was a fantastic photographer and took one of our favourite photos to date. The main tour guide also made sure to stick close by to us as we were paddled through the caves and lagoons so that we could still get information and fun facts. They were both wonderful and so pleasant to talk to, joke with and just be around.
I would say a word of caution if you are claustrophobic in any way as the extremely tight entrances to the cave spooked me quite a bit despite me not being scared of that kind of stuff. I would also warn people who think it would be a good idea to bring small children to this, as i witnessed 2 different families with young children struggle to keep their kids still on the kayaks. To be honest I felt bad for the families because they were so busy trying to keep their children still and well behaved, that they couldn't enjoy one of the most beautiful places on earth.
All in all, this was such a fantastic experience, from the jaw dropping scenery, good food, fun crafts and great conversations shared with the guys and other guests. I would recommend this to teenagers and adults so that they can fully appreciate this fantastic experience.
I've done this excursion twice now, and I will undoubtedly be booking again when I return to phuket, I just can't get enough!
Such a fun and relaxing day full of great pictures and laughs
kylamaclachlan, 21-12-2022
This day was so much fun. Our guide was funny and knowledgeable. We had some tight caves to get through (which we weren't expecting when we signed up) but we knew we were in good hands with our guide. Everyone was very helpful and nice. Bring your camera as you have lots of opportunities for beautiful picture. Overall, it was a very relaxing day.
Wow!
Z8292SMjessicar, 20-12-2022
My friend and I loved this excursion! Term, our guide, was phenomenal. He was so kind and friendly, went way above and beyond, and made it all so much fun. It was nice to do an activity where you can just relax and enjoy all the things they are taking you to see. We were lucky and ended up with a single boat with a "small" group! If for no other reason, go do this tour to see the bioluminescent plankton! That alone makes it so worth it, even if you aren't interested in all the other cool things you get to see!
Awesome Full Day Excursion
robynaryelle, 11-01-2023
Awesome experience. From the guides to the food…everything was fantastic. The excursion is from 12p-8pm ish with lunch, dinner, pick up/drop off included. The boat ride out to the island with the caves takes approximately 1 hour. You will eat lunch on the boat (Thai noodles, salad, fruit). After arriving you get paired up with a guide who will paddle you around on the kayak. We were a family of 4 (2 adults, a 5 year old and a 1.5 year old). They paired us up with Toy, Beer, and and a 3rd guide whose name I forgot. Toy was great with helping out with my kids. Beer was awesome as well. He knew a lot about the history and geographical information about it the caves. He was very informative. They take you around to 2 sites and then you come back on board to make floating flower arrangements and to eat dinner (fish, chicken, tempura veggies, soup). Then they help you release your flower offering and then you ride back to the pick up location. 10/10 would recommend!
Such an a wonderful day!...
Vance_P, 09-01-2023
Such an a wonderful day! We signed up at the last minute and it was worth it! We enjoyed the sights, food, and activities.
Highly recommend
BrianaRaeB, 08-01-2023
Loved everything about this tour! Went to beautiful areas, and it was not very crowded when we went. Loved going into the sea caves! The staff was incredibly kind (and funny!). Lunch and dinner were both delicious. I would recommend this tour to anyone coming to Phuket to visit, especially if they would like to avoid the overwhelming number of tourists.
Definitely worth booking
Jonathan_E, 08-01-2023
One of the best excursions I booked while in Phuket. The team was friendly and professional. I personally found the food to be pretty tasty.
Excellent Quality tour !
Anjana_P, 08-01-2023
It was one of the best trips in Phuket. Everything was perfect and as expected by a 'quality' tour (it's hard to get one these days even after paying for quality :P). The crew was super nice and took care of the needs of each individual whether it comes to vegan/veggie food, comfort with water while paddling, or anything else. Our paddle guy was 'Ole' and he was super nice to tell us stories about the caves, and places we paddled around with him. The tour itinerary was surreal on a nice day as we were out of the busy city life and enjoyed the scenery so much. Watching sunsets, ciccada's noise in the lagoons, kayak's during free time, colorful corals, bioluminescent water in the night, watching moon and stars on a clear sky night from the boat and and making our own Krathong's and what not! Highly recommended. :)
