By the time we woke up about 6 am the ship was no longer moving, having arrived at our tender spot off the shore of Phuket, Thailand. During breakfast at 7 am tender boats started heading ashore, with staff initially, then with passengers on booked excursions. We all gathered in our stateroom on deck 4, and waited for tender groups 1, 2 and 3 that were called in pretty short order. We stood in line for about 15 minutes – and then movement happened. We ended up getting on a tender with excursion guests, group 2 and ourselves in group 3. The tender ride was about 10 minutes to shore.
Once we arrived on shore ag the Patong Pier, we investigated options to get to Freedom Beach. Our research told that us that was a good place to go for the adventurous and those wanting to snorkel. We could go by boat longtail boat or by taxi, knowing there was a steep path to get to the beach. I was keen on the boat – that would have cost about 2400 baht roundtrip. A taxi was 2000. We chose the Grab app (like uber) and booked an SUV for less than 500 baht. 500 Thai bahts cost about $22 CAD.
We arrived around 9 am and there were very few people at the beach initially. The surf was quite strong and knocked down Lynn when she first walked in. J walked further along the beach towards the rocky shore where snorkelling was likely to be more successful. I joined him for about 40 minutes.
This was one of the more colourful fish that J captured a photo of today!
We all appreciated my tatami mat that I bought at the entrance for 150 baht ($6.66 CAD) so we could all have a place to sit and drop our backpacks on, free from sand.
After a few hours, we made the decision to go back up the hill (600 metre path, with a very steep elevation). J was willing to walk, the rest of us felt paying 100 baht ($4.44 CAD) was well worth the price to ride in the back of a truck taxi to get to the top of the hill! From there we struggled a bit to call a grab taxi because it was considered private property. We finally google translated with a local driver of a comfortable taxi van to pay 600 baht to get back to the pier. We had decided we would take a tender back to the ship, drop our wet things, shower and eat lunch – then return for a little sightseeing in town.
Soup and pizza was a great lunch on a quiet ship, with no crowds around! We hustled back to take a tender to shore. We walked the tourist-like streets.
It was dripping hot out, so Lynn and I returned to the ship while J and Jessica carried on to see more sights. They returned maybe 20 or 30 minutes after we did back at the room.
Supper in the dining room is on the menu tonight and another day in port tomorrow. Amazing sights and sounds in Phuket, Thailand. Posting this before we pull away from using my Asian sim card with the Airalo app.
Arun in the dining room went above and beyond to ensure Jessica had no troubles with her specialty GF orders tonight. Today at lunch we mentioned the numerous difficulties Jessica had yesterday - with her lunch order and her specialty dining. Arun made sure everything was attended to today. I expect there will be no more difficulties for her dietary needs for the rest of the trip!
I also asked the lifeguard why the pool was closed yesterday (it was open today). She said somebody had thrown up in it yesterday - so there policy is to completely drain the pool and sanitize everything before filling it with clean water. Good to know!
We lose an hour tonight and we have a 6:45 am breakfast meeting so we can get to our excursion meeting point at 8 am - so I best sign off. Today was a great day!
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