Kayaking the Andaman Coast of Thailand: Burma to Malaysia

Open water crossing to the mainland into big wind. Mind over matter!

My homeboy Tim Morch and I have kayaked the entire west coast of Thailand, around 600 kms from the Burma border, to the Malaysian border, twice. It’s a pretty hardcore camping trip, hacking out sites every evening along the coast. But the payoff is insane; I can’t believe kayaking isn’t a bigger sport in Thailand. (Real sea-kayaking I’m talking about, not day trips on those little plastic sit-on-top personal floatation devices.)

If you leave at the right time of year, the winds and swell aren’t too bad. And it’s not crazy hot. The optimum window is mid-December thru mid-February. After that it gets into three months of hot season, followed by five months of monsoon. Not paddling weather!

When we talk to park rangers and others along the coast it becomes apparent, there are few few paddlers taking advantage of the empty beaches and islands. They say they barely see any paddlers, and nobody doing the full end-to-end trips.

Here’s Reason #88 to Kayak: entering an empty Koh Hong in Krabi. If you’ve been there you know it’s normally completely full of boats stuffed with tourists.

Kayaking into Koh Hong in Krabi, in a Feathercraft Wisper XP folding boat. The only way to do long trips in this part of the world.

To undertake long trips in the Andaman, or any trip where you end up a long way from where you started, folding kayaks are the way to go. Not only for expeditions, but just any time you are at the beach for a few days. You can go fishing or exploring in the mangroves.

Seriously, if you love the ocean, get a kayak! 

This barracuda weighed almost the same as my boat. Pulled me around the ocean for half an hour. Fed the place for almost a week.

Geeks can check out my KML file here. That’s just one trip, but gives an idea of where we pull over and how much water we covered every day. Feel free to contact me for info if you want to kayak southern Thailand.

If you want to go and park yourself, as we do these days, and just do spectacular day-paddles, Koh Chang is the place to stay. (Kong Chang Ranong, do not confuse with Koh Chang Trat!)

Andaman kayak paddling paradise in Ranong, Thailand.