Bali Snorkeling

Taking it easy off Good Feeling Resort's budget beachside bungalows Ko Wai - that's big Ko Chang in the background. Last visited February 2012 Ko Wai is a small hilly island about one hour by slow ferry (there are speedboats) south of big Ko Chang in the eastern Gulf. Party types and comfort-travellers will hate this place - there are no specialist bars, clubs or restaurants, no roads, few tracks, no villages, no shops, no ATMs, - just 5 resorts, one a relatively recent and isolated midrange joint, the other 4 budget oriented, the flashest of which struggles to get above flash-packer. Some recent visitors have complained about the influx of daytrippers from Chang and the mainland each day, but these are easy to avoid and can in fact offer good variety. Ko Wai in the far eastern Gulf to the south of Ko Chang and north-west of Ko Mak. Trat is the nearest mainland regional city (modified Google Earth image). A copy of an aerial photo at Pakarang Resort in 1998 - the beach at top

Typical gulet south of Oludeniz. This was “Sydney” which ran tandem with “Blue Key” most of the trip. The area under the front sail is covered with thick foam mattresses which are packed with sunbathers in this shot and are ideal for sleeping under the stars at night. The bowsprit has a padded sailbag which is a real comfy perc h - I spent a lot of the time sitting here checking the scene. Picture yourself strapped into a tandem paraglider at the top of a 2000m mountain. You and your pilot are going to run down a short slope, take off, cruise out over the edge, and after 20 to 30 minutes of soaring and drifting land on a drop-dead gorgeous beach directly below. You are on the spectacular Mediterranean coast of Turkey, the mountain is the soaring Babadag and the picture-postcard beach is Oludeniz . Babadag is not too much short of Australia's highest peak, Kosciusco, but a few minutes after take-off we are considerably higher riding an updraft as the sea-breeze hits the mountain s

Everyone wants a bungalow on stilts over the water. How about a budget-priced one in an otherwise nice midrange resort with cool pool etc? Cococape Resort on Ko Mak can do this. Last visited February 2012 Ko Mak has certainly changed over the years. This is a shot I took on my first visit in 1998 - there is now a paved road along this track although the surrounds are still palm plantations. Most of the "welll-trafficked" roads are now paved - although there is never much traffic. In '98 all the roads were unsealed. There's a lot more accommodation even compared to my second visit in 2008, particularly in the mid-range but budget travellers still have the choice of several nice places. Ko Mak often gets confused with Ko Muk over in the Andaman. Mak is a long way from Muk - it's in the eastern Gulf near Cambodia and south of big Ko Chang. The nearest regional mainland city is Trat (modified Google Earth image). It is a small to medium sized island, hilly at each en