Island Safari Tour - Phang Nga

Phuket is known to offer plenty of great tour excursions at very affordable prices, just like Krabi. On our recent visit to Phuket, we found that the tours offered were more or less the same as the ones in Krabi.

Welcome to Island Safari

In Phuket, you will find many tour operators trying to promote the common tour packages such as snorkeling in Koh Phi Phi, kayaking in James Bond island and jungle safari in Khao Sok. Since the both of us had experienced Koh Phi Phi and kayaking during our trip in Krabi, we decided to go for something more adventurous. We took the 'All-in One Adventure' which included elephant trekking, elephant show, monkey show, fish spa, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), flying fox and white water rafting. Oh! and before I proceed, FYI this trip we were accompanied by 3 of our friends; the Powerpuff girls or better known as Watermelon, Raspberry and Coconut.

Refreshment

Our trip started off with a pick up transfer from our hotel in Patong to Phang Nga in a seat-in coach (provided with the package). After about an hour and a half's journey, we arrived at Island Safari Phang Nga where the ATV, fish spa and all the elephant and monkey activities were conducted.

Feed me!

To understand more about this place, first you need to know how it functions. Tour operators from all around Phuket and Phang Nga will gather all their customers who took the similar package, here for registration before being split into a few groups. The reason for this grouping is to ensure that all activities will be occupied and run concurrently; leading to less or zero waiting time.

Disappointing ride

For our group, our first activity of the day was the 30 minutes elephant trekking. To be honest, the ride was quite a big let down especially for the both of us, as the elephant ride we experienced in Krabi was much better organized. Here, riding time was cut short by half (15 minutes instead of the advertised 30) and the elephant caretakers didn't even bother to help us take any photos (Again, unlike the one we had in Krabi). Some of the caretakers were even seen spending much of the 15 minutes talking on their phones, instead of properly guiding our elephants on the trail.

Fish Spa

Next up, was the fish spa. After the short elephant ride, we were all hot, sweaty and excited to dip our feet into the cooling aquarium. However, the moment we tried to dip our feet in, we were stopped by one of the staff who informed us that our legs had to be cleaned before we could enjoy the fish spa.

Hygiene first

Baby Piranha

So we sat back, relax, and let the lovely staff cleaned up our feet. They also served each of us a simple refreshment (provided in the package) which consisted of a syrup drink, a mandarin orange and two rambutans whilst our legs were being treated by the little fishes. It was relaxing and enjoyable, unlike the disappointing ride.

Return to base @ 20kp/h

We then moved on to the next adventure; all-terrain vehicle or commonly known as ATV. The 30 minutes ride was quite fun, but it could have been better if the management looked into investing more, to keep the vehicles in tiptop condition. Safety, should always be top priority. Unfortunately, this was not the case as we found that the brakes in all our 5 vehicles did not function properly. One of the Powerpuff girls had to change her vehicle not long after leaving the base as her brakes totally failed to respond. Talk about terrifying!

Posing

The ATV ride was followed by the least-awaited activity of the day; the monkey show (Toothpick & I are not big fans of monkeys). In this show, two monkeys were used to perform acts such as weightlifting, cycling, basketball and plucking coconuts.

Poor monkeys

Although we are not big fans of monkeys, seeing them being chained up all the time  (even when they're performing) was very sad and cruel. Furthermore, using them to ask for tips was just as inappropriate. I seriously doubt the money collected will be used to upkeep these poor monkeys.

I'm not gonna do it!

The biggest disappointment of the day had to be the elephant show. The moment we were introduced to "Ladyboy" the elephant, we knew there was something amiss. Apart from the normal greeting acts, Ladyboy was told by the caretaker to perform an obscene act. This poor elephant was forced to erect its penis. Lucky for us, Ladyboy was reluctant to perform on that day and that segment of the show had to be called off after a few failed attempts. God knows what punishment Ladyboy received after we left. I have personally written to the management of Island Safari and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) about this issue. We hope that action will be taken before more animals are treated unfairly and inappropriately in Thailand.

Lunch

Following the show, we adjourned to a new destination where the flying fox and white water rafting activities were operated. It was located about 30 minutes away from where we were coming from. Lunch (provided in the package) was served upon arrival and we were given an hour's break before we continued on to our next activity.

Warning! The following activities can be very addictive and it is not suitable for the faint hearted as well as the elderly, and children.

First, we had to keep all our belongings in the locker including my camera (that was why I didn't get any shots of this), and then moved to the counter to get our safety gears. Next, we had to climb up a steep 100 feet pathway to the flying fox station. If half way up you start questioning whether you should proceed, don't worry because you can still make a U-turn. But I think riding the flying fox down is actually safer than turning back and walking down the steep pathway. The ride down was really fun and exhilarating, and there is basically no other words to  adequately describe the feeling better, other than your own experience.

Dam - where they release the water

Then came the last activity of the day which was also the most-awaited one; the 5km white water rafting (Class II-III). Each of us were required to wear a crash helmet and life jacket for safety purposes. Don't worry if you can't do rafting as each raft will be guided by two experience staffs. All you need to do is just follow what they say and paddle hard OR you can just let them do all the hard work but reward them with a big tip at the end of the trip.

For first timers, this ride is more than sufficient for an adrenaline rush.

Verdict :

Other than the disappointing animal shows, the activities in this tour is definitely one of the best around. For the price of 1300THB per person, it was a pretty good deal and worth every Bath. In Malaysia, RM130 couldn't even get you a return transfer to a Water Rafting activity alone in Gopeng. 

Sandal says :

• Trip Experience - 7/10 (Banned the animal shows!)

• Value for $$$ - 9/10 (totally)

• Recommend to a friend? - Maybe (only the second half)

Toothpick says : 

• Trip Experience - 6/10 (Good except for the way they treated the animals)

• Value for $$$ - 9/10 (So many different activities, Where else can you find such a deal?)

• Recommend to a friend? - Conditionally (Only if they stop the indecent and cruel animal shows)