My 11 year old son and I joined Captain Mark and his crew for the day on 22nd April, along with another family of 4 (Hi Chris, Deb and the girls!) and a young couple from Texas, and we can honestly say that it was our best day out in Phuket. We just loved the Sakai! From the time we were collected at our hotel, nothing was too much trouble and when we finally got to meet Mark, well I don't think I have ever met anyone before who lives up to their reputation! Nothing was too much trouble for Mark and his crew, and there was just so much yum food and drink the whole time, it's a wonder the yacht didn't sink!
Mark really went out of his way to make sure that the kids enjoyed themselves, lots of laughing and joking, and when we went into the caves, Mark was so knowledgeable about everything, and made it all so interesting for us. Not being endowed with goat hoofs, I knew I wouldn't be very good at climbing over some of the rocks to get into one lot of caves, but far from feeling like I was spoiling it for others, Mark took me back to the yacht and told me I was free to swim round it if I wanted, or I could just laze on board until the others came back. He made sure that he took some photos of my son in the cave, and even let him steer the little dinghy back to the yacht, which my son thought was just great. Even got to wear Mark's captain's hat!
Mark tries very hard to avoid the main tour groups, and with good reason, having seen 5 different groups converging on "our" place to spoil the peace and tranquility of the caves. Mark got very upset by some people's behaviour in the caves, jumping from their canoes into the water and screaming their heads off, upsetting the bats. Mark is very very concerned - and rightly so - about the fragile ecology of the hongs, and tries very hard to make sure that everyone on the Sakai is aware of how special the area is.
Don't even waste time thinking about joining any of the other day trips to Phang Nga, because none of them will give you such a wonderful day. Mark's trips are very personal, great fun and worth every cent, in fact I reckon Mark is underselling himself by a lot. We returned with memories which will always stay with us. Thanks Mark, you are the best!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.