Sailing Tours & Trips in Asia

Fantastic trip. Don’t hesitate to book. We did the 4 days one because I was nervous about being stuck on a boat for four days but they planned great stops and activities and I never once felt bored or like I want to get off the boat. The trip went around the most magnificent scenery and the food was amazing. Would do it again in a heart beat.

Our recent trip with Intrepid Travel was wonderful. Here are some comments: We greatly enjoyed our trip on the Cataleya catamaran. There were three of us, husband, wife and adult child, in a quad room (we paid $500 extra to share the cabin without a fourth passenger and so as to not be separated by gender). There were 12 people on the tour and 4 crew members, including the Captain/Tour leader, a cook, and two general helpers. General: The quad rooms are by far the nicest cabins on this boat. I would probably rate the trip differently if I had paid extra to end up in a tiny double with no air circulation. The food and crew were great. We had several kayaks and SUPs on the catamaran that were available for us to use at some of the stops. We were lucky to have a really nice group of passengers on this trip in close quarters. 7 of the 12 passengers were traveling solo. There was a small refrigerator on the boat with space for each passenger to keep a water bottle cold. Soft drinks, wine and beer were available for a small additional cost. I think the captain, Bruno, is an Intrepid employee, however I felt that Intrepid Travel did not know much about this trip. All travel to and from the boat is done in a small zodiac motorboat. Do not pack anything in your luggage that might get broken from being tossed in a zodiac with everyone else's luggage. My new scuba mask was crushed during the trip to the catamaran. There is also the risk that the luggage will get wet during the journey. Itinerary: There was (too much) time spent at touristy locations such as James Bond Island and Railay Beach, and (not enough) time spent snorkeling and stopping to use the kayaks and SUPs. We also visited some interesting caves and interior lagoons. One thing to note is that this is ideally a 6-night trip out of Phuket. It is sold as two separate 3-night trips, and we joined for 3-nights, but I wish we had gone for the full 6-nights. Value for money: The cabins vary a lot and some cabins are more desirable than others. Doubles are currently more expensive and not as nice as quads. The quads have bigger windows and much better ventilation. The boat was well maintained. The meals prepared by the cook were excellent and she was very good about accommodating dietary restrictions. Accommodations: The link on the website to information about boats used by Intrepid does not show the Cataleya. The 2 quad cabins are the same, but each of the doubles is different. Each cabin has its own bathroom, with toilet, small sink and shower. There are electrical outlets in the cabins for charging electronic devices. Climate: This was during the coolest time of year in Thailand, and it was about 95 degrees out most of the time. The ocean water was perfect, about 85 or so. Being on a boat barefoot in bathing suits is perfect during the day in this climate. Sleeping was a bit of a challenge, despite the fan by each bed. There is no air conditioning on the boat. I recommend this trip and would do it again.

This was a fun cruise!! For our first day, we boarded a small transfer boat for a 45 minute ride on the bay to get to the ship. They transferred our luggage for us, but it was on the same boat with us! We went for a lunch buffet, which was great. Then we checked into our rooms. It was a little toasty at first, but we got the AC going and by the end of the day, it was perfect for the rest of our cruise. We went on a brief excursion to a cove where we got in a rice boat and a local towed us around for 45 minutes before heading back to the boat. They had options on the boat of what to do, but it was easy to stay entertained with the beautiful view. The next day was a different, smaller boat for the whole day. We were the only ones from our cruise doing 3 day 2 night but honestly looking at both schedules, we think you need to do the 3 day 2 night! We transferred from Hanoi and the time just wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t have the 48 hours!! Everyone on board was very nice and welcoming. It’s clear that the staff takes pride in their boat and their work! We enjoyed everything.