I opened the door with trepidation, not wanting to see where we had ended up….it was actually quite nice: 40 bungalows arranged around a huge square with restaurant etc in the middle and right on the beach. Further back was a large hotel with nice pools etc. This would be ok to keep the rain off our head.

Dumped the jeep back with the miserable fellow who rented it to us and met up with the snorkel trip crew across the road. We had opted for the speedboat tour and clambered into a large craft powered by no fewer than 3 200hp outboards. One hour later…..we had finally completed the tour of Koh Lanta resorts picking up people along the way…This was a neat service: they reversed the boat up to the beach, raised the engines and you could step on board easily.

The group was a big mix of Europeans and Asians. There was a large, loud Korean family group who shrieked non stop in the water and relentlessly made fun of the drippy brother in law.

We sped over to Koh Rok at 30 knots, stopped and everyone jumped off with snorkels. The coral was amazing! Back on board, round the corner for more snorkeling. Lunch time: the rain started and quickly developed into a good tropical storm. The beach venue for the buffet lunch had lots of rustic tables and benches amongst the trees just set back from a lovely white sand beach. Shame about the rain. We all crowded under a basic shelter and tucked into fish green curry and rice. Euros in their bikinis and shorts, Asians fully clothed, because that's what they swam in…..

All in all a top trip. We were deposited back at Lanta Resort. Showered and caught a "taxi" up the road to the port. We had decided to leave Koh Lanta the following morning in search for the perfect beach, but where to go? So many islands, so many bungalows and resorts, so many bad reviews on TripAdvisor.com …..After an hour on the 'net we were frustrated and went to the pub. A random wine bar, actually, where we tucked into a rare treat of a smooth Pinotage and some complimentary peanuts.

Finally we found a travel agent who had an opinion…..he suggested we avoid Koh Phi Phi, head south to Koh Lipe but first take in an island we'd never heard of: Koh Muk. He told us about an amazing resort, got us a good discount, and booked the speed boat to get us there (standard sand to sand service). Buoyed by this we crossed the road to our favourite stilt restaurant for seafood fried rice, tuna steak and a couple of drinks.

The taxis on the island were an interesting design: a scooter and sidecar with a bench seat attached. The driver sat like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape as we thundered along at 30 Kph. Home safely, hoping the next venue would live up to expectations…..