After 3 days straight of not leaving this resort, we decided it was time. We saw a small nearby island on the map and asked the front desk if it would be possible to charter a small boat to it. She called around but the cheapest she could find was for $150, which is more than we were willing to spend.

Nick suggested we use the hotel kayaks and try to get there on our own. He zoomed in on his phone map and tried to convince me it would be easy enough. Eventually I relented. We got everything packed up and set off from our hotel’s beach.

I wouldn’t call it easy—it doesn’t help that I have no upper body strength—but we made it. Nick and Millie did some snorkeling while I rested my arms and watched them.

We had read that there were buried statues around the island, but we didn’t know where exactly they were. I looked on Google maps while they were snorkeling but the only thing shown on the island was a small restaurant. A restaurant on an uninhabited island? I was intrigued. And we figured they could point us towards the statues.

We kayaked around the curve of the island and pulled up to the restaurant, which was a series of floating platforms connected by old wooden planks.

We sat and ordered garlic shrimp, grouper sashimi, and uni. We then had one of the most memorable food experiences of our lives.

We sat and watched as one of the owners got into his kayak and headed out to catch our grouper. He brought it back in a net, and 5 minutes later it was on our table.

Then, we saw him reach down under the pier we walked in on and pull up an urchin. Millie has developed a fear of urchins so Nick brought her over to see it up close, out of the water.

Our waiter cut off the spines and cut it in half to reveal the sweet orange meat. The remaining spines were still moving when it arrived at our table.

He told us that the Thai way of eating it is to pour some beer in the shell and shoot the last piece. Nick happily obliged.

I had a dog sleeping next to me the whole time we ate.

Everything was absolutely delicious, but the atmosphere is what really made it. We were bobbing up and down on the water that our meal was in just minutes before.

As we were paying, we asked about the statues and he directed us back to near where we had just been. By now there were more snorkelers so we asked them and they showed us the exact spot in the ocean where they were.

Nick and Millie went out first, and then I borrowed Nick’s snorkel to go and see them in my own. I don’t have an underwater camera, but here are photos I stole from the internet of what we saw.

They were eerie and cool. Then we began the journey back to our hotel. We weren’t fighting the current this time so it was slightly easier, but still exhausting. My arms will be hurting tomorrow. Millie fell asleep on the kayak.

We got back and cleaned off all our stuff. We watched our last balcony sunset since we are leaving tomorrow.

We walked to dinner, our fourth at the same hotel restaurant. The food is good but I’ll be ready for a new menu tomorrow. I’ll miss the vibes though.

It was a magical day, to cap off the magical week we’ve had on these islands.