Asia Explorer Trips

It’s New Years Eve. I haven’t finished my holiday yet having remained in Krabi for a further six nights after the Explore holiday. I have done this holiday twice in the past three years and will probably do it again. It isn’t full on touring with long travel days…….even transferring between island by speedboat is nice. Sometimes you need a more relaxing holiday at this time of year. Thailand and the Andaman Sea is the perfect place for this. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was being allocated a top bunk on the overnight train journey from Bangkok to Trang as this was enforced lying down for eleven hours on a narrower bed because of the curvature of the train roof. The wider, more headroom, able to sit up bottom bunks cost 150 Baht ( about £2.50) more which I would have willingly paid for.

We started our Dhoni cruise after spending 5 nights on a resort, as we wanted to experience the “real Maldives” in contrast. We wanted to extend our trip as felt it was a long way to travel for just 6 nights. One of the main highlights of the cruise was our outstanding guide Egan and the crew of Koimala, who all worked so hard together to ensure we were incredibly well looked after and safe. The food was out of this world, three beautiful meals a day, healthy and fresh with plenty of variety. Catering for any allergies well. The crew made us an unforgettable dinner on an uninhabited island one evening which was very special. We enjoyed the visits to two inhabited islands as it was good to stretch our legs and see how Maldivians live on land. Although I would say the time spent on Male was quite underwhelming. Our cabin was basic but clean and comfortable. One small double bed with a single bunk on top and en-suite bathroom You definitely need to enjoy snorkelling to consider this trip, as the dramatic scenery is all under water. Huge reefs with so many colourful fish. We were taken out snorkelling at least twice a day. Highlights included swimming with turtles, dolphins and nurse sharks which were so gentle and serene. Also seeing sting rays. I would also suggest that you need to be reasonably fit to do this trip, as although it’s very relaxing you need to be able to climb into a bunk bed, climb in and out of the dingy and negotiate walking around the boat when it is rocking!

Loved this trip! Island hopping, snorkeling with turtles and the most beautiful beach sunsets! The group all got along so well and as a solo traveller, I always felt included and looked after! We had the amazing Dian as our tour leader. She really went above and beyond in every aspect and made the trip incredible.

We had two leaders - one in Sri Lanka and another in the Maldives. Both were excellent, but particularly Su in Sri Lanka because we encountered very difficult circumstances due to exceptionally heavy rainfall during our trip.

This trip is fab for those that like being at sea, chilling out with like minded people, eating great food and most importantly getting in the water to explore the underwater world. Explore know how to put together a great itinerary which looks after the environment and benefits the local community

This was my first trip to Asia and I wanted to get an overview, so the highlights of Sri Lanka really achieved that. The trip was well planned with varied activities, to appeal to most travellers. We did have to put up with Cyclone Ditwah, which made some activities more like an endurance, but nobody could plan for that or do anything to change it. Our Sri Lanka tour guide and his team went way beyond my expectations in order to keep up safe and as comfortable as possible, under difficult circumstances. They deserve their Christmas Bonus! Personally, I would have enjoyed more time at the spice garden and I wonder what the value was of the canoe trip to the curry cooking demonstration. Perhaps it would have been fun in sunshine? The Temple of the Tooth would have been interesting when there was no ceremony going on, to better appreciate the details of the buildings etc. I felt we were intruding on a religious occasion that was of huge importance to local people. Would it be better to spend longer at sites in a smaller geographical area and reduce the travelling between sites. Moving on to the Maldives, this week was great and really hit the spot. We needed sunshine and relaxation and the pace of the week was perfect. Again, the tour guide did an excellent job and supplied us with lovely videos and photos from snorkelling trips. The food on the Dhoni Cruise was excellent, considering the kitchen space and although a bit repetitive, there was a good range to suit all palates. The crew did a great job.