Tubkaak Resort in Krabi and the Hong Islands beyond

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If you’re visiting Thailand and looking for an upscale hotel in an unspoiled setting, check out Tubkaak Resort in Krabi. With a prime location on quiet Tubkaak Beach, it will give you a view of the Hong Islands you won’t soon forget.

Tubkaak Resort and the Hong Islands

I feel as if I’m in some primeval landmass gang fight. Through a pale blue afternoon haze, the limestone Hong Islands are facing me across the water. Rising straight out of Phang Nga Bay in Thailand’s Krabi Province, the craggy limestone islands look more like characters in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video than a clutch of small islands where white-faced gibbons and monitor lizards roam.

The Hong Islands

The leader of the Hong Islands gang archipelago, is Koh Hong himself. From here he looks menacing, but I hear that up close he’s handsome, with emerald green water and a hidden lagoon. I’ve met his type before – all looks and pretty fish, luring you in with his charm and tempting kayaking routes.

Tubkaak Resort review

But I won’t be tempted. I’m sticking with Tubkaak Resort, which is pretty darn handsome itself. Looking out towards the Hong Islands, Tubkaak Resort, or Tubkaak Boutique Resort, is a luxury hotel on Tubkaak Beach, a crescent of soft white sand with just a handful of upscale resorts behind it.

Tubkaak Beach, also known as Tab Kaek Beach, itself is quiet and calm, and even though it’s only a 20-minute drive from popular Ao Nang it manages to stay relatively unknown.

Why choose Tubkaak Boutique Resort

At first glance, Tubkaak Resort might seem like just another high-end beachfront hotel with landscaped gardens, a palm-studded pool and sleek bungalows and villas. Designed by Architect 49, the bungalows and villas have curved roofs and dark beams inspired by local fishing boats, while old coconut and teak elements create seductive contemporary interiors with hints of traditional artistry in the decor.

But that’s not why you should stay here. Look closer.

Designed with the environment in mind

The award-winning Tubkaak Resort was designed around the natural environment, rather than the other way around. Mature trees were protected, which means resort pathways take various unexpected twists and turns, and is why I have a tree poking up from the deck in my premium villa, right between my plunge pool and my outdoor jacuzzi tub.

The trees pay it forward

In return, the trees provide shade, which lowers energy costs, as does the high-quality sun-reflecting cement used in the resort’s construction. The property’s setting at the base of Hak Nak Mountain ensures that a steady stream of fresh mountain water flows right down through the resort to nourish the gardens (along with organic fertilizer) and wind its way through landscaped channels and fountains.

Beach Pool Villas

On my second night at Tubkaak I’m upgraded to a Beach Pool Villa, where I’m torn between using my outdoor shower, my indoor shower, my outdoor jacuzzi tub or the sleek slice of pool that stretches down from my deck toward the beach.

The Andaman Ocean

In the end I opt for a fifth option, the ocean. As I splash around the clear pale water, stalking a little minnow which quickly darts away, I look up and catch their eyes, those sexy-looking Hong Islands, 13 bad boys in battle formation.

Koh Hong attraction

I try to ignore them, but as the sun pats my shoulders and a few soft clouds drift across the sky, they keep beckoning me with their individual charms. There is secluded Lading Island, with its cliff-surrounded bay and swallows’ nests where locals used to go to collect the rare ingredients for bird’s nest soup. And what about Pakbia Island, where a labyrinth of caves have eroded into cliffs.

There are birds and sleepy beaches and snorkelling ops galore. It’s Koh Hong, however, with his leader-of-the-pack charm that steals my heart.

Irresistible Koh Hong

That’s it. I can’t resist Koh Hong’s rocky attractions any longer. I get out of the water, pull on a beach coverup and head to the lobby of the resort to book a Hong Island excursion.

Thwarted

It’s a love affair that’s not meant to be. Excursions from the resort leave in the morning as the longtail boats can’t go out in low tide, and this is my last day here. I seek solace at Tubkaak Resort’s L’Escape Spa with its comforting eucalyptus steam room, sauna and cool plunge pools.

L’Escape Spa

Eating my heart out on Tubkaak Beach

I turn to food, feasting on prawns with basil and chilli at Tubkaak’s beachside Arundina Restaurant then shop my way through L’Artisan Gift Shop. I even consider getting one of the resort’s complimentary bikes and cycling to the nearest village, but decide that’s going too far.

Goodbye Hong Islands

Unable to stay away, however, I head back to the beach. The tides have gone out and the early evening sun reflects off the water and sand with metallic shimmers of pewter, gold and bronze. I wander out, it seems for miles, the damp sand like suede under my feet. It feels as if I can walk forever, at least out to Koh Hong, but no. It’s too dark. I have to turn away.

Koh Hong is shadowy now, but I know he’s watching and I give him a wave. I vow I’ll come back, and when I do I’ll get a longtail boat and step onto his sandy shores. Until then, however, he’s the island that got away.