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Location Date Tambon Choeng Thale 1720825200 ตำบลเชิงทะเล 
1720825200 Choeng Thale 1720825200 Khet Ratchathewi 1720393200 Muang Pattaya 1720220400 -
Location Date Sat, 13 July 2024
1720893486 Wed, 10 July 2024 1720623954
- Up at 7:15am, spoke with Rach.
- Then breakfast & pickup by tour operator at 8:30 am. We're driven across the island. Some large towns on the way. Interesting to note that blocking roundabouts & making all traffic do u-turn instead seems common.
- Turns out there was a breakfast (light) also included in our cruise (not that we needed it). We were eventually briefed & ushered into a boat (around 36 per boat with 2 boats).
- For the first island stop, we decided to do 15 min on a jet ski as the water was quite flat. This was a lot of fun, different to the choppy/wavy 2 days ago. We thoroughly enjoyed this.
- Back on the boat, passed Panak island surrounded by caves
- Then they stopped at Hong Island. Went canoeing with a personal canoe guide/paddles for us. Quite spectacular space going into caves and caverns.
- Next stop was James Bond island. There is an iconic rock that features in a James Bond movie (from a long time ago). There was a more spectacular massive rock that must have sheared off the cliff. The island was small but pretty, although heaps of shops (selling absolute junk).
- Frustratingly some of our group were back late from every visit (although they got better)! The Thai tour guide made a thinly veiled comment/suggestion about them going on another boat back! This seemed to improve things (helped by their young kids falling asleep, who they just left alone thereafter on the boat).
- For lunch went to another island/"floating village" (was actually largely on stilts). Had a good lunch with huge onion rings in quite a fancy/large restaurant considering the location. The bathrooms looked incredible, although were exceptionally slippery (very much form over function). We're able to get fresh vegetables. The island/village is 100% Muslim (which is interesting considering Thailand is largely Buddhist), and so served no beef, pork or alcohol.
- We were welcome to tour the village, which we did. We got lost at one point (we were prepared for this and had recorded the name of where we needed to be so we could ask locals for directions). It was very fascinating. The village includes a mosque and a floating football pitch. There are lots of little shops around the village. All the locals are very respectful and not pushy at all. It is interesting to observe life in a very tightly packed "floating" village.
- Then a 50 min boat trip back to a last island stop, we were among the few that stayed awake with many sleeping.
- We went for a swim on the last island. The water is perfect temperature but was very murky.
- Shuttle bus back to the accommodation (the highways would flow better if not for the odd scooter and car parked in the left lane and scooters going counterflow!).
- We got ready quickly, then taxi to Carnival Magic. This place is insane! The setting, lights, attention to detail & scale are extraordinary. Everything is over the top. All the staff (including cleaners etc…) and in extravagant attire, waving and smiling constantly.
- Wandered around for a bit, then went to get dinner. We went when it wasn't that busy, but the hall was massive (and had large adjacent dining areas for groups & halal). The main hall would seat well over 2,000 people easily (there were at least 500 numbered tables with 2 - 8 chairs each in the main area). The sides were lined with buffet meal options. Food was ok, I found plenty, Ethan basically stuck to veggies and chips. I liked all the dessert options; Ethan wasn't as keen and had fruit. We got caught out with the drinks (disappointed as the place was otherwise amazing and well done) as we were given our own escort to the table, who gave me a drinks menu explaining they weren't included - we just got some juice smoothies (which were good and while expensive in Thailand, both came to $10 so no great disaster) but turned out drinks were included - just not those ones! This was not explained, and we had to advise on the drinks before we could go to the buffet and they would not leave or allow us to go until we advised (where it immediately became apparent there were free drinks). But we found this more amusing than disappointing, especially when we came back with our food, then I was immediately "accosted" (politely) to pay for the drinks and couldn't just eat my food (Ethan thought this was hilarious)!
- The facilities are all extraordinarily extravagant. For example, the toilets have screens in the room, lights on walls, and built into the toilets! And are fully themed with an exaggerated scale (like a giant candy store). The spaces are beyond explanation. There are staff everywhere, probably many hundreds (when including actors).
- After Dinner and wandering around, we went to the main show, which was mind-blowing. As we booked through the hotel, we had upgraded seats (upper middle in the centre - not that it would matter a lot). Can't bring cameras. (understandable, although would not be possible to capture the entire setting anyway).
- The number of floats and the scale is extraordinary. One of the world's biggest screens (70 m long x 22 m high! - i.e. 1,540 m2 screen!), which serves as a backdrop to live performers and a seemingly never-ending parade of floats of extraordinary scale (apparently, it's the world's biggest indoor parade). The theatre holds 2,200 people, with each chair very lavish with its own air conditioner (and it later turned out, a mini fireworks light display built into the back!).
- We were blown away by the whole thing (and in awe at how they stored so many floats! Apparently there are 88 of them - many were massive, one was the length of the 70 m screen). We had noted large balloons in the ceiling lighting rigs before is started and joked funny if they drop and the person below is not ready for it, which is exactly what happened - the person a few seats down from us got quite the surprise when a huge balloon fell on his head (they also poured many more in from the back of the auditorium in addition to those they had planted in the roof). The show basically started amazing, and then built up over an hour of slowly more extraordinary.
- The show went for an hour and was very impressive. The lighting, screen, sound (fire at one stage), and extraordinary floats with so many lights (and some very unique types) was just extraordinary and the atmosphere electric.
- Following the show, visitors could enter the Kingdom of Lights. This was again at an incredible scale and seemed to just keep on going! It is a number of areas (a large portion inside and airconditioned) with oversized light displays. The indoor area uses UV light and paint to create this kaleidoscope of colour and also includes more bizarre bathrooms. Everything is very well thought through (like these large flowers that you could put your head inside, where there were lights and mirrors - but also had air-conditioning ducts into them!). We were allowed to photograph these areas, which we did, but impossible to capture the full setting. Apparently there are iver 40,000,000 lights. [See Video for a video of one section].
- We had a great time exploring and watching the show, of a scale I have never quite experienced before.
- Had good weather all day, overcast but basically no rain.
- Tomorrow we're flying to Kaula Lumpur.
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