On our last morning on Muk, wechecked out the big local attraction: The Emerald Cave. Longtail man arrived at 0800 and introduced himself as David Beckham. This one obviously had a sense of humour…..A short cruise to the other side of the island and we picked up a mooring at the foot of a sheer jungle cliff. 50 meters front of us was a small hole at sea level, with the roof a person's height. Annelise pushed her boundaries, climbed down the ladder, donned flippers and powered off after Becks. The cave opened up a bit once we swam inside, but steadily became pitch black. DB switched on a really feeble torch so we weren't totally freaked out, however there was a rumbling noise like something that would be sampled for a Starwars monster voice. Gulp! Shortly we saw light and after some strong kicks we emerged onto a deserted little beach surrounded by vertical cliffs. I found the whole experience quite scary and was really proud of Annelise for not just having a go, but appearing more relaxed than I was…. What a magical spot. Apparently by mid day we'd be sharing it with 300 others. Not surprisingly, pirates stashed their booty here back in the day.

At that point DB showed off his English vocabulary with words such as monster, shark, sea snakes and bad man. On the way back out in the dark section we encountered a group of Thai ladies whose guide had just pointed them in the direction of the cave. DB's torch illuminated faces with expressions of pure terror.

He pointed the torch upwards and I realized he was actually saying "Batman" as there were hundreds of bats clinging to the roof of the cave. Even this didn't really phase the mighty A-lo as she kicked on to emerge into the daylight.

Beckham returned at 11 to ferry us to Koh Kradan, this time with his sons for crew. The sea was eerily calm and as we approached the beach we passed over a shallow coral reef within easy swimming distance of shore.

Uh oh! The normal rush of staff to help with bags wasn't happening here. Meanwhile we met up with Wolfgang who was at Sivalai and told us about this place. He said the service the Seven Seas was "Very crazy". I think he meant another word beginning with "C".

The resort was another gem, sharing a white sand/ turquoise water location with 3 other basic resorts and a ghost resort which looked like it got washed out by the Tsunami. The other resorts were simple bamboo bungalows, with some little more than hutches on bamboo legs.

Back at Seven Seas, we checked out the pool and had some lunch. Prices were outrageous and I rapidly went to check alternative eateries up the beach (which were limited). Sky clouded over and there was lots of thunder in the air. We retired to the room to watch a DVD and nap.

During my late pm stroll along the beach I came across a large ferry just off shore with about 100 fully clothed Thais in lifejackets bobbing off its stern. Was it sinking? No, they just can't swim and are averse to the slightest form of nudity.

Dinner was very tasty and mucho Baht. A-lo, horrified at the cost of Bacardi volunteered to try the local Thai whisky with diet coke. A Pepsi challenge was soon set up and she preferred the local tipple. Fancy that! The place had died by 930 so we finished our game of backgammon and retired.