E65 – KHO PHI PHI TO PUKHET HAVEN MARINA
Cracking sailing
Cracking sailing in Thailand gives us the wind we had been looking for and we depart north along beautiful Kho Phi Phi’s east coast before turning west towards Ao Chalong Bay. Ao Chalong Bay is the entry point for yachts clearing into and out of Thailand via Phuket and it is definitely the easiest and best yacht clearance we have found anywhere between there and Australia.
The yacht clearance center is located at the end of Ao Chalong Jetty and has all the offices you need to clear in or out, literally right next door to each other in the same building! Start by entering the first door and start your entry or exit online using their PC. Then walk next door to the Harbor Master and he has your clearance request sitting on his PC. Once he has conducted his process, walk next door to the Immigration office and get stamped in or out. Once that’s done, go 2 doors down to the Customs office and complete their paperwork. The entire process takes about 40 minutes and the staff couldn’t be friendlier or more helpful.
The following day had us smoking up the east coast of Phuket all the way to the NE tip of Phuket to Phuket Haven Marina. We engaged a local boat maintenance guy with experience in hatch replacement to replace the deck skylight on Starlight. He did a fantastic job under trying conditions and between torrential rain squalls.
