Tarutao Survivor Adventure tours

The American TV show "Survivor" is being filmed on Ko Tarutao this month. Why was Tarutao chosen for this show? The island of Tarutao (part of the 51 tropical islands making up the national park) is covered with lush jungle.

We now offer our own special versions of Survivor with several different options. One is a circumnavigation of Ko Tarutao, the biggest island in the national park. It has approximately 30 nautical miles of coastline, perfect for those who wish to explore by kayak.

There are several islands 30+ miles offshore that are also part of the park. The biggest attractions here are the crystal clear water and the verdant jungle. Formerly nomadic sea gypsies now operate small bungalows on one island. This allows us to have a comfortable base from which to do daily excursions to the other, less visited islands. Though tourism is starting to pick up in Tarutao National Park, we have no problem getting away on our own since we have the freedom to explore in our kayaks. We don't have to share a beach with anyone!

We've recently added a few pages to our website. If you'd like to see a map of Tarutao, check out our Tarutao map. If you'd like to see how the outer islands are arranged, see our Tarutao islands map.

Since at least one of our new itineraries includes learning about Thailand's bountiful edible and medicinal plants, we've added a special plants page.

If Tarutao interests you and if you'd like to see when we have trips available, check out our scheduled trips page. We can run a trip on another date if nothing here fits your schedule.

I did indeed enjoy the trip. The scenery is magnificent. It's a pleasure going out with Wanda, he sets a pace that suits me just fine. Zae is exceptionally good at spotting all forms of animal life and fun to paddle with as well. And Moo seemed to have everything under control! Evie [Bob's wife] would enjoy it too, for the scenery -she isn't much of a birder.

Highlights were the Gray-headed Sea Eagle, which I saw several times, and five hornbill species, including one Helmeted. That one was extremely high up in a tree on the top of a peak. The tail and body coloration were clear but I could never get a look at its head, even in silhouette. The Bushy-crested were also far off and flying but I'm pretty certain of the ID.

It was a good trip for raptors in general. I had really good close looks at several perched Crested Serpent Eagles and the Gray-headed Sea Eagle. It's certainly not easy to identify them though. I saw what was presumably Wallace's Hawk Eagle several times. When soaring they were too distant to make out details. I thought at the time I was seeing Crested Goshawks because the first one I saw flying had a whitish rump and was fluttering its wings like a Crested Goshawk I had seen in Kaeng Krachan. Now I'm not really sure which they were. Both I suspect. Another time I got a good long look at what I was certain was a Black Baza high in a distant tree. It had a long double crest and appeared pure black and white. In retrospect, I feel sure it must have been a Blyth's Hawk Eagle in deep shadow. The reason I now think it was Blythe's is because both Zae and I saw it's rusty brown companion fly off just before I could get the binoculars on it. The female Baza isn't brown.

One curious bird was the only Stork-billed Kingfisher we saw. Both Zae and I saw through binoculars perched not far off. It looked exactly like the illustration in Robson except that it's belly, throat and collar appeared pure white, not buffy or orange as Lekagul & Round show it.

Birder's Corner - A guest's sighting at Khao Sok National Park
By Bob Dawson (a resident of Bangkok)

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Birder's Corner - A guest's sighting at Khao Sok National Park By Bob Dawson (a resident of Bangkok)

Contact Us!

Birder's Corner - A guest's sighting at Khao Sok National Park
By Bob Dawson (a resident of Bangkok)