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The Missing Tonsai Cave
first written down 14th Jan 2013
I am on a trip to Thailand. I have just spent a few daysin Tonsai Bay, arriving on 4th Jan 2013 around 5.00 in
the afternoon. I had gone there with members of my
old family: my brother Peter and his wife Christine,
Gilly my ex partner, Naomi our daughter, Miles her
son my grandson, Toby, Gilly's son from her first
partner, his wife Abi, and their two children, Ben and
Iris. The rest of the gang were staying in a different
resort as I had only decided to join them at the last
moment and their place, Tonsai Bay Resort, was full.
I am not in the habit of joining large family parties
and this was perhaps the only time in my life such alarge gang of us will be together. So after our arriving
I split off from the group to find my place, Mountain
View Resort, which turned out to be well off the
beach in a spot that took half an hour to find. After
checking in and dropping my heavy rucksacks, I at
once went back to the beach and was determined to
have a walk on the beach although by then there was less than an hour's daylight left. This is a beach with most
exceptional cliffs rising very high on either side of a small bay. These are world renown amongst rock climbers and
base jumpers. Without checking I guess the main cliff, which is on your left as you stand looking out to sea must be
about 500 metres tall and the flat ground behind the bay is about the same width so it is like a square bite taken out
of this vast cliff wall. To add to the sense of being special, the cliff overhangs and has a wonderful sculpted form,characteristic of the limestone features in this part of Thailand.
Still facing out to sea, if you now imagine walking to the left end of the bay there is a beach that extends under the
cliff for several hundred metres further. It is largely tidal so I knew as I walked along it that I should proceed with
caution as there was a small risk of being cut off. However the water did not look threatening , the waves were tiny,
only inches high and there were quite a few other people around. This extension of the beach itself comes quite
abruptly to an end where first a few very large boulders scatter the beach, These are really large, perhaps 3 or 4
metres tall, after that a small headland spreads out from the base of the cliff. I could see people walking around the
headland mostly along the water line and a few clambering over the rocks. I noticed a few rocky islets just a fewmetres off the headland, not much larger than the giant boulders with at least one firmly rising from the bedrock,
with its base eroded by the sea to a slim neck and the overall shape like an egg cup. I decided not to follow this
route as it seemed a little unwise so near to the close of day and with me still unsure about the state of the tide.
Even so I began to paddle through some shallow water with a sandy bottom at the base of the cliff and within 50
metres of leaving the beach I saw an intriguing gap in the cliff which I climbed up into. I certainly was not doing
anything out of the ordinary as others were ahead of me and the gap lead into an under cliff region where to my left
a particularly pronounced overhang of the main cliff formed a large cave while on my right the rock of the headland
enclosed the space so that I found myself clambering over various large rocks that formed a wide and easily
climbable zone. The under cliff part going back perhaps as much as 10 metres at its darkest and deepest points was
a ledge metre or two above the present water level. The rocks to the right never more than another 5 metres or so
away before they became steep and not so easy to climb. Down the centre you could see signs the sea would fill thisarea when the tide was higher but there was no water present at this time. It was not possible however to walk
along this low part very far as it was partly obstructed by large rocks. Instead I found myself zigzagging between the
View of the headland at the foot of the cliff where I found
the cave on my first walk.
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ledge on the cliff side and clambering over various of the very large rocks. The cave had a mysterious but still nice
and light and airy feeling as I was mostly walking along with plenty of sky in view and only part of the way had to
dodge deep into the under cliff parts. This lovely featured continues for at least 50 metres or more and there were at
least half a dozen people or more also somewhere close by exploring the feature. Finally I got to a last section of the
ledge where three or four rock
climbers kitted out with all
their gear were tackling a
section of the main cliff where
the cave petered out and thecliff rose almost shear again.
On my right the rocks of the
headland rose up close by and
in the gap between the sea
could be accessed from the
rocky ledge perhaps 3- 4
metres wide and less than a
metre above water level. The
water however at this point
looked quite deep and unlikely
I could have waded it. I was notprepared for swimming and I
remember saying to the
climbers, 'looks like you need
to swim from here on' They
gave a non committal reply.
I had by this time already taken several photos, I got out my camera again and took several of the sight ahead taking
care to choose different ways to frame the view of the water with the cliffs and rocks on each side. On the way back I
took quite a few more shots. I remember thinking to myself shall I wait till moments when no one is around or snapanyhow. In the end I did a little of both. Ever since I had a digital camera I have been in the habit of taking rather a
lot of pictures of beautiful natural features so even on a quick visit like this I had probably snapped ten, maybe 20
pictures.
The following day, the 5th. I arose early by holidaying standards and after breakfast with my party, decided at once
to set off on a good walk before the others had made any decisions. Going the same way down the beach, now
equipped with my small rucksack and seeing the tide was low went along the shoreline around the headland and
very soon came out into the next beach, West Railay, also known as sunset beach. I was not well pleased with the
view ahead of me as the beach has been massively developed. Tonsai has retained some of that Goa style feel butWest Railay to my eye is a disaster, the consequence of mass tourism and rapid progress with a walking street full of
shops and several very expensive resorts. You have to appreciate that this peninsula is an area of outstanding
natural beauty and extremely rugged terrain which even today can only be approached by long tail boat and until
quite recently was largely the preserve of back packers and local fisherman. I had been here once before about 25
years ago and it can often be a nasty shock seeing the changes. I decided the best thing was to keep going and that
day I went for a very long walk, taking in all four beaches of the peninsula, climbing up to see the famous lagoon
nestling high in a crack in the rocks and finally walking right through the vast cave at the west end of Pranang beach
which starts out cathedral like and slims down till you climb up various improvised bamboo ladders to find yourself
standing in a doorway in the mighty rock that looks back towards West Railay. The door is rather high up the rock
face but there is a steady trickle of climbers repelling down. So even here I was not alone. Finally I headed back by a
completely different route following over the hill footpath that brings you back to Tonsai from the landward side andgetting back too late to return to the beach.
The route round the headland at low tide close to 'The Egg Cup'.
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The next day, the 6th, I was tired and happy to lounge with the family group on the sand. They had decided to
position themselves not far from where the little headland begins close to a couple of the giant boulders. At some
point Abi got into conversation briefly with a passerby and learnt there was another route to West Railay which
began with either a scramble up a very steep path or squeezing through a narrow crack between a giant boulder and
the main cliff. Watching we soon realised that most people preferred the narrow crack. It looked slightly challenging
as it was little more than a foot wide and no sooner were you behind the giant boulder than you would have to start
climbing. Just the sort of thing I really enjoy so there and then I decided that was going to be the first thing I did nextday as I was too tired to start at once.
So the 7th began with my squeezing through the crack and after hoisting myself onto a rock ledge about metre and a
half above the sand, very soon this opened out into what feels like a lovely mountain path hugging close under the
cliff. To start with many climbers were busy with ropes and gear, then the path swerves a little further away but
never far from the base of the cliff. Soon you come to the top of a small rise still not much more than perhaps 25 or
30 metres above sea level and then descend again rapidly to West Railay. This time I was prepared for the view
ahead and on the basis of advice given to me by Gilly went straight to the best ice creams on the beach. After my ice
cream I returned by the same path. It was around noon when I returned to Tonsai and I set off again following thecoastline route to take some photos and to find out if I could climb the Egg Cup. (I could not.) I spent a while
watching the birds, one was so tame it let me walk within metres of where it was fishing. After a while I walked back
to the main part of Tonsai beach, met my gang and returned by boat to West Railay from where we walked onto
Pranang Beach with me leading the way confident I now knew the area.
Another overhang close to the Missing Cave about half way along Tonsai
under cliff beach. At this point the beach is wider and this area is regularly
cut off at high tide. {Photo A}
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The 8th was to be my last day and I had to catch a boat out at 2pm at the latest. The morning I had agreed to spend
kayaking with Naomi and Miles. By about 12 we were done I was determined to go back and once more see the
lovely under cliff feature I had seen on the first afternoon. Some of us were taking a light snack lunch on the beach
still near to the boulders and small headland so it was an easy stroll to get to where the rocks in earnest began. But
this is also where my puzzlement began in earnest. Where was the cave? I walked up and down trying to find it. I
recalled that I had not spotted it again when I had been close to this part while walking around the headland but at
the time I had thought
nothing of it. After a bit I
went back to my group andtold them my cave had
disappeared. Abi at once
took notice and said that
could not be. I asked her if
she would like to help me
find it. We both walked back
and again explored but no
cave. Abi is not as good a
climber as me but was full of
suggestions of where to try,
pointing at one feature afteranother: why do I not try
that? and each time I would
scramble up and soon report
back 'no, that is not it.' Soon
she gave up but by this time I
was getting very puzzled and
again climbed round every
feature I had already climbed
at least once. The cave had
simply disappeared. As best I
could judge, there weresome jumbled rocks and then
a section of bamboo perhaps
no more 15 metres long
densely growing over one
short section of the headland
just behind the waterline
which felt close to the right
spot. Yet I could not recall
the rocks or the bamboo the
first time I discovered the
cave. That first time I hadcontinued along the base of
the cliff paddling along for a
short while after the exposed
sand ended until I found the
crack. I could judge it must
have been some where about here by the distance along the beach and the view of the headland which matched my
memories. In particular the little islet that looks like an egg cup disappears from view for a short while if you walk
further and I remembered that distinctive feature very well so it seemed unlikely that the cave could be any further
round the headland. Also you have to start paddling over rocks, not sand. And certainly it was well before the egg
cup as I did not get close to it that first afternoon. So where was the cave? Not to be found. Certainly it was
impossible that the bamboo had grown overnight and it certainly was not hiding in it as I had stuck my nose upvarious possible trails but you could see at once there was no sign of recent foot fall or vegetation being disturbed so
Close by to where I expected to find the cave,
It looks like in this reality the cave has collapsed. {Photo B}
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it was impossible many people could have walked up any of these tiny openings recently. The cave was busy, that is
part of my clear memory of it.
After that I had to rush off and catch a boat and set off on my next leg of the journey. I knew it did not really matter
that much, I had my photos and would soon solve the problem. I was somewhat distracted at this time since the next
leg of my journey took me on a diving cruise on a small ship so I did not try and review the pictures on the viewfinder
right away and it was not until several days later I finally I downloaded the pictures out of my camera. AND THEN ITREALLY STRUCK HOME. There were no photos. The numbers climbed smoothly up and the images jumped from a
scene at another place miles away to pictures taken the day after. I did not have a single picture of the cave. The
cave does not exist. Any real doubt the cave cannot exist is confirmed by recalling that the sea at the end of the cave
looked quite deep but I had found it was easy to walk around the headland the following day and even though the
tide was a little higher, the water if any was there at all, should certainly have been shallow and not deep as I
recalled.
TIDE TABLES January 2013 Phi Phi, Krabi, Ao Nang and Phuket Tide Table - Predicted heights in meters above lowest
low water. The first walk was at around 17.30 on the 4th. I returned next to the headland about 09.30 on the 5th.
January |February|March|April|May|June|July|August|September|October|November|December
1st 3.2 3.1 2.8 2.3 1.7 1.2 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.5 2.0 2.5 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.3 1.9 1.4 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.7 2.2 2.6
2nd 3.0 3.1 2.9 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.8 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.2 1.7 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.9 2.4
3rd 2.7 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.3 1.8 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.5 2.0 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.4 2.0 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.7 2.1
4th 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.5 2.1 1.6 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.4 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.0 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.8
5th 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.0 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.0 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.6
6th 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.1 1.9 1.6 1.5
7th 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.7 2.0 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.3 2.0 1.7
8th 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.2 1.9 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.8 2.2 2.5 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.5 2.1
9th 1.7 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.7 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.0 1.7 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.7 2.2 2.6 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.6
10th 2.1 1.6 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.7 2.1 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.5 2.1 1.7 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.7 2.3 2.8 3.1 3.2 3.0
11th 2.6 2.0 1.4 0.9 0.7 0.8 1.2 1.7 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.1 1.5 1.1 0.8 0.9 1.2 1.8 2.4 3.0 3.3 3.3
12th 3.0 2.5 1.8 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.7 1.2 1.8 2.4 2.8 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.0 1.4 0.9 0.7 0.9 1.3 1.9 2.6 3.1 3.4
13th 3.3 2.9 2.3 1.6 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.8 1.4 2.0 2.6 2.9 3.0 2.8 2.4 1.8 1.2 0.8 0.7 0.9 1.5 2.1 2.8 3.3
14th 3.4 3.2 2.7 2.1 1.3 0.7 0.5 0.6 1.0 1.6 2.2 2.7 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.2 1.6 1.1 0.8 0.8 1.1 1.7 2.3 2.9
15th 3.3 3.3 3.0 2.4 1.8 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.8 1.2 1.8 2.4 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.5 2.0 1.4 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.4 2.0 2.5
16th 3.0 3.2 3.0 2.7 2.1 1.5 1.0 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.5 2.1 2.6 2.9 2.9 2.7 2.3 1.8 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.7 2.2
17th 2.6 2.9 2.9 2.7 2.3 1.8 1.3 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.4 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.5 2.1 1.6 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.9
18th 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.0 1.6 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 1.9 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.7
Source: Hydrographic Department, Royal Thai Navy
http://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/February_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/February_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/February_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/March-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/March-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/March-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/April_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/April_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/April_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/May-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/May-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/May-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/June-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/June-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/June-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/July-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/July-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/July-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/August_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/August_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/August_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/September-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/September-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/September-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/October-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/October-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/October-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/November-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/November-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/November-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/December-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/December-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/December-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/December-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/November-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/October-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/September-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/August_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/July-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/June-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/May-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/April_tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/March-tidetable.htmhttp://www.aqua-vision.net/Tide_Tables/February_tidetable.htm7/29/2019 The Missing Cave
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It would be natural to think that I must be mistaken, perhaps, one might reasonably ask, I dreamt the whole thing. I
did not, of that I am sure. I am of sound mind and can certainly distinguish between a memory of a dream and
reality. Perhaps this is the first symptom of some neurological disorder. Well perhaps, but there certainly are no
other symptoms at all, I feel just the same as ever. Perhaps it is a coincidence of the camera malfunctioning and a
simple mistake. Perhaps the cave is in a slightly different location and I simply did not find it in the limited time I had.
Surely that would be the most prosaic and likely of all explanations.
I downloaded the timetable and the Google satellite image to try and investigate if there could be somewhere else
my cave was hidden. The photo was taken with the tide close to high water. At this sea height, the area of the beach
close to the site of Photo A is cut off. I wondered if I could have remembered wrongly the distance along the beach I
had walked the first afternoon and paddled to get to the location of Photo A. The tide table chart shows high tide on
the 4th was around 14.00 and by the time I set out along the beach more than 3 hours later, I would have walked as
far as the Photo A location without needing to paddle. My recollection is that I did need to paddle a short distance
on the sandy beach at the foot of the cliff but the place I paddled was further along close to the headland and the
cave I found was certainly not the same as where I took Photo A. To get to my lost cave I had to climb up rocks and
there were rocks under my feet and all around me. When I took Photo A I was standing on the sandy beach. There
were plants growing on the beach to my right. The rocks of the headland were some distance away and not visiblefrom this spot. There is no other place I could have gone.