We recently did a trip with River Rovers and it can honestly be said that this was the highlight of the Thailand trip. The trip was a day excursion around the Chalong Bay area which included stops along a number of islands and their beaches, and also down the local river.

We specifically wanted to avoid the heavy tourist-populated areas and see the local Thai culture and land; and this trip fit perfectly to these wishes. Captain Gordon was also quite knowledgable in explaining the local way of life of the people living in the area. For lunch, we were given a tour of a typical fisherman's house and were served traditional Thai food including freshly caught fish.

On the number of beaches that we stopped at, we were the only people in the area. The trip was also unique in a sense that we did not follow any fixed schedule - if there was something interesting to see we would stay in the area a bit longer. That was the case when we were beside a beach with many corals, we ended up delaying lunch to have more time for snorkelling.

Some other highlights included feeding the monkeys bananas and kayaking down the local river and seeing the region's birds and vegetation.

It should also be said that the Captain of the the boat truly enjoys doing these tours and it can be seen from the quality of the experience that we had. Captain Gordon even sent us pictures that he took of us while we were kayaking or frolicking. We would recommend a tour with River Rovers for anyone wishing to escape the mass touristed areas and get a glimpse of traditional Thailand.

-Mike and Cheryl

We did a day trip with Gordon as captain and crew together with another couple and their 2 children. It was a relaxing and interesting journey through around the tributaries and some small islands.

During the trip we had an opportunity to kayak around, snorkle, visit an active fish farm and their family and see some local monkeys who came on board the boat.

The choices were up to you and some of us did it all while others simply read a book or relaxed in the sun. The best bit for us was it was not going to the 'tourist' locations but actually just sailing around and seeing small but interesting parts of the non-tourist Phuket.

Also the children seemed to have fun on the trip as well!

Gordon the host was very good at explaining the areas we were seeing and giving us options on what we wanted to see/do.

Recommended for those who want a good non-mainstream tour on the water.

My thanks to Capt. Gordon and his crew for a most enjoyable cruise up the river on board Pita, the flat-bottom river boat., where a friendly band of monkeys came on board for a banana feast! We had a delicious lunch of Masaman Curry cooked by Uan, his Thai cook, and were entertained by the boat boy.

I absolutely recommend this trip to anyone wanting a safe and delightful trip up the river and along the coast, I hope to visit again later this year and look forward to having another memorable cruise. Thanks again folks, best wishes -
Freer Richardson. Norfolk England.

While visiting my in-laws in Phuket, Captain Gordon, Uan and Margot took us out on River Rover. We had an excellent Thai lunch served on board. Swam and canoed in the river and basically saw a part of Phuket that is difficult to access unless you have the River Rover. Everything was absolutely perfect. A must do when in Phuket.