the missing cave

7/29/2019 The Missing Cave

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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.htm


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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.

the missing cave

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