Basic and sea kayaks are available to hire. The mangrove-lined estuary and small adjacent islands offer great opportunities for exploring by kayak. Taking a paddle up the coast can be both a mentally relaxing and physically exerting way to spend half a day. The beach around Golden Buddha stretches past the two small islands of Koh Pling up to Koh Ra. The larger of the two Koh Pling islands has some narrow slanting sea caves on its seaward side. Both islands have a small sheltered beach on the landward side. In between the islands is regenerating coral reef, nursery ground for a range of juvenile fish. Running along the back of the resort is a small tidal river with its mouth in the bay, to the north of Golden Buddha Beach Resort. During high tide it is navigable and teeming with birdlife and potentially monkeys. This makes for a calming hour’s glide within its winding tributary systems, observing the mangroves. If you time it just right, you are then able to float right out again with the falling tide. Without having to paddle, you will remain unnoticed and really have a chance to creep into the animal kingdom. Some of the rarely seen aquatic and avian fauna, including the Lesser Adjutant, inhabit the saline khlongs of this area. Chinese Pond Herons, Little Egrets, and Open-billed Stalks are all to be sighted creeping around the twisted roots.
