What to pack for a day on the boat

Eight hours on the water is longer than it sounds. The people who enjoy it most have generally brought four or five specific things.

Bring

This is the whole list that matters.

• A rash vest or long-sleeved top — sunburn on your back is the most common way to ruin the rest of a holiday
• Reef-safe mineral sunscreen for the bits a vest does not cover
• A dry bag or a zip-lock for your phone and passport copy
• Cash in baht for the national park fee
• A towel — most trips do not supply one
• Motion sickness tablets taken 45 minutes before departure, if you are prone to it
• A hat and sunglasses with a strap

Leave behind

Your passport — a photo on your phone is enough. Anything valuable you would mind losing overboard. Hard-shell suitcases and anything that does not like salt water.

On seasickness

Take the tablet before you board, not once you feel it — by then it is too late. Sit towards the middle of the boat, look at the horizon rather than your phone, and stay out of the cabin.

On phones and cameras

Waterproof pouches work until they do not. If you want underwater photos, a cheap action camera on a floating wrist strap is a better investment than trusting a bag with your phone in it.