Jabuticaba party boat charter on Phang Nga Bay
If you and your friends have a spare 120,000 baht or so, there are some very beautiful boats for hire (charter, if you want to be nautical) for cruising the waters around Phuket. Get a crowd of 30 people together and that comes to a pretty reasonable B4,000 each.
Jabuticaba under sail in Phang Nga Bay. Photo by Vishal Sood.
But you know what it’s like – “Eek! I forgot!” or “I thought you were paying for this…” or “Yeah, I was going to come but I have a hangover this morning.” You can end up with six people, a big bill and a lot of embarrassment.
There is, however, at least one beautiful boat out there that does “join in” cruises – just pay for yourself and take pot luck on who you’re going to meet on board.
The boat is called Jabuticaba. Built in Turkey, she was bought by Vishal Sood and his brother, who took her to Goa, where they own one of the Indian resort area’s smartest boutique hotels, the ultra-chic Siolim House, winner of a Unesco conservation award and haunt of glitterati.
Jabuticaba is 70 feet long, 21 feet wide, has eight cabins (all with ensuite bathrooms, of course) and acres of deck area, a galley that looks like – and serves as – a bar, and a shady afterdeck with a huge dining table. In other words, this is no cargo ship. It’s made to be a party boat.
It took a while to for Jabuticaba to get to Phuket. In Goa the brothers quickly realised that there was really nowhere to go on a boat – no coral reefs, no offshore islands, bays and beaches. Cruising or using the boat as a liveaboard for dive trips was a non-starter. So they decided to take her to the Maldives for liveaboard trips. There, their local partners quietly removed the boat from Malé and headed for a southern atoll. It took months of twisting arms to get her back.
Vishal, who was working for MTV, quit his job and brought the boat to Phuket. “When she got here she was in a pathetic state – all the varnish was peeling, like sunburn. I had tears in my eyes.” He spent more months bringing her back to life, replacing the wrecked upholstery and all the equipment that had disappeared.
End of a Jabu day - a dramatic Summer Season sunset.
“I decided she wasn’t right for ordinary sailing. She’s got a charm to her – when you come on board you feel good. You feel you can put your feet up and relax – that’s the vibe. Also, regular people don’t usually get the chance to experience a boat like this; it costs too much to charter. So we discussed it further, and we worked out that on most trips, during the hour or so that you spend getting to where you’re going, nothing happens. I mean, it’s very pretty and there’s plenty to look at, but nothing happens.
“Usually, a boat trip is a bit like a transfer; you’re sitting shoulder-to-shoulder. People don’t care about the boat, only about where they are going. But his boat is very wide, so you don’t feel crowded. We decided to make the trip itself an experience, a party. It’s as much about the journey as the destination. People tend to lose their inhibitions, you meet other people and you relax.”
It helps that Vishal has a huge music collection and, with his MTV and Goa party scene experience, is good at judging the mood aboard and using the music to elevate it or bring it down. “Of course, with a diverse group of people, you can’t make everyone happy all the time, but we try. The night before we look at the nationalities and the ages that are going to be aboard and plan what music we’re going to play.” This is all part of what Vishal and his crew refer to as a “Jabu Day”.
Jabuticaba is based at Yacht Haven marina, and sails out into northern Phang Nga Bay. Tickets cost B3,400/person in the summer season and B4,000 in the high season, including hotel transfers, a big lunch, soft drinks and a glass of sparkling wine at sunset. Alcohol is extra. The website is here.
Great article!! I’ve been on the boat and the article gives perfect information about the boat and the experience!