Imagine a charter destination that has more than eight hundred tropical islands spread over fourteen thousand square miles of Indian Ocean. Imagine mountainous, jungle covered islands that teem with wildlife, spectacular waterfalls that tumble directly onto white sandy beaches fringed by pristine coral reefs. Imagine no tourists and indigenous hunter-gatherer tribes with an exotic culture who live nomadic lives aboard their tiny boats. This place really does exist – it is the Mergui Archipelago off the south-west coast of Myanmar.



That they exist in such an incredibly unspoilt state is entirely due to historical accident. For 50 years following the independence of Myanmar in 1947, isolationist policies served to keep foreigners out. Since 1997 access into the Mergui Archipelago became possible. Today a small handful of licensed operators offer luxury yacht charter and dive adventure trips into the remote wilderness of the Mergui Islands. Just a four hour drive away to the south lies the island of Phuket in Thailand, a popular mass tourism destination which is now experiencing a condominium property boom.
   
The Mergui Archipelago takes its name from the historical trading port of Mergui with a superb natural harbour at the northern end of the archipelago. Established around 1500, Mergui’s strategic position ensured its rapid growth into a major trade entrepôt. Sailing ships of the time, faced with the fickle winds, uncharted reefs and pirates of the Malacca Straights to the south, preferred to offload their trade goods in Mergui. From here the goods were trans-shipped by elephant convoy across the Malaysian Peninsula to the ancient kingdoms of Ayutthaya, Cambodia and southern China. The invention of the steam driven cargo ship lessened the importance of Mergui and it gracefully declined into the sleepy market town it is today.
   
The flora and fauna of the Mergui Archipelago have never been properly surveyed. A preliminary survey in the 1930s by the forestry department of the British colonial government listed the following as resident in the islands: tiger, leopard, bear, elephant, rhinoceros, wild boar, sambar, barking deer, tapir, mouse deer, flying lemur, gibbons, macaque monkeys, sea otters, pythons, cobras, crocodiles, monitor lizards, leatherback turtles and hawksbill turtles. Much of this wildlife remains undisturbed to this day.
   
Overhead the birdlife is equally prolific and unusual. Great flocks of noisy hornbills fly past every dawn and dusk. The jungle covered islands are home to the exotic “bird of paradise”, parrots and tiny sunbirds. Around the shoreline reef egrets, sea eagles, Brahminy kites, fishing owls and nocturnal night herons catch fish for a living.
   
Of the eight hundred islands of the Mergui Archipelago only a dozen or so are inhabited. Many of the islands are huge; some are larger than Singapore. A ban on logging in the Mergui has prevented the widespread deforestation that is common elsewhere in Asia. As a result, all of the islands are covered in thick jungle with majestic stands of Burmese teak, mahogany, strangler figs and other indigenous vegetation. Most beaches are backed by trees that tower to over 150ft tall while overhead there is the constant cacophony of birds and small animals feeding in the forest canopy. The beaches are covered in animal tracks – the only human footprints in sight are the ones behind you. Jungle walks in this area, while demanding, are also very rewarding with glimpses of the elusive wildlife and superb views through the forest of the deep blue ocean beyond.