HOW TO GET THERE

Thai Airways (thaiairways.com) flies from London Heathrow to Krabi, via Bangkok, from £538 return.

dozen or so accommodation options are mostly more budget than boutique. We’re spending

Joe’s inheritance, though, so we’re staying at Koh Jum Beach Villas, an eco-chic collection of 19 properties bordering Andaman beach.

Our one-bedroom pool villa, Baan Si Fah, is a bohemian rhapsody in blue, embellished with rustic chests and embroidered cushions that pop with brilliant teal. Open plan, it unfurls to the elements, sala-style, at a shunt of its concertina glass doors.

We’re seconds from the surf, but the rocky coastline prevents sea swimming at low tide. Waking early, we walk for miles along a shoreline stippled with sand bubbler crabs. Rock pools crackle with life; electric-blue fry, smaller than Joe’s first tooth, darting from our shadows. Later, local kids with makeshift spears will come searching for supper, but for now, ours are the only footprints.

A mangrove tour sees us at our most energetic. And argumentative. Our inaugural kayak partnership, and we’re an uncoordinated disaster. Fortunately, our guide, Jukri, takes control. “Keep watch for fishing monkeys. They stick their tails down crabholes and wait for the pinch!”

Astounded, we stop bickering and scour the banks for life. Baby snapper – so many the brackish water glistens silver – leap before our paddles. Mudbanks teem with scarab-green crabs, but there’s no sign of their nemesis. No matter: Jukri’s love for these backwaters proves the ultimate mood enhancer.

Aptly, Koh Jum is also called Koh Pu (Crab Island). Jum refers to the south; Pu to the rugged north; but locals, depending on postcode, use either as a catch-all. Exploring Jum by bike, we pass stilted wooden huts where old ladies snooze in hammocks. A gaggle of young boys, all bare feet and footy shirts, call “sawasdee krup” shyly to the back of our heads.

Koh Jum village includes a smattering of shops – think durian and Pringles – and restaurants, including the highly rated Koh Jum Seafood. Booking is recommended, so we do, only to

Sinatra’s is playing, the inky lagoon an atmospheric backdrop. It’s so perfect I burst into tears