Hastings Island (or Za Det Nge Island in Burmese) offers a lovely anchorage for the night in a bay sheltered by altogether four uninhabited islands, each with long white-sand beaches. The island in the north is called Barwell Island, the other name some sailors use when referring to this anchorage.

On many of our cruises, we spend the first night in the Hastings/Barwell Island group. Watching the sun set over the dense jungle of Hastings is spectacular. The water is clear and you can listen to the birds and monkeys chatting in the forrest.

From Hastings it takes about three comfortable hours to sail to Kawthaung, so some local fishing boats also use this bay to spend their last night before reaching port and so Hastings is one of those spots where it’s really easy to meet other boats and barter some fresh catch from the fishermen.

Have a look around on the panorama photo below or open a large version of the image in Google Maps.