Pandaw Coastal Expeditions aboard MY Callisto

MY Callisto

We are delighted to announce the acquisition of the MY Callisto for coastal cruising off Burma officially launching in 2015.

The Callisto is a motor yacht built in Hamburg in 1963 and evocative of that classic period of elegant motor yachting. She was rebuilt in 2005 and then converted into a small luxury cruise ship with just seventeen state rooms, yet retaining the charm and elegance of a classic motor yacht.

Pandaw will fully refit the vessel retaining the classic motor yacht style but introducing colonial elements more suited to a tropical environment like rattan furniture and hard wood floors not to mention fine silks and other furnishings typically found on Pandaw ships.

Only fifty meters long and with a shallow draft, the Callisto is perfect for exploring the till now undiscovered coasts of Burma. Pandaw will operate the Callisto from the Thai border town of Ranong to Rangoon on a one-way weekly schedule.

Highlights in these unchartered waters are the Mergui archipelago, with its thousands of tropical islands, untouched beaches and great diving. You will encounter the Mokkein or sea gypsy villages. There will be time ashore to explore the bustling coastal ports of Tavoy, Mergui and Moulmein so redolent of Somerset Maugham, Kipling and Maurice Collis.

The coastal expedition includes a day at leisure in Rangoon moored on the Strand Road Jetty in front of the splendid colonial downtown area.

Passengers may then connect with a Pandaw river expedition that will link with our schedule. Both Ranong and Rangoon are well connected to Bangkok with flights and Ranong is a very pleasant three hours drive from Phuket.

Though officially starting in October 2015 Callisto will go on offer to Pandaw Pioneers only for a limited number of 'no itinerary' reconnaissance expeditions between January and March 2015 led by Paul Strachan and other senior members of the Pandaw team.