We wanted to see what these beaches of Thailand were all about, so we booked a tour that would take us around the Phi Phi Islands.
Early morning pickup and a steady drizzle was not my definition of a promising day, but we fortified ourselves with a meal of more pancakes (I’m telling you, they’re delicious) and got into a shared minibus. We met a couple of old ladies from England, and an adorable couple from Hong Kong.
After waiting on the dock for a little while (there were a lot of minibuses that pulled in, but the wait was ok because there was free coffee and we just chatted with B and J from HK), we finally hopped onto the boat. The beach itself was a little nasty, and you could see all the oil in the form of rainbow ripples in the water, but I guess that’s typical of any dock. Nobody wanted to sit at the front of the boat because it was sprinkling, but we wanted a view so we plunked ourselves outside with S and S from England, along with a large group of students (very similar to frat boys) on vacation from Dubai.
We started with an hour boat ride out to the islands. I absolutely love boats, and I kneeled for an hour against the railing (I couldn’t stand because the seats would have put me at an awkward height) with my head sticking up…kind of like a puppy in a car. There were plenty of drops that were especially noticeable at the front of the boat, and my knees got banged up a little but it was worth it. The sky cleared up pretty quickly though the waves got more turbulent as we approached Maya Beach.
Because the waves were too high, we continued onto Pileh Cove. It was a beautiful place, with a tiny strip of beach, leafy worn down cliffs, and clear waters with little fishies swimming around. We dived off the boat for a bit of a swim and I accidentally snorted some extremely salty water when a wave fell on my face while I was floating on my back.
Next stop was Viking Cave where some people lived and fished. There were rickety looking structures around, and a tiny dock. We took a peek and continued onto Monkey Beach. Monkey Beach is a little strip of beach front property overrun by monkeys near the Phi Phi islands. The tour guide gave us some fruit and encouraged us to go feed the monkeys, but warned us not to get too close because they would attack you. There were plenty of monkeys running around, but I decided to pass on the opportunity and stay on the boat, because there were also plenty of tourists running around and I didn’t feel like dealing with them (I’ve definitely got a bone to pick with stupid people who don’t understand that they shouldn’t abuse animals, or use flash on their camera when taking pictures with them, and obviously don’t throw your food at them.) In any case, I had already gotten up close to monkeys in KL, so I wasn’t particularly bummed out. I decided to spend that time chilling at the helm instead, enjoying the sun.
We continued onto Khai Nui Island and stayed always off the beach to enjoy the reefs, schools of blue and neon yellow fish, and swim around some more. I attempted to snorkel, but as this was my first time, I had a hard time adjusting to the fact that 1. You have to breath through your mouth and not your nose, and 2. Don’t expect to breath if your stick thingy is under water. I freaked out a bit when I tried to breath with my nose and couldn’t, and then again when I accidentally took a gulp of water when expecting air. This along with the need to stay afloat put me off snorkeling, at least for the time being. Maybe with a little practice in shallow water, I’ll be more comfortable with it.
I did swim around for a bit more though, enjoying the fish in the water, and seeing spiky sea urchins. There were fields of dead coral though, and I wanted to slap the man who decided it was a cool idea to poke the coral (and even suggested we do the same). It was no surprise that between dumb tourists and boats, the coral was dying out. I decided to take a break while Amy continued to enjoy the water. It was at this point that one of the boat crew kept telling me to go swimming with him, but I politely refused, stating that I just wanted to relax in the sun.
We arrived at Phi Phi Don for lunch (sadly the best dishes were a sour seafood soup and spaghetti with meat sauce. The rest of the food was meh), and a little walking around time. This being one of the biggest islands in the Phi Phis, there were actually hotels and shops around. The beaches were pretty dirty but at least the water was somewhat ok (we definitely didn’t go swimming though). This island is supposed to have great parties, and I can definitely see that happening, but it wasn’t completely my cup of tea since there didn’t seem to be much to do.
The tour ended at Khai Nai island, where we got an hour to relax. There were fish swimming around in the shallow water (so I guess you could snorkel) as well as some rocky cliffs and mounds of giant dead coral. I was a nice place, minus all the chairs and umbrellas that the locals would rent out to people to relax on. Amy and I picked up some sarongs here, and ran around camera whoring at the different ends of the island.
We had a pretty uneventful ride back, which ended with that same boat crew member asking me my name and age, and telling me that i was beautiful. Throughout the trip, there was a lot of good fun between the two older ladies from England and the young group from Dubai, and we made fun of Suzie and Kabal and their fake romance. Sharon kept telling Kabal to say “Suzie, I want to grab your ass”, there were many pictures taken of hearts and lapsitting, and the trip ended with all of us agreeing to meet at the Hard Rock for drinks later that night.
We finished off the night with a showing of Phuket Fantasea. It’s supposed to be the number 1 show in Bangkok and now Phuket, but I’m not sure that’s saying much (though the theater is quite gorgeous and full of elephant carvings). To some extent, Asian theater can be slow and hard to follow at times, and I was ok with that. But there didn’t seem to be much of a story or flow to the show, and I felt that there were a lot of unnecessary theatrics added in for the sake of using electronics and special effects. Other than the performance, the surrounding area was fashioned almost like a carnival, and we went through the arcade (it was adorably themed), menagerie (showcasing nocturnal animals, so why tourists would think its ok to take pictures with flash is beyond me), and stalls of arts and crafts.
It was off to bed once we got off the van and packed up for an early morning.