In order to explore the beauty of more Thai islands, Rich and I joined a day tour to take in the sights of Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Lay and Khai islands.
As we boarded our speedboat we realised that we were on a very popular tour. There was just us and around fifty other people on our boat. Oh how we would have loved a private charter! Our back packing budget couldn’t quite stretch to that though.
Rich and I were both looking forward to swimming in the warm crystal blue waters off the islands and with the sun shining we had a great start to the day.
“We enjoyed paddling around in the water, feeling the warmth of the sun on our skin and the soft sand between our toes.”
It took forty five minutes for us to arrive at our first port of call, the stunning Maya Beach on Phi Phi Lay island. As the boat turned into the bay we were struck by two things.
Firstly the immense beauty of the bay. With towering limestone cliffs plummeting down into the clear turquoise water below and a bright blue sky over head, the bay glowed with natural beauty.
The second thing we noticed were the huge number of boats and people that were in the bay and on the beach as well. The fifty people on our boat seemed insignificant now compared to the hundreds of people packed on to the golden sands of the beach.
We had anticipated that the beaches would be busy but we had no idea about the reality of how busy they would be. We hopped off the back of our boat into the warm ankle deep water and made a beeline for the quietest part of the beach we could see.
We enjoyed paddling around in the water, feeling the warmth of the sun on our skin and the soft sand between our toes. The setting was stunning and we managed to find a nice little spot for a few scenic photos before we headed back to our boat.
Despite the crowds our first stop was a huge hit with us and as our boat continued on around the south east side of Phi Phi Lay we took in the sights of Loh Samah Bay, Pilah Cove and Viking Cave.
Our next stop was Monkey Beach on Phi Phi Don, a small beach only thirty metres wide and five meters deep. Rich and I didn’t even get off the boat here as the sight on the approach was awful. A tiny beach with litter scattered all over it and a few monkeys waiting for people to feed them peanuts. It didn’t look anything like paradise at all.
Thankfully we didn’t stay at Monkey beach more than ten minutes and soon moved along to our snorkelling spot. Once kitted up and with the Go Pro in hand, Rich headed in first. Some people were feeding the fish bread so that they could entice them towards them. I hated the thought of being surrounded by hundreds of fish and so headed in with nothing to entice the fish towards me!
I was happy snorkelling around with most of the fish swimming away as I moved through the water. I made sure I stayed away from people feeding the fish and watched them from a distance. That was until I stopped to clear a bit of water from my mask.
Being upright in the water and staying in one spot, a school of fish started swimming in a circle around me. Despite repeating the phrase ‘they’re tiny little fish that won’t hurt you’ over and over in my head, as more and more fish joined in the group circling me panic set it.
With a cry of “Rich, Rich, help me!” my lovely husband popped his head out of the water, saw my distress and gave very sound advice…”just move your arms and they’ll swim away from you”. It took all of a nano second for Rich to see my face and then realise that advice was not what I needed during my panicked state and he swam straight over to disturb the fish from their stupid circling around me game.
That was it, I was spooked, the fish won and just like my attempt at snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef ten years earlier, I swam away from the fish and got back on the boat. Fish two – Sonia nil.
After the excitement of snorkelling we enjoyed a buffet lunch at Ton Sai Bay. Once again accompanied by a couple of hundred other people, we ate lunch quickly and then headed to the beach to scout out a quiet spot to relax.
It’s amazing how many people just sit down on the first bit of beach they come to but it helped us as much to our delight again that day, we walked along to the end of the beach and found ourselves a quiet little spot.
We enjoyed relaxing under the shade of a tree on the beach and then begrudgingly returned to our boat, not wanting to leave the scenic spot we were in but equally intrigued about the next island ahead.
Khai island turned out to be something of a let down for our last stop of the day. A tiny island with coarse, stony sand and a beach filled with shacks built for bars. The quiet and peaceful serenity we had experienced earlier in the day seemed lost here.
There were lots of people loving it, enjoying the party music and abundance of beer but for Rich and I it just felt like we were wasting time we could have spent on the beautiful Phi Phi islands. We made the most of it though and enjoyed the time we had in the water, away from the crowds and the bars.
As we headed back to Phuket island we were actually looking forward to spending time on the quiet Kata beach the next day. Phi Phi Lay and Phi Phi Don were certainly stunning islands, every bit a picture of perfection with giant cliffs covered in green shrubs, inviting turquoise waters and soft golden sand that squeaks underfoot. It’s just a shame there were so many people everywhere we went. Maybe one day we will go back and find the beaches that aren’t so well known, which have an untold beauty and are far away from the crowds.
After our island hopping adventures we loved laying out on Kata beach and swimming in the sea the next day. Back in our little beach paradise only ten minutes walk from our hotel we were thankful that we decided to base ourselves in Kata and spend our last day in Thailand on the beach there.
Lambs on the loose 