Island Hopping - Is Koh Phi Phi A Good Thai Island to Visit?
Koh Phi Phi - After spending 3 nights in Krabi, I moved on. Time to visit a real jewel of an island in Thailand. Koh Phi Phi is probably one of the smallest 'tourist' islands in the South. This was also the first experience I had of Island Hopping on my travels, taking short distance ferries from island to island.
From here you can go out on boat trips across to other islands, you can sunbathe, get drunk and drink buckets.
Ferry To Koh Phi Phi Island
When arriving in Koh Phi Phi, you have to pay a small fee, at the port, of 20 baht. Apparently this goes towards cleaning the island - after spending 8 days there, I've come to the conclusion it goes to some mafia family's back pocket. The island is very small and very busy, so it can be frustrating getting around. There's no taxi's or Tuk - Tuks on the island which is a gift in itself, no pollution.
Around the island are Tsunami evacuation points in case of an emergency. Because of how small Phi Phi is, it really brings home what the Thai people and holidaymakers would of experienced during the boxing day disaster. But on the upside the Thai people are as happy as ever and getting on with life - although it was quite a while ago now, everything been built back up and i've so far seen barely any evidence of a natural disaster.
Snorkeling On Phi Phi
I decided to go on a snorkeling trip on Koh Phi Phi, which was a nice cheap day out. We visited monkey beach, literally where the monkeys hang out, so inventively named. They snatch and grab as much as they can from tourists, clever little bastards, I left my things on the boat, so they got nothing from me Monkey 0 - Liam 1.
After that the boat took us to a viking cave, which was a load of crap, it was a cave and on the outside, lots of bamboo put together, to make it look a little historic. Everyone else was taking photos, I was laughing at these gullible tourists.
Maya Bay Leonardo DiCaprio's Blockbuster Movie Was Filmed Here
Then to Maya Bay, which is where they filmed, The Beach starring Leonardo D Caprio. Wonderful white sandy beach, only thing was that the water was very shallow, it basically felt like a glorified bath. The island itself was quiet, and peaceful.
We also did some snorkeling which was fun, apart from I can't use the mouth piece of a snorkel. So I was pretty much goggle-ing my way around the fish. I learnt colorful fish are nice in clear water. I did keep an eye out for sharks!
All in all this is a cheap nice little excursion, remember take tonnes of water it gets hot sitting in a boat. The boat was some kind of long boat, i don't know what they call them.
Having Fun And Relaxing
Finally the party scene here is ace, there's a few nice bars and there's an awesome beach bar which everyone ends up at. To save money I bought buckets (a bottle of whisky or vodka, mixed with Thai Red Bull and Coke) from street vendors for 150 baht. They cost 400baht or so in the bar, I then snook into the party via the beach entrance.
Met some great people here, in my hostel, 24 mixed dorm, some of them were ill, some of them were working there, and there were rabbits in a cage outside. Great place Flower Bungalows, check it out if you ever visit. I ended up staying for 8 days.
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