Two Friends in Thailand | Phi Phi Islands

Today was one of those days where we had no plans on what we wanted to do. I had a semi-rough idea of what we could do, but I didn’t want to set anything in stone, unti I was with Chris.

Together, after a few options were discussed, we decided on another boat day. Except, instead of a sunset cruise, we decided on a sunrise speed boat tour to the Phi Phi Islands. The particular tour we decided on was called The Beach Sea Trips. I’m pretty sure we found at the stand where we rented our motor scooters.

The Phi Phi Islands are kind of a MUST SEE when you come to the west coast of Thailand. They are what most people think of when they think of Thailand. I’m not going to lie when I say, I was really excited about this particular trip! It would be the furthest south I’ve ever been (at this point in time).

As this trip was a sunrise boat trip, it meant another super early morning after a late night. (Remember I was bitten by a monkey and was at the hospital till well close to, maybe even after midnight). Thankfully, Chris is a morning bird and had enough time before our pick up arrived to get us some coffee! (Coffee is a wonderful thing).

The driver drove us to the starting point of the tour at a marina a decent 40-minute drive away. Thankfully, once we arrived and checked in, the company provided breakfast. During breakfast, they went over the itinerary and the safety features, so no significant time was spent on the boat! Always a good perk to a sunrise not trip!

To say we were ready to board the boat is an understatement. I was just tired of standing around and listening to people talk. I wanted to be back on the water in a speed boat, jetting off towards the sun. Don’t get me wrong, I love Thailand, I’ve majorly missed the boat life from the Caribbean.

Koh Phi Phi Ley and Maya Bay Beach

I was so happy when we left the marina and sped off into the sun. We paused for a short while to capture sunrise photos before heading towards the first stop of the day, Maya Bay.

Something you should know. Maya Bay is indefinitely closed after succumbing to over-tourism. Thailand’s government decided that, to bring it back to its beauty, it needs to remain tourist-free. Why the over-tourism? Maya Bay was made famous by the 2000 movie, “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio. It quickly rose to fame as a Thailand island hotspot. Now, you can only witness this beautiful beach from a distance.

After a few minutes, we headed to our next location, Loh Sama Bay. Literally, on the backside of the Koh Phi Phi Ley where Maya Bay is located. This time, we were FINALLY able to jump into the beyond crystal turquoise blue water! That wasn’t all, located in this little reef area behind Maya Beach, were cute and tiny baby reef sharks 🙂

We stayed in this spot for about 30ish minutes. When we were ready to take off, Chris happened to be quite far from the boat and struggling to get back to the boat due to a current. According to Chris, swimming is not his thing. Makes for a great story though!!

The next location on this boat trip turned into an ultimate fail. Apparently, the tide doesn’t always work in favor of the boat. On this particular day, the tide at Pileh Lagoon was just that. The entrance was too shallow for the boat. Even with the motors practically out of the water, the boat was unable to pass over the sand bar. It would have been a great spot for more swimming, but it was just in the plans.

Thankfully, it’s not like this was the end of the boat trip. We had barely just begun. With little hesitation, we continued on our way with a just slow enough to see it, drive by, of a place called Viking Cave.

Monkey Beach

I wish I could tell you more about Viking Cave, but I just don’t have any answers. I was more curious about this Monkey Beach and Monkey Cliff I kept hearing our tour guide mentioning.

Did you read about yesterdays mishap with a monkey? Can you now understand my curiosity? A Monkey Beach with a monkey cliff?

It was pretty much exactly what it sounds like; a beach of monkeys and a cliff of monkeys. It was pretty entertaining watching these monkeys JUMP off the cliff and into the sea, then back up the ropes. It was slightly touristy, and boats were feeding the monkeys bananas. I know it’s not ethical and it does cause monkeys to become aggressive, but I still enjoyed it.

After a few entertaining jumps from the monkeys and soaking up the beautiful island cliffs, we continued to our next location; a beachside restaurant for our lunch. This restaurant is a part of a beach resort located on Laemtong Beach. That’s honestly all I remember. Well, that and that the food was delicious!

Koh Phi Phi Don

After lunch, we headed to Long Beach, located on Koh Phi Phi Don. I’ll explain this to you quickly. Koh Phi Phi Ley is the smaller of the two islands, and Koh Phi Phi Don is the larger island. Okay, let’s continue.

Long Beach is located on the southeast corner of Koh Phi Phi Don, between several resorts. This is where Chris finally got his “James Bond” long boat moment. There were several long boats anchored on the beach right next to each other and was a perfect location for his moment.

Chris and I, being the crazy, non-stop movers we are, decided to grab a beer and take a walk down the beach. It turned into a climb over a rocky corner, down a smaller beach, and over another rocky corner. It was at this point that we noticed the “Viking” sign. Come to find out, this is the location of the Viking Resort, but I did not know that at the time.

It was here where we had a mini-photoshoot on the rocky corner with the picturesque Thailand background, long boats included. I struggled slightly with the rocky shore and may have slipped a couple of times. I never fully fell in, but I had a few close calls.. Chris, being the amazing photographer that he is, captured it ALL on camera.

Bamboo Island

Next, we headed to Bamboo Island, a tiny island located just north of Koh Phi Phi Don. It is home to a beautiful white, sandy beach. Before we made anchor on our final beach of the day, we anchored off the coastline and did some more snorkeling.

This was a huge highlight for me, because…I SAW A ZEBRA SHARK. This was my first and as of now, my only time seeing a zebra shark. Talk about a random wildlife encounter! Chris even got to swim with the shark! Talk about memories in the making!

It was finally time to head to our final stop along our Phi Phi tour, Bamboo Beach. Chris, at this point, had one more item he wanted to check off his list. He wanted to drink a coconut on a beach. Thanks to our fellow boatmates, they gave us one of their coconuts, as they didn’t like it! You could say our boating day around the Phi Phi Islands have been an utter success!!

The best part was that our day didn’t end with the boat trip. When we returned to the marina, it was only about 3 pm. We were spent and knew we needed to rest before heading out on the town.

Our night was a pretty simple night. One thing we knew for certain was that we needed to complete our week in paradise with one final Thai massage. After all, Chris’s first experience wasn’t a true Thai massage. But this one was. There were moments during our massages, where the masseuses and myself were laughing because of the noises Chris was making.

I will say this, a Thai massage is nothing like the typical massage you might think of in America. It’s not relaxing AT ALL. I could totally understand where Chris was coming from, but it was still kind of funny. It wase the perfect end to our amazing week in Phuket.

We still have one half day left in Phuket before our flight the next day, so stay tuned for one final post on my time in Thailand with my good friend Chris!