So I finally had the chance and time to go back to visit my family in Thailand for three blissful weeks. After two years of being away from the tropics, the first thing I knew I had to do was hit the BEACH! and that was exactly what we did :) It was mid December 2016 which was a great time to visit any beach destinations around the southern parts of Thailand because that is during the high season which means SUN SUN SUN! And luckily, the day we went for our Phi Phi Island tour was a perfect sun drenched day!
The Nine hotel @Ao Nang
Upon arriving in Krabi, my family kindly hooked us up in one of our family's hotels in Ao Nang, Krabi called "The Nine Hotel", beautifully located within 10 minutes walk from the main strip and the beach itself! Upon arrival my sister in law recommended for us to try the popular Phi Phi Island speed boat tour the following day which we jumped on right away, and I am glad we did because despite being Thai and all the experience was still pretty amazing and neither of us have visited Phi Phi before. The following day, the taxi came to pick up us promptly at 8:30 am, and after picking up other guests from nearby hotels, we finally headed off the boat pier to begin our tour. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of people waiting at the pier to board the boat, and upon hearing our names we were on our way to the islands!
On our way! Yay!
The boat's first drop off was at the Bamboo beach or "Koh Pai" which was a nice secluded beach with lovely white sands and turquoise blue sea, there were a lot of people on the beach when we were there so it was a little bit off putting but nevertheless the beach itself was perfect! After the allotted 40 minutes or so, we were shipped off to our first snorkeling spot which was really nice! The water was crystal clear and there were so many fishies! It was heaven.
Bamboo Beach (Koh Pai)
For lunch we stopped by Phi Phi Don and was greeted by a mass of other tour groups heading towards the same destination, the lunch was served buffet style and there was a nice variety of food when we were there. After lunch we slept our food comas off at a quiet spot of the beach and people watched until we were called back onto the boat which was pleasant. It was nice to just relax and enjoy the beach and the weather without having to hurry back.
Back on the boat and we were taken to two photo spots of the tour, the viking cave which was pretty cool! (The cave is actually used for bird nest farming) and the monkey island which was awesome. We were just there watching these monkeys jumping off cliffs and swimming in the sea, it was pretty amazing! We didn't stop long at the island and headed towards my personal favorite spot of the whole day! Phi Phi Lay. The boat took us into this gorgeous emerald green cove, which was so stunning! The water was super clear and you can see the bottom of the ocean as the boat drifted past. This was definitely my favorite spot and of course we took a bunch of photos!
Phi Phi Lay
Last but not least, the final stop of our tour was at Maya bay, where Leonardo Di Caprio filmed for The Beach (Scream!) The beach itself although beautiful was PACKED and I mean PACKED with hoards of travelers and boats wanting to take a glimpse of the beach where Leo once were 10+ years ago! There is also a national park on the beach itself, which we leisurely stroll through. On the other side, we found a nice view point/photo taking spot where we hurriedly took our keepsake photos since there were so many people wanting to do the same.
Back on the boat and we finally headed back to dry land. Although slightly crowded, I must say I still enjoyed our tour immensely. The weather held up perfectly for us and the beaches were beautiful. I guess it's up to luck and also time of the season if you want less crowd! Otherwise it was a perfect day out.
