Day 32 - Island hopping around Phuket, Thailand

We set off early this morning as we have arranged for a tour around the Phi Phi Islands via speed boat. We get a 45 min bus to Chalong Pier only to arrive at what looked like Euston at rush hour. Hundreds of people waiting on plastic chairs. Annoyingly all part of our tour. It's going to be one of them!

Decent five engines on the boat though. 

Once we have been herded into our 100 PERSON boat and been dictated to a bit more by the tour guide it gets worse. We can't see out of the boat. A sight seeing boat with no windows. Even better that the first island is 45 km away and takes an hour to get there. 

Good to see Andy Goodman on the boat on front of us though. 

Our Jo'burg friends Annari and 

Renier (we finally found out how to spell their names!)

The ride across is ridiculously choppy. Not for the weak stomached. Also as we are sitting at the back we get absolutely drenched from the splash back from us tearing through the ocean. Fun for a short while but gets a tad tiresome after 45 mins of it!

So we head to Phi Phi Ley, the smaller of the two Phi Phi islands to start with. First stop is Maya Bay where they filmed the film the Beach. We first pull up in the cove but a way off shore and jump into the sea to do some snorkelling. It is amazing. Never seen fish like it. There were thousands swimming all around us (tourists as well as fish) all of the most fantastic colours (tourists as well as fish wither different shades of sunburn).

Fantastic setting for a bit of snorkelling. 

After this we get back onto the boat and me and Nat become the victims of a humongous Chinese couple who cannot get their fat asses back on the boat. They some how manage to consecutively fall back off the boat onto each of us when trying to get back on. The guy landed on my head. Thought I was going to drown!

Next we pulled up on the island. It is truly beautiful with the softest golden sand and most amazing setting hidden away in the cove. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Maya Bay is a stunningly beautiful bay that's sheltered by 100-metre high cliffs on three sides. The only thing that lets it down is how busy it is. We had heard how, naturally, it is a major tourist attraction now but wasn't quite expecting this. The water looked like a boat parking lot with boats lined up the whole length of the beach (usually 30+ at any given time) with the beach looking like Brighton beach on an August bank holiday weekend when it's 30 degrees!

We get off and spend half an hour on the beach. There is nothing here just a little piece of very busy paradise. 

Panoramic view of the beach. 

Ominous warnings. Apparently they were hit pretty hard after the Boxing Day Tsunami a few years back. It wiped out a lot of the coral around the bays. 

Not quite Leonardo Decaprio. 

 A wonder through the forest behind the beach. 

After we head (aka are herded) back to the boat for the next leg of the tour. We have four stops planned before lunch; Loh Samah Bay, Pileh Cove, Viking Cave and Monkey Island. Or so we thought. Basically the next four stops we are not stopping at all. Just a Top Gun-esque flyby. Apart from Maverick and Goose probably went slower and had windows in their F14s. Not the greatest. The tour operator also continues to be the least informative person ever telling us nothing but the name of what we are trying to look at. I'd love to be able to tell you more such as why it is called Viking cave but I have no idea! I do know what time we need to be back on the boat after lunch though. 

Pileh Cove

Viking cave. 

Setting off from Phi Phi Ley. 

We stop for lunch on Phi Phi Don island. 

The conveyor belt tour continues with school dinner style lunch with no drinks provided. Who needs a drink in 30 degree heat anyway?

Nice little town. Don't think I quite caught it but this girl has a tigers face tattooed on her back. Classy. 

The last stop on the tour is Khaki Nai Island which is a tiny circular island about half way back towards Phuket. It is a proper desert island in the middle of the ocean. You can walk the circumference in about 15 mins. 

We get a whopping hour of free time to spend here! Id have loved to stay until sunset. It's. Great place with a really cool vibe.

Who wouldn't want to stay in a place with the beach shack version of Hard Rock!!!

With two caricatures of desert island party dude wasters who worked behind the bar. 

Another panoramic view standing at the end of the island. You can see the water on both sides. 

Getting back was equally eventful after an argument with some idiots over seats and then getting dropped off miles from where we were getting picked up. All in all not the best tour but unfortunately there are very little other options without it getting very expensive. Great to see Maya Bay and Khaki Nai and makes for a more interesting post than a day by the pool!

That evening we head to dinner at nice little restaurant in a different bay we have discovered 15 mins from our hotel. It's called the Ship Inn and we sit right by the sea which is nice. 

Hotel looking very Christmasy when we arrive back with the addition of an extra Christmas tree outside. Still doesn't feel like Christmas one bit though! :-(