Phi Phi comprises of two main islands – Koh Phi Phi Don (aka Ko Phi Phi Don – the largest and main island) and Ko Phi Phi Ley (aka Ko Phi Phi Leh or Lee – smaller, uninhabited island that is home to Maya Bay – a registered National Park). There are also a few other smaller islands, including Bamboo Island. Naturally, one way to spend your time visiting Phi Phi Islands is to take a day trip excursion to Koh Phi Phi Ley or any other the other smaller islands for exploring and snorkeling or scuba diving. We talked with the excursion desk at our hotel, which is located beachside at the bar, and were able to negotiate a deal on two longtails for our group for 3-4 hours. This included spending about an hour or so at Maya bay, as well as hitting the other highlights and snorkeling gear. I don’t recall the exact cost, but I believe we negotiated two longtails for 4,000 baht, which came out to around $10 per person. Worth it. On our boat, it was Hong and Michael in the back, Mark and Marla in the middle, David, and then us (Remington took the photo)! We also had to pay an additional 200 baht per person just to get onto Maya Bay because it’s a registered national park. So another roughly $5.00…Maya Bay was the filming location for the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio, in case it looks familiar. We had heard that it was essential to get there super early to beat the crowds, so we had loaded up at 8:00am. We arrived at Maya Bay around 8:45am and by 9:30 the beach was already filling up with people. I HIGHLY recommend getting there as early as possible because it will get CROWDED real fast. While the rest of the crew walked through the woods to a lookout point over Loh Samah, we wanted to soak up Maya Bay without the crowds for as long as we could. Oh, what? That’s just my hottie of a hubs. Longtail and Speed Boats sitting in Maya Bay… After about an hour of hanging out on “the beach” in Maya Bay – LOL I crack myself up – we loaded back up in the boats and were taken to an outer part of the bay for some snorkeling. Yes, the water was that blue – I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was so pretty and crystal clear! After about 30-45 minutes of snorkeling, we headed to the other side of the island where we passed through Loh Samah and then ended in Pileh Lagoon where we parked for the last hour or so to hang out and swim. The water in Pileh Lagoon was so like glass that the boats looked like they were floating on air! We did not think much could improve upon the beauty of Maya Bay, but this lagoon was out of this world. Lookit another selfie! But sadly this was AFTER I left my very nice, very expensive Ray Bans at Maya Bay, but BEFORE I realized they were missing. 🙁 Goodbye for now Phi Phi Ley, until next time…Next up for Thailand is our trip to WFFT (Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand) where we hung out with elephants for my birthday!!! 🙂
In the meantime, check out our other Thailand posts here:
Cindy says
I miss Thailand… the water was beautiful and would love to go back again.
Kara says
Me too, Cindy! Me too!