Ko Phi Phi, Three Island Snorkle Tour

After more analyzing than the topic deserved we decided not to do the overnight camping trip off of Phi Phi Leh (Ko Phi Phi Don's smaller uninhabited sister island). We originally wanted to do this in order to experience Phi Phi's beauty without experiencing it's over developed touristy feel, but since we already found this on long beach we opted for an all day snorkeling trip around 3 islands instead. This allowed us to see more of the surrounding area and still enjoy our slice of seclusion in the evening.

We had to catch a longtail to town for our snorkel tour with about 14 other people which didn't make much sense since, to our surprise, our first snorkel destination was right off the Long Beach in front of our bungalow. We've learned to go with the flow - not much in Thailand makes sense to us. Each of the islands we visited are apart of Phi Phi's National Marine Park, they are uninhabited, and still have their natural abundant shell & coral filled beaches. We completed a full loop around Phi Phi Don (the main island we stayed on), Phi Phi Leh and Bamboo Island. After the familiar Long Beach snorkel we buzzed out to Bamboo Island, snorkeled and had lunch on the beach. After Bamboo Island we stopped at Maya Beach (where the movie The Beach was filmed) for snorkeling and relaxation. The snorkeling here was the best we've experienced yet! It felt like an underwater version of Alice in Wonderland. There were car-sized yellow, orange and purple coral plumes sprouting from the ocean floor like gigantic mushrooms. Schools of fish would appear intermittently in ridiculously dense populations, they would swim right through you as if you weren't even there, evoking a dizzying feeling. Often our guide would throw bread into the water on top of where you were snorkeling and the fish without warning would swarm around you and devour the bread above, this was startling and beautiful all at once.

One of our favorite fish is the Parrot fish, they are fairly large in size and wield striking colors and patterns like purple/orange/hot pink or teal/electric blue and red. Similar to their namesake they have beak like mouths and when they eat the coral you can hear them chomping - chomp, chomp chomp - very cool.

Our guide was awesome, he is a native Thai and lived on Phi Phi for the last 35 years - back in the time where Phi Phi Island was inhabited by a mere population of 300 and was primarily a fishing town. He said back then there was one bungalow you could rent and it was just 30 baht a night (about $1 US today). As we buzzed around the islands our guide was very conscientious of us, he stopped for good photo opts and to relay historical stories of the area, none of which was listed in the package nor expected. On the way back he went the extra 2nd mile by offer ring to park the boat on the west side of the island (where there is no development) so that we could watch the sunset. Our boat was just wrapping up 7 hours of snorkeling/touring, it was beginning to get cold and none of us had a stitch of dry clothing so we all voted no. However, if we would've known how spectacular the sunset was going to be that night we would've voted differently. When we emerged from our bungalows that evening, finally showered and clean we were greeted with an intense color splashed sky of purples, pinks, and oranges, and this was just the top 1/3 of the sunset that was going on behind the island in front of us! Never less it was still very beautiful from where we stood.

Despite it's small portions and Levi's need to order one entree, two appetizers and a dessert to fill up we decided to eat at the same restaurant as last night. A single glass of wine in Thailand usually costs double or sometimes triple the cost of your single entree. The red wine at this place is only 70 baht (incredible price!), it is very chilled and interesting in taste but at that price we'll take it - and we did x 4 each in fact. For our last glass of wine we moved to the abandoned beach below where a spontaneous fire show broke out. With sand between our toes, tasty wine in our hands, as sky FULL of sparkly stars and almost no one on the beach this was the perfect end to another perfect day in Thailand.