Phi Phi Islands
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| Maya Bay |
The Phi Phi islands – Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh – are two dramatic limestone islands forming part of a larger group of islands in the Andaman Sea some 25 miles southeast of Phuket Island. They both have sheer cliffs of weathered rock jutting straight out of the sea, with a large number of rocky overhangs resulting from the constant attrition of the sea on the lower parts of the rock walls. Interspersed along the shore are several beaches, some stunningly beautiful.
The islands gained popularity as a tourist attraction following the filming of the the movie ‘The Beach’ there in 2000. The result has sadly been a huge increase in the numbers of boats arriving daily throughout the high season to do the tourist rounds. The journey from Phuket takes over two hours on a regular boat and around one hour in a speedboat; one hour of constant, spine-jarring bumps when the tide is high. However, it’s worth the battering if your boat operator is smart enough to leave Phuket early and stay ahead of the crowds, although they can’t be totally avoided.
Phi Phi Leh
Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh is normally the first destination, a bay that apparently featured in the movie. A quick walk along the sand to soak up the views of the amazing cliff formations is then followed by a chug in your boat to the mouth of the bay where the snorkeling in the crystal-clear water is fabulous. The water is literally teeming with fish of all colours…
A trip to another bay where the rock erosion is particularly profound will follow, but by now the other boats will be catching up and the circuit round the bay is something of a procession. On again past some caves where there is a birds’ nest collection industry and where the workers live permanently in flimsy bamboo structures half in the caves and half jutting out over the rocks, and then to a small beach where a monkey colony that lives on the cliffs organises tours to view the strange humans who arrive in droves to feed them bananas, and sadly just about everything else. However, they are quite cute – the monkeys, that is.
Phi Phi Don
A trip will then probably take in lunch at a resort, of which there are a couple on the larger Phi Phi Don, and then an afternoon’s snoozing and/or snorkelling on one of the other islands. We went to Bamboo Island, although there didn’t seem to be much of its namesake in evidence. The resorts on Phi Phi Don looked fairly deserted and the restaurant we went to was quiet – a refection perhaps of the current economic climate.
A low tide in the afternoon will mean that the trip back is less likely to compound the contraction of your spine suffered on the outward journey, although it’s still bouncy enough the make the arrival into the flat waters close to Phuket island very welcome.
An interesting day, but not normally being ones for the tourist rounds of on-the-bus-off-the-bus, or in this case, boat, I doubt we’d consider going again.
Relating the day to another part-time resident, we mentioned that some 25 years ago on a trip to Phuket, we had taken in the so-called James Bond island, now a very popular trip. When we went, we were the only boat there and there were no vendors selling drinks and other stuff at inflated prices. Our friend’s advice: keep the memory and never consider returning; you’d regret it.
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