The Phi Phi Adventure Part 3

Tuesday morning we woke up not having any plans for the whole day, as the previous night we haven’t checked on the watersports activity center if we could have a boat that would bring us to Phi Phi Lae (a smaller island), where you can find ‘The Beach.’

I’m very anxious that we’d leave to Phuket without even visiting the famous Maya Beach, which was made more well-known because of that Leonardo Dicaprio’s movie. So, after ordering our morning breakfast to be delivered in our bungalow, Herman called the watersports activity center to check if we could visit Maya beach that day.

They told him that longtail boats could probably still have a hard time entering the beach, but speedboats could. Speedboat rentals are pretty high, five times that of a longtail boat, but we were in luck as they have arranged a trip there that charges per person. So we joined that half-day trip to Phi Phi Lae for 800 baht per person (including a lunch hamper) on board a two-engine speedboat.



At eleven in the morning we boarded the Rinrada with ten other tourists. Boy! It was a fast trip as we rip through the little waves going to the island where Maya beach can be found. We entered the enclosure and found the famous beach filled with boats and tourists. Even though the day wasn’t what you might call a perfect weather, the beach looked so beautiful. The water isn’t too calm as what you would normally see in pictures, but still you could see the beauty and allure of the place.



The palm trees you saw in the movie weren’t there when we stepped out of the boat. We were told that those were only planted specifically for the shoot. The sands on the beach are so fine that the shallow part of the water is so milky white. Maya beach is already a famous destination even before that movie, but I guess knowing that Jack of Titanic walked on the sands of this beach (probably even peed on its water) increased the traffic of tourists wanting to see this place.





After thirty minutes of cavorting in the white sands of ‘The Beach,’ we boarded our boat and went off to do snorkeling in Loh Samah Bay. It was a very good place to watch the fishes. The water is so clear that you don’t need to jump into the water and snorkel, but being me (raised by a diver) took the plunge even though there was a slight drizzle.



Swimming with the fishes could be tiring, and so we moved to Pilae Bay, a beautiful area for relaxing, swimming and a light picnic.





After finishing our lunch we headed off to the Viking Caves, the last of places to visit in the small island of Phi Phi Lae. Before, tourists could enter and look at the wall paintings and see the beautiful stalactites inside, but since that docks were damaged by the tsunami, it would be hard to enter.



On our trip back, we again stopped at the Monkey Bay, had a few shopping minutes at Ton Sai Bay and more snorkeling in Run Tee Bay. When we got back at the resort we still have more energy and time to finally enjoy the Laem Thong Beach right in front of our resort.



The water is shallow in the afternoons, so we borrowed a kayak.



More pictures of Maya beach in here.