This excursion was included on my 11 day Thailand trip, but I decided to break it off into a separate blog for you guys!
When I arrived in Phi Phi, there were hundreds of long-tail boats covering the beach! I heard that the famous Maya Bay is flocked with tourists to the point you can’t even see the beach, so solution? Go before everyone gets there! I negotiated a price with a long-tail boat the day before my trip and asked if he was willing to take me before the sunrise. He smiled and said “of course, whenever you would like!” – They don’t call it the land of smiles for nothing! My sister & I met him at 5:30am sharp and were on the water when the sky was still pitch black. We saw the sunrise on the boat out to Maya Bay and it was beyond peaceful!
Getting to Maya Bay, the tide was coming in so the waves were rough! At times it felt like that tiny boat was going to just tip over. TIP: I am cursed with horrible sea sickness to the point where I can’t even stand in the ocean for too long without getting nauseous! However… I did this 6+ hour boat ride! If I can do it, anyone can! The distances between the destinations are short so you are hopping on and off pretty often. If you are nervous about getting sick, I would recommend going later in the day when the water is calmer.
We enjoyed the peaceful, quiet Maya Bay until the tour boats & booze cruises started piling in! This bay is massive with not a wave in sight. Truly breathtaking. TIP: Go around the back of the island to find a lookout point! Our guide didn’t mention this and there is no signage pointing to it. We creepily overheard other travelers talking about it and tagged along.
After Maya Bay we checked out two snorkeling spots around the backside of the the bay (where the lookout was that I mentioned previously). There weren’t too many fish – but we also went very early! We didn’t stay too long and headed over to Pileh Lagoon. WOW this place was amazing!! I could have stayed her all day. It is like a glistening turquoise swimming pool in the middle of dramatic limestone cliffs! We parked our boat and cannon-balled right in. We got a good workout jumping in the water / climbing back into the boat for the perfect boomerang, ha!
My sister, being a dolphin trainer and all, is always on the hunt for wild marine life. She dragged me over to snorkel at “shark point,” which the name alone scares me!! The amount of people in the water made me feel slightly safer, because well, odds are better if a shark gets hungry! After several laps around the “shark point” we swam back to the boat, lost of all hope of seeing sharks. And then… out of the blue…. THREE SHARKS! They were actually adorable and a lot smaller than my scaredy-cat imagination envisioned them.
Last stop: Monkey Beach! These little guys were too stinking cute! They walk right up to you and will grab food right out of your hand. Before going, I read to avoid monkey beach because they get aggressive… Boy am I glad I didn’t listen! Some of the bigger ones would get aggressive if the babies stole their food but never with humans! I saw one guy bring pistachios and was extremely jealous watching all the baby monkeys flock to him to get their share. TIP: Bring pistachios so you are a jealous bystander like me.
This was by far my favorite day out of the whole Thailand trip! If you can stay longer in Phi Phi, do it! There are so many other excursions you could do to fill up another day: Bamboo Island, Koh Khai Islands, Mosquito Island, & more.
I would recommend the private long-tail boat tour over and over again! Getting to beat the crowds at every stop made the trip that much more enjoyable.