We woke up bright and early to have breakfast and wait for the shuttle bus to take us to the pier for our Phi Phi Island Tour. We signed up for the tour with our hotel and the tour operator was Chokpaisan Andaman Sea. I did some research before heading to Krabi and learnt that some tour operators were horribly dishonest. They squeezed 50 people in one speedboat (some reviewers lamented that they were like cattle in a boat), and did not stop anywhere for very long but simply rushed through the entire tour. I was kind of disillusioned after reading those reviews and was quite cautious when considering whether to sign up with Chokpaisan. We did so eventually (mostly due to convenience) and we were so glad for our choice!
The shuttle bus arrived promptly, and took a small group of us to the pier. Chokpaisan arranged each bus to pick only a small group of tourists, so you need not sit in the bus and travel all around Ao Nang picking up other people. After picking us up, we were on our way to the Nopparat Thara Beach where the "pier" is.
It's honestly not much of a pier, and we still had to wade out into the sea before clambering into the speedboat. There were about 30 of us, and we were all pretty comfortable. Cold water was provided during the journey and it was such a relief from the hot sun outside!
Snorkeling at two locations first, before heading to the Viking Cave and Pileh Lagoon. I have to say, I was very impressed by Pileh Lagoon. It was calm, beautiful and I love how the limestone cliffs surrounded the clear waters.
We continued on our way to the famous Maya Bay. This was where Leonardo Dicaprio filmed The Beach (when he was still hunky), and catapulted this place to fame. It would have been lovely, but I simply could not enjoy much of the place at all because it was just so crowded. The entire stretch of beach was lined with speedboats, tourists were everywhere, and I could not even take a picture in peace without a Chinese tourist stopping by to ask me to smile wider and taking a picture of me. The whole experience at Maya Bay was just really bizarre, and even though it was a pretty place, I felt a bit overwhelmed.
We were allowed to walk around Maya Bay for about half an hour before proceeding to Phi Phi Don for lunch. Lunch was buffet-styled and a modest affair. It was not anything fancy, but it did its job in keeping me full till dinner. We ate quickly before beginning to explore Phi Phi Don. I found my beloved spicy cuttlefish, and bought some souvenirs at the bustling Walking Street. Before we knew it, it's time to head to our next destination.
The last stop was Bamboo Island. This was different from the previous locations as the island was not surrounded by limestone cliffs. Instead it was just a small stretch of soft sand with an endless expanse of clear waters. I love this place. We were allowed to explore Bamboo Island for an hour and we took this opportunity to walk along the shore, chasing waves and relaxing on the sand. I was stupid enough to venture out into the sea (because I wanted to wash away the sand on my bum) but a large wave crashed into me and I was all wet.
We went back to Ao Nang at about 4pm and were divided into various songthaews for our ride back to our resort. We had a quick bath before leaving our resort for dinner. We had pork samurai burger (because I could not eat the beef samurai in Singapore haha!) and our final cups of Toffee Nut Latte for the season. I have officially tried Toffee Nut Latte in Singapore, Bangkok and Krabi. Goodbye to Toffee Nut Latte till end 2013!
It was a very relaxing and comfortable night with a slight balmy breeze along Ao Nang while we strolled back to our resort.
Hmmmm....looks like you have enjoyed your trip too much.
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