Partial Paradise in Koh Phi Phi

Aloha friends and family,

The next stop on Mel’s and my adventure was Koh Phi Phi, or Phi Phi islands, located to the east of Phuket in the Andaman Sea. (There are technically multiple islands in Koh Phi Phi, but the only inhabited one is Phi Phi Don.) We left Phuket on Monday, January 16 and arrived in Phi Phi after a two-hour ferry ride.

There are no roads on the island so we walked (long tail boats are popular for getting around, too) our luggage 15 minutes from the port to our hotel room at the Phi Phi Viewpoint Resort located on a hillside with an infinity pool and an incredible view of the dramatic cliffs across the bay.

We agreed that we wanted to stay in places for longer times and become comfortable, taking time to enjoy them. Phi Phi seemed like a good candidate for an extended stay because we both love the beach in Hawaii, so we booked our stay at the Phi Phi Viewpoint Resort for five nights.

After dropping our bags off we went to a vegan restaurant for a late lunch of pad thai. Mel has an extreme shellfish allergy, specifically to shrimp and prawns, so we looked for vegetarian options when we could to avoid potential cross contamination because shellfish are everywhere in Thailand. We devoured our food there and brought some happy hour beers back to our pool, glad to be on this beautiful island for the next five nights.

The next day we explored the island. The island has a funny shape, with two large landmasses on the east and west connected by a narrow isthmus in the middle. Despite the isthmus not making up much of the island’s area, it’s where the majority of development is. The town is built up all around the port with tons of hotels, hostels, restaurants, bars, stores, and tourist services. We went over to Ton Sai beach, near town, in the afternoon. The beach had nice views, but it was pretty crowded because all the day trip visitors arrive on boats there. The other main beach in town was similar: good views, but narrow and crowded.

In the evening, we went back to our pool to relax for a bit before venturing over to Ibiza Pool Party, a crazy party hosted by a hostel. The scene was wild and we had our fill after an hour. (I think if we’d stayed any longer we could have caught a disease from the pool water.)

We continued the night in town with Phi Phi’s signature drink: a bucket. It’s literally a small pail filled up with a cocktail. We found one lady advertising her buckets as “super strong”. We watched her pour so much rum into a mixing cup and we were astounded, thinking it might be too much. Then we watched her pour just as much into the bucket. We were shocked and couldn’t help but laugh since there were probably 8+ shots in our bucket. It was finally ready for our consumption and after we took the first sip, the lady told us she’d made it medium strength and asked if we wanted to go stronger. We quickly shot down that notion and happily enjoyed ours at medium strength.

The next morning we slept in late, feeling even better about our decision to stick at medium strength. We got big American breakfasts and then walked to Long Beach in the early afternoon, a lovely white sand beach with light blue water. The walk there was a journey in itself as we walked past some other beaches and rocky coastline.

We’d barely been at the beach for 20 minutes when it started to rain. Most people cleared out, but we took refuge under a tree and kept mostly dry. The storm passed over after an hour or two and we enjoyed that time relaxing and swimming, with the beach mostly to ourselves. We got a late lunch at a restaurant on the beach before walking back.

The next day we got an earlier start and went to the same restaurant for a breakfast buffet. We ate a big meal because we planned to kayak all day, working our way around the whole island. After an hour or two, we realized that our goal might be overly ambitious. We went clockwise around the island, leaving from Loh Dalum Beach on the north side and paddling up to the beautiful Nui Bay. The bay was picturesque; it reminded me of the screensavers of beautiful nature that cycle through on a computer or TV in standby mode. The water was bright blue, the sand was fine, and there were gorgeous limestone cliffs around us and a little limestone island protruding from the water less than 100 yards away. We swam and hung out there for some time before continuing on.

The next scenic point was Loh Lana Bay, just a few minutes of kayaking ahead. We paddled into the bay but didn’t go to the beach since we’d just been at Nui Bay, which was much nicer. When passing the bay, we kayaked on open water, pretty far from the shoreline. It wasn’t too scary since we had lifejackets but the water was a bit choppier and we didn’t see any other kayakers. When we rounded the northernmost tip of the island, we noticed the waters getting much rougher, as a Thai boater had warned us. We pressed forwards for a little to see what was on the horizon, but our view was obstructed by rocky outcrops. We were able to see some islands to the east and north of Phi Phi, which was a cool sight, but the terrain on that side of the island was not nearly as scenic. Between that and the choppy waters, we decided to turn around. We made it back to Nui Bay, where we paused for our lunch of Ritz crackers and snorkeled.

Once we’d regained some energy, we kept paddling on to Monkey Beach, on the western half of the island. We decided not to go around the western side because there were only one or two other sights that might be fun to see, and it would have been so much additional paddling. Monkey Beach was a great final stop. It might have had the finest sand I’ve ever felt; it was even more powdery than the incredible sand of Kailua Beach on O’ahu. As the name implies, there were also monkeys cavorting about.

We then paddled back and returned our kayaks a little after 4, wrapping up six hours of being on the water. We celebrated our hard work with a bucket and pizza at the hotel pool. All the physical exertion tired us out so we tucked in early that night.

We kicked off our final day on the island with scuba diving. We talked with a local scuba instructor named Farm the day before and he said he’d be able to guide us. He was charismatic and spoke English very well, so we thought he’d be a good guide for us and explain things clearly because I’d only been scuba diving once before and Mel hadn’t ever gone. We had a 30-minute ride to get to our first dive spot, the Bida Islands, which are part of the Phi Phi islands. After some safety talks, we jumped in the water with Farm and he showed us the basics. He stayed right by us for the entirety of the dive, which was nice for us knowing he had our backs. We saw lots of cool ocean life. Farm even saw a couple sharks but they swam off before I had a chance to see them.

We took a break after the first dive for lunch. We docked outside a gorgeous beach called Maya Bay, part of the island of Phi Phi Ley. I was happy to view from a distance because the beach looked overcrowded with tourists that visit on long tail boats. After eating, we moved outside the bay and began our second dive. Farm gave us more autonomy the second dive, which was fun for exploring on our own while still having the comfort of having a guide nearby. We saw more beautiful wildlife including a turtle with three legs. The experience was great and I’m considering getting certified so I’ll be able to dive more inexpensively in the future. It was also really fun talking to Farm; we could talk with him really easily and he told us about his past in Bangkok, life in Phi Phi, and the Thai government, among other things. The scuba diving was tiring so we rested by our pool in the afternoon.

At night, we got a bucket and brought it to a laid back live music venue. We were in a part of town between the really loud party areas and the more family-oriented resorts, so it was a nice place that felt lively but not too crazy. As the night progressed, though, the venue became wilder as a fire spinning show started with thumping bass to accompany it.

We went to another live music bar in the heart of town that was a little crazier and louder before going to the main event of the night: the fight bar. The bar consisted of a Muay Thai (Thai boxing, basically) ring in the center of the bar, and tons of seating around the outside. Sometimes professional fighters spar in the ring, but most of the time it’s tourists fighting each other. There are employees holding up signs saying “Free bucket for fighting” to encourage tourists to get in the ring, and those who volunteer are paired up with someone of similar stature. Once it’s their turn, they enter the ring and fight while being officiated by a Thai referee.

The atmosphere is electric. The bar plays Thai music during the fight and pump-up music in between rounds to keep the crowd rowdy. None of the fights looked like professional boxing or fighting I’ve seen, but some of the matches were surprisingly good. Some of them were also terrible. Thankfully the referee had a good handle and was able to break up fights whenever someone took a big hit or was too drunk to be fighting. The bar was incredible to witness and so unlike anything I’ve ever seen in America.

(Personally, I thought that was a late hit after the bell by Red...but what do I know?)

The next morning we walked to the port, stopping for a breakfast of rotis (Thai pancakes) and smoothies along the way. We caught our boat and were smooth sailing into the port at Phuket, where we caught a minibus to the airport. We had a few hours to kill in the airport before flying to Bangkok, which I’ll write about next post.

We thought Koh Phi Phi was picturesque, with perfect blue water, white sand, and dramatic cliffs. The kayaking and scuba diving were great ways to explore the island’s natural beauty. The biggest downside of the island is that it’s overdeveloped; the isthmus in the middle of the island is very crowded and hot, and there’s a sewage problem that gives parts of the island a funky smell. The party scene is also tacky and overdone after being there for more than a couple nights, but it’s fun to experience a small dose of it. Overall, we enjoyed visiting Koh Phi Phi. It would be fun to revisit for a stint with people who are looking to party and haven’t seen the island before. That’s all for now. Thanks a ton for reading!

P.S. (In case you missed it last post) I have an international SIM card and I haven’t been able to receive texts with it. The situation might change in Fiji, New Zealand, or Australia, but in the meantime you can reach me via email (thomasdjones4@gmail.com), WhatsApp (you should still be able to text my American number, 860-558-4333, through that app), or Instagram (@tommydjones4).