Phi Phi Island Tour

We had an early morning pick up for transport to Ao Nang  and our boat excursion to the Phi Phi Islands, pronounced "Pee Pee" Islands by the locals. An open-sided tuk-tuk with wooden benches for about 8 people and a canvas cover made several pick-up stops before leaving Krabi. A Dutch family and a group from Spain joined us for the 20 kilometer (over 12 miles), early morning, “get your eyes open,” adventure to catch our boats. 

We had originally signed up for a “longtail-boat”, which is the indigenous craft of these islands. However, the tour operators changed us and at least one family to a speedboat excursion after determining the sea conditions and the ages of us and the younger children were not conducive to getting on and off the longtail-boats. At the end of the day we were glad to have access back into the boat from almost water level; to get into the longtails, the adventurers had to climb out of the water and over the high, gunwales of the wooden craft.  

After all the passenger groups were gathered and grouped with their tour leaders, we walked about a kilometer (3/4 mile) to our boats and finally boarded from a beach. The passenger manifest included at least 25 other passengers in our speedboats. Life vests were issued and put on before setting sail. Our group included at least 4 nationalities with an extended, Muslim family from Brunei. The adult women wore outfits covering them from head to toe, I was curious to see what they were going to do about swimming. They remained totally clad in their hooded onesies, when in the water. As a juxtaposition and a clash of cultures, several young, Spanish women attempted to show as much of their bodies as possible. Each group tolerated the other, which fascinated me. 

After cruising through some of the karst islands with their lush, tropical scenery, we anchored in one alcove among a dozen or more other boats for snorkeling. Don and I chose to stay on the boat, since we are more challenged to get back on the boat than in past years. I did enjoy watching the others enjoy themselves in the water; I have snorkeled in other parts of the world. After snorkeling with rays and sharks in the Caribbean and Tahiti I did not see any new fish from the surface. 

We visited Monkey Bay where we saw the monkeys frolicking in the trees and scaring the few young ladies who got up close, but the rough seas and earlier arriving boats prevented our having such an encounter. The Viking Caves were decorated with Norse themes but swallows were the main occupants. Leonardo Decaprio’s movie, “The Beach '' was filmed among these islands. 

A Thai buffet lunch was included at a seaside restaurant in Don, the main town of the Phi Phi Island group. This can become a destination resort area for those wanting to really get away from it all. The island may not be totally off the net, but it is close!

After lunch, we stopped at other islands, beaches, and bays where Don was able to go ashore and capture more scenery with his camera. I stayed on the boat and joined the crew in some late afternoon “ZZZ’s." 

We headed back to Ao Nang in the speedboat across the choppy Andaman Sea. The winds were up which created horsetails atop the wave crests. We got splashed quite a bit inside the passenger area because the sides were open above the gunwale plexiglass and below the overhead canopy and tarp. On the way back, Don said, “We can shower when we got back to the hotel.” I said, “Why bother? We've been showering all day!”

We exited the boat onto the Ao Nang beach, walked back to meet the transports, and returned to Krabi in the back of a similar tuk-tuk. In our wet clothing, the ride was almost chilly, but with the 90-degree temperatures we did not worry about frostbite. We were happy to get back into town and to get cleaned and warmed in a hot, freshwater shower.

We returned to the night food market for dinner. I had another “LOADED” gourmet baked potato and chased it with a fresh fruit smoothie. I was getting addicted to those beverages, or are they sweet desserts?

Using a local travel agent, we arranged for another speedboat adventure the next day. So bedtime awaited, even with a later (normal) start time.