Let me start by saying that Maya Bay was the whole reason I fell in love with Thailand, so a Phi Phi Islands day trip was a must do. I am not ashamed to admit that watching Leonardo DiCaprio go absolutely batshit crazy on an island in “The Beach” was the reason I found out how beautiful Thailand is. So, thank you Leo, because without you I don’t know if I would have fallen in love. Also thanks for Titanic, and you could have fit on that door. Rose did you dirty.
Also, if you want to see our whole Thailand trip itinerary, check it out, but here I’m specifically going to talk about our Phi Phi Islands day trip.
The Ride There
ANYWAY, for our day at the Phi Phi Islands (Koh Phi Phi), we took a sunrise tour from Phuket to the Phi Phi Islands that began at 4:30am. We were so excited that it wasn’t hard at all to wake up, but we also took it easy the day before and saved ourselves from a hangover. Let me just say, our day was incredible. The boat was covered (thank goodness, because we were sunburnt) and we watched the sun rise behind the scattered islands on the ~45 minute trip out to Maya Bay, which was stop 1.
On this ride, I truly felt like a child. We are from the midwest in the USA so you just don’t see this kind of beauty every day (don’t get mad, St. Louis Arch, you’re still pretty too). I’m decently well traveled, and this scenery and beauty, I have truly just never seen. I was stunned and I can’t believe I was lucky enough to view it.
Maya Bay
So we started at Maya Bay and wandered around to see the famous Cupcake Island, look out at the now-famous bay as we saw other boats start filling in, and check out the mangrove forest within the island.
Pi Leh Lagoon
From there, we hopped back on the boat (after making my boyfriend take dozens of Instagram-worthy photos of me, thankyewbabeurthebest) and headed to Pi Leh Lagoon.
Pi Leh Lagoon shocked me. The water was SO teal, and it was this beautiful, secluded area. This may have ended up being the most beautiful bit of Thailand we saw in general. But we dropped anchor for a bit, and jumped off the boat to swim in the perfect teal waters. Seriously, I won’t get over the teal waters and you cannot make me.
Snorkeling
Next stop was to snorkel. We got to spend a good amount of time here, and it was a really, really great snorkel spot. Our guides had lots of food to bring the fish around, and they took their underwater camera into the area to snag lots of amazing photos. This was a blast, and our next stop was lunch.
Lunch
We had a delicious buffet with all sorts of Thai cuisine from not spicy for my white ass tastebuds to very spicy, which killed my white ass tastebuds. We also got to hang out on the island where lunch was (Phi Phi Don) and just relax before continuing our day.
Monkey Beach
From there, we swung by Monkey Beach where our captain threw bananas at monkeys. They were hilarious, and mean. I mean, they’re wild monkeys. They didn’t want us there at all but let us watch them from the safety of the boat because we had bananas. They also did a wicked doggy paddle and I, for one, was impressed.
Bamboo Island
Next, we went and hung out on Bamboo Island (Koh Phi Phi Don), enjoying beach time and relaxation after a busy day.
Overall, would HIGHLY recommend a day trip to the Phi Phi Islands. We loved every second.
My Pro Tips
- Do yourself a favor and get up the extra 2 hours early and do a sunrise tour. We were able to beat a lot of boat traffic and sort of go the opposite direction of most tours by doing the sunrise tour. Our guides were phenomenal, and the tour was extremely well organized. Highly recommend this tour we booked through Viator.
- Pay attention on the trip out to the islands. You’re tired, I get it, but there’s nothing quite like watching a pink sunrise behind all of these incredible islands sprinkled throughout the Andaman Sea.
- This seems obvious, but please for the love of whatever god, spirit, or otherwise thing you believe in, get some WATERPROOF sunscreen. We got burned (literally) by the first sunscreen we bought because it wasn’t waterproof. Why sunscreen that isn’t waterproof even exists is beyond me, but it does and just please double check yours.
- Befriend your tour guide. He paid extra attention to us – which came very in handy for photos – because we were super nice to him all day.
- Buy the photos. Unless you’re really in a pinch, it’ll be nice to have them all. They know things to pay attention to that a tourist just won’t.
- Eat all the food. Seriously Thai food is amazing and I miss it so much.
Reach out with any questions about our time, I’d be glad to share more!
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