Simba Sea Trips boat!
Our Sunrise Boat Trip to the famous Phi Phi Islands of Thailand was an experience I will never forget, and one that think is best told through the pictures that we took (although I’m not so sure any pictures could do this piece of heaven justice)! Anyway, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of the facts, then let you feast with your eyes on the glorious islands of paradise on earth.
We booked our tour with Simba Sea Trips through the one & only TripAdvisor website. Simba Sea Trips came highly recommended by fellow travelers and they offered a unique tour starting bright & early at 6am that peaked our interest. They cater to smaller groups (7 couples total on our trip w/ 4 guides) and their sunrise tour is open to adults only and included transportation to/from our hotel, light breakfast (still recommend downing a quick cup of java at your hotel first!), multiple beverages, snacks & fruit throughout the day, and a huge & beautiful spread for lunch. The boat was super fast…added bonus- they have a toilet on board too! So, we set our alarm for 5am for a 5:30 pickup from our hotel- brutal while on vacation! The boat left from the Royal Phuket Marina for a 55 km trip across the Andaman Sea to the Phi Phi Islands.
Since the filming of the movie The Beach back in 2000, the islands (6 in total, only 2 inhabitable) have gained a huge following, therefore we wanted to get to the famous Maya Bay (backdrop for the movie) first before the crowds arrived. Koh Phi Phi Ley was our first stop for Maya Bay, then we went around to the back of the island to jump off the boat and swim in the secret Pileh Lagoon & check out Viking Cave for their thriving birds nest soup industry. We ended this island by snorkeling at Lo Samah Bay. Koh Phi Phi Don was the 2nd island we visited for more snorkeling at Camel Rock/Nui Bay & at Straight Rock, fed wild monkeys at Monkey Beach, & learned about the devastating effects of the December 2004 tsunami that struck at 10am crippling the islands and killed thousands of locals & tourists alike (gave me the chills and was just awful seeing the pictures they had on board to show us). After this sobering experience, we headed over to the small & secluded Bamboo Island for lunch & some R&R before jetting off again to Mosquito Island for more snorkeling. This capped off our amazing day trip to the Phi Phi Islands.
We took an obscene amount of pictures….this was truly an unforgettable experience and one I hope to do again in my lifetime!
Thailand Sunrise
Oasis on the Andaman Sea
Islands of Thailand in the calm of the morning
Entering Maya Bay- ahead of us is “The Beach”
Stunning peaks in Maya Bay!
The Entrance of Maya Bay
We are at THE BEACH!!
Beautiful scenery in Maya Bay
Proof we were at The Beach (aka Maya Bay)!
Trekking through the island jungle
What Leonardo DiCaprio saw when he arrived at “The Beach” (not David but whats behind him- LOL)
HUGS
Back entrance to the jungle leading to Maya Bay
Pileh Lagoon “swimming pool”.
Limestone cliffs covered in lush greenery surrounding the deserted Pileh Lagoon….We cruised into this deserted & quiet cove to dive off the boat into “cartoon” like clear waters …they call it nature’s swimming pool!
Such gorgeous & clear water at Pileh Lagoon!! I could have stayed here all day!!
Viking Cove- a dangerous & rare “birds nest soup” mecca…..the workers keep people away with guns and WILL fire at you if you try and approach them- yikes.
The wild monkeys at Monkey Beach- we fed them peanuts!
Alpha Male stole all our peanuts from his clan (sorry this shot is not “G” rated).
Momma monkey:)
Our boat was LITERALLY directly under these guys and we would throw them peanuts and they would reach out to grab them….freaked me out but was fun nonetheless!
This specie of monkeys can SWIM!!! Hilarious- they would try and catch the peanuts we threw at them and sometimes fell off the branches into the water below.
How gorgeous are these islands?!?!
Paradise found. I love him so.
Seriously….is this a cartoon picture or what?!
View of more Thailand islands off in the distance.
We walked through this little island jungle after lunch on a secluded beach.
Yea!! We made it to the Phi Phi Islands of Thailand- what a day to remember:)!
Happy & Safe Travels,
Kimbra
5 Responses to Phi Phi Islands, Thailand: Paradise Found.
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Your pictures are amazing. This looks gorgeous!! One could spend quite an amount of time here relaxing 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
[…] My husband and I recently spent 7 days in Phuket, Thailand due to a sales training meeting that he was in charge of leading. We were fortunate enough to be able to head over a few days early and take advantage of some weekend fun before the hectic work activities took over. Although we only had 2 days/3 nights over the weekend of true “free” time before the reality of Monday morning, we still found time to squeeze in some awesome activities throughout the week. One of the more memorable activities was a day trip on Saturday to the famous Phi Phi Islands. You can read about that unforgettable experience by reading my post dedicated to that day alone by clicking here. […]
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