A beautiful island
Ko Phi Phi is such a beautiful island! We were not sure if we should go to this island as it appeared to be very touristic and crowded, but the description in our guide book convinced us to go and check it out. We planned to stay for 3 days but ended up staying for a week! We caught the ferry from Krabi (return ticket Bh650, 1h30 trip, twice a day) but there are plenty of options to reach Ko Phi Phi from the other islands around (Phuket, Ko Lanta, ...). The island has the shape of a H, one of the branch being just towering cliffs covered with vegetation, the other one being wider and less mountainous, this is where all the accommodations are located. The two branches are linked by a thin band of sand where is Tonsai, the main town on the island. Tonsai is a labyrinth of small streets packed with guesthouses, restaurants, Internet cafes, agencies, shops and tourists! It is not a quiet place at all. Initially we wanted to stay on one of the quiet and isolated beaches on the East coast of the island but the accommodations turned out to be too expensive and the boat to get to those beaches will have cost a few hundred bahts each. There is a track going across the island that gives access to those beaches by foot but that would have been a mission to do it with our backpacks!
Long Beach & Snorkeling
We opted to stay at Long Beach, a quieter place than Tonsai that can be reached by long tail boat (Bh100 per person) or by foot following a track along the coast (30 to 40min walk from the ferry pier). It turned out to be a good choice as Long Beach has cheap bungalows (Bh300 a night at PP Long Beach, very basic but still correct), a few good restaurants and moreover it is a beautiful beach with a very good spot for snorkeling. Around some rocks located at its South end can be seen lots of different types of colourful fishes and even sharks...that don't eat people! Another good point is that we could easily walk to Tonsai to go to restaurant or access cheaper Internet.
We had a great time, it was very enjoyable to eat at the nice seaside restaurants, relaxing on the beach and go swimming with the fishes in the beautiful clear water. The ideal will be to have a personal snorkeling kit as the one that can be rented for Bh50 a day are not that great (it is another Bh50 to rent fins).
The View Point
One morning we walked up to the View Point. It was not easy to find the stairs to start the walk in the labyrinth of streets of Tonsai, so we had to ask locals a few times. The stairs and then the track leading to the View Point are very steep but all our efforts were worth it as the view on the island was amazing. After the View Point we followed a track going across a forest to go to the other side of the island, the views were also stunning....that was a nice walk except that Laurence nearly walked on a snake!
Phi Phi Lee
On our last day we rented a boat to go to Phi Phi Lee a small beautiful island 20min from Phi Phi Don (where we stayed). We could have joined a tour for Bh600 or Bh700 per person but opted for a less crowded option and rented a long tail boat (Bh1000 for 3h). Our boatman was very nice, he showed us Viking Cave (where are collected bird's nests that Chinese buy at a very high price), Pileh (a stunning bay), Loh Samah Bay (another very nice bay) and Maya Bay (a beautiful but crowded bay where the movie the Beach was made). At Loh Samah Bay we stopped to do some snorkeling but there was more snorkelers and less fishes than in Long Beach! In Maya Bay we went for a swim as it was after 5pm and we did not have to pay anymore for the National Park entry fee of Bh200 per person. After Maya Bay we were impressed by the very high cliffs that fishermen climb without any equipment to pick up bird's nests. Before returning to Long Beach we watched a very nice sunset.
Ko Phi Phi is really a must do when visiting Thailand.
Ko Phi Phi is such a beautiful island! We were not sure if we should go to this island as it appeared to be very touristic and crowded, but the description in our guide book convinced us to go and check it out. We planned to stay for 3 days but ended up staying for a week! We caught the ferry from Krabi (return ticket Bh650, 1h30 trip, twice a day) but there are plenty of options to reach Ko Phi Phi from the other islands around (Phuket, Ko Lanta, ...). The island has the shape of a H, one of the branch being just towering cliffs covered with vegetation, the other one being wider and less mountainous, this is where all the accommodations are located. The two branches are linked by a thin band of sand where is Tonsai, the main town on the island. Tonsai is a labyrinth of small streets packed with guesthouses, restaurants, Internet cafes, agencies, shops and tourists! It is not a quiet place at all. Initially we wanted to stay on one of the quiet and isolated beaches on the East coast of the island but the accommodations turned out to be too expensive and the boat to get to those beaches will have cost a few hundred bahts each. There is a track going across the island that gives access to those beaches by foot but that would have been a mission to do it with our backpacks!
Long Beach & Snorkeling
We opted to stay at Long Beach, a quieter place than Tonsai that can be reached by long tail boat (Bh100 per person) or by foot following a track along the coast (30 to 40min walk from the ferry pier). It turned out to be a good choice as Long Beach has cheap bungalows (Bh300 a night at PP Long Beach, very basic but still correct), a few good restaurants and moreover it is a beautiful beach with a very good spot for snorkeling. Around some rocks located at its South end can be seen lots of different types of colourful fishes and even sharks...that don't eat people! Another good point is that we could easily walk to Tonsai to go to restaurant or access cheaper Internet.
We had a great time, it was very enjoyable to eat at the nice seaside restaurants, relaxing on the beach and go swimming with the fishes in the beautiful clear water. The ideal will be to have a personal snorkeling kit as the one that can be rented for Bh50 a day are not that great (it is another Bh50 to rent fins).
The View Point
One morning we walked up to the View Point. It was not easy to find the stairs to start the walk in the labyrinth of streets of Tonsai, so we had to ask locals a few times. The stairs and then the track leading to the View Point are very steep but all our efforts were worth it as the view on the island was amazing. After the View Point we followed a track going across a forest to go to the other side of the island, the views were also stunning....that was a nice walk except that Laurence nearly walked on a snake!
Phi Phi Lee
On our last day we rented a boat to go to Phi Phi Lee a small beautiful island 20min from Phi Phi Don (where we stayed). We could have joined a tour for Bh600 or Bh700 per person but opted for a less crowded option and rented a long tail boat (Bh1000 for 3h). Our boatman was very nice, he showed us Viking Cave (where are collected bird's nests that Chinese buy at a very high price), Pileh (a stunning bay), Loh Samah Bay (another very nice bay) and Maya Bay (a beautiful but crowded bay where the movie the Beach was made). At Loh Samah Bay we stopped to do some snorkeling but there was more snorkelers and less fishes than in Long Beach! In Maya Bay we went for a swim as it was after 5pm and we did not have to pay anymore for the National Park entry fee of Bh200 per person. After Maya Bay we were impressed by the very high cliffs that fishermen climb without any equipment to pick up bird's nests. Before returning to Long Beach we watched a very nice sunset.
Ko Phi Phi is really a must do when visiting Thailand.
