Phi Phi Island tour review

It was monsoon season when we went to Phuket and Krabi in July this year.

We started at the Centara Grand Beach Resort and

Bamboo Island:

Our first stop of the tour. From Centara Grand Beach Resort, it takes about 45 minutes to get there. The sea was quite choppy and two people on our boat threw up (on each other). Be mindful if you are easily sea sick.

Luckily, most of us arrived Bamboo Island okay. After 10 days of cloud and rain, I was so grateful that on my last day, I had sun for the whole day! Bamboo Island used to be covered by, you guessed it, bamboo, but not anymore. To set foot, you have to pay a national park fee of 400 baht (200 for children). For my tour, you were only allowed 45 minutes on this island, which I later figured was completely insufficient because I love this island!

I was slightly disappointed in Phuket (also Ao Nang), as mentioned in this previous post, that waters were not turquoise as I hoped. But I finally got it in Bamboo Island! The sand was completely white, the water clear, and I could snorkel and see fish even in the shallow water. Now we are talking! With many trees behind the beach, the island makes some seriously Instagram-worthy pictures.

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After spending exactly 45 minutes on the island, our speedboat left for a spot in the middle of the sea about three minutes from Bamboo Island. for some snorkeling. We were given an hour to snorkel, which sounds like enough but for me, I hung on to my very last second because I love seeing fishes. The water was very clear, my feet could ALMOST touch the coral (almost only, as you really shouldn't for the sake of yourself and the coral), and I could see Dory and some of her friends. Overall, a great spot!

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Monkey Beach

After some snorkeling, the speedboat drove us to Monkey Beach. I was screaming inside of me as I was traumatized by monkeys given our experience at my hotel and I thought, "Haven't we seen enough monkeys in our hotel?" Luckily, the boat just pulled close to the beach while some people shot a few pictures of the monkeys on the beach, and we left. Phew! I certainly do not want to get close to them anymore. To me, I think these tours can stop bringing people to this island as monkeys are cute to look at but definitely not to be fed or played with.

Koh Phi Phi

Next, we head to the main Phi Phi island for some lunch. The lunch was Chinese style, which I guess is mainly to cater to the increasingly dominant share of mainland Chinese tourists going to these islands. I just put everything in my mouth as quickly as possible as we only had one hour on the island and I wanted to see and take as many pictures as I can.

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The island was surrounded by mountains, and with the turquoise water, it was magical. Less magical was the constant arrival of tour boats and tourists but the beach was wide enough. The only disappointment for me was getting overly excited for the "coconut ice-cream" I bought (I warn you, it has no coconut flavor at all) and the short time given.

Maya Bay

This is supposed to be the highlight of our trip, said our guide, thanks to Leo, who made a very lousy movie called "The Beach" in 2000. I was warned by my husband that the island gets very crowded but I thought there should be enough space to make up for it. Wrong. The Bay was very narrow, and there must be 500+ tourists on it at any given time. It was so narrow and crowded that our boat didn't find a space to park, and many boats simply had to leave and come back for pick up. Remind you that I went during the low season so I can't imagine how it will look like during high season. The island would be sinking at this rate!

We were given 45 minutes again on this island. We raced to complete the tour of the island. At the end of the island was , the spot where Leo purportedly made a graceful dive into the water. Obviously, we were no Hollywood movie star and you were not supposed to jump into the sea as there were a lot of rocks underneath and the waves were quite strong. On our way to this point, we passed by some very impressive mountain. I could easily imagine myself in some Kong Island or Jurassic Park movie. I was surprised that despite the insane crowd, you will still manage to find amazement on this island!

I was hoping to find my two square meters of space in the water to do a quick swim before getting back on the boat, but time was really running out and we were pushed back into the boat.

Pileh lagoon and Viking cave

The tour took us to the last spot for more swimming. Pileh lagoon seems to be our tour guide's personal favorite as he kept telling us not to forget the name of this beautiful lagoon. It is indeed very beautiful with all the limestone cliffs surrounding it. However, Bamboo Island remains my favorite as the water is clearer and you can snorkel, whereas

Pros:

- Not much planning needed. Lifejackets, snorkeling equipment, water and food are all included in the tour so all you need is your sunscreen and towel

- Prices are lower. If you go from Krabi, prices can get as low as 700 TBT per person (plus 400 baht for the national park fees at Bamboo Island)

- The speedboats are relatively unaffected by the monsoon season and strong waves

- Other than Maya Bay,

Cons:

- The biggest con is the short time allowed on each island. You will definitely have more flexibility if you rent a longtail boat or private boat

- Compared to being chased around like sheep, the crowd is actually less of a con. The problem is mostly apparent to Maya Bay in my experience. The other islands generally is big enough to accommodate the crowd (at least during low season)

Tip: Check with your hotel on VIP tour if you want to save trouble planning.

- The speedboat can be really bumpy when water is choppy. Longtail boats are likely better as they are slower.