A Night on the Beach

We just spent a whole week in Koh Phi Phi. That's the longest we've stayed in one place since Luang Prabang. Phi Phi is a very touristy island with a small town and tons of stuff to do. And its beautiful. Like really, really beautiful. Limestone cliffs. Jungle. White sand beaches. Even with all of this stuff I still prefer the little beach we stayed at on Koh Pha Ngan. There wasn't near as much to do there, but it wasn't so touristy and I liked our lifestyle there. But all that aside, I still liked Koh Phi Phi and we did some great things there.

By far my favorite thing we did at PP- and one of my favorite things from the entire trip so far- was spend a night on "The Beach" beach. You know, that movie with Leonardo DiCaprio where he goes to Thailand and finds this backpackers paradise on an amazingly beautiful island? Well we slept on that beach.

Its on an island right next to PP (called Koh Phi Phi Ley, the one the town is called Koh Phi Phi Don). In the late afternoon we took a boat out to the island and parked in a small bay opposite from "The Beach" side. There we were able to kayak and snorkel around. It was the best snorkeling we've done so far. The water was so clear and we saw fish every color of the rainbow (including one that was rainbow colored), giant starfish, sea annenemies urchins and cucumbers and amazing coral reefs. Angel fish. Long scary fish that changed colors. Bright yellow flat fish. Curious fish that would come right up to your mask before swimming away. It was truly incredible and there's no way I could describe just how great it was here.

After about an hour playing in the water we hiked through the rocks and the trees to the other side of the island. The trees opened up to snow white sands and emerald green waters in the unbelievable Maya Bay- "The Beach". It was even more perfect and beautiful than in the movie. I was really glad we decided to do an overnight tour rather than just going during the day. We talked to people who went in the day and said it was so packed with people that it wasn't even enjoyable. But by the time we arrived in the bay all of the day tourists and boats were gone. There is only one overnight tour there, so for the whole night there were only about 20 of us on the whole island.
We walked all around the beach and in the water and took photos. That night were served two delicious dinners (apparently the tour guides really like to eat) and relaxed on the white sands and admired the sky filled with a million stars.

Then when we looked into the ocean the beautiful night sky seemed to be reflected in the water. Plankton filled the bay and would glow when washed up on shore or when agitated. They flowed on to the sand mirroring the stars above. We wandered down the short pier and jumped in to swim in the glowing water in the middle of the dark night. It was such a unique experience that I'll remember forever.

Late at night we finally fell asleep just in sleeping bags under the stars. We woke up early and watched the tide come in and the sun light up the water. The light was perfect and I don't think Maya Bay could ever be more beautiful than it was that morning. After breakfast and a morning swim we headed back to PP before the crowds came into the bay.