I Found Nemo

In the issues of brevity (after all this blog will have untold European adventures to report in a week) I've decided to try and blog all of Phi Phi in one, or maybe two posts.

Day One of Phi Phi started as low key as any other Phi Phi day, with a leisurely breakfast overlooking Phi Phi Ley. Maybe some french toast, coffee, a fruit shake and some fresh fruit, a peak at the news headlines on their big screen satelite tv and then I headed back to my bungalow to anticipate the day.

On the way I met a Canadian girl who was on Phi Phi with her boyfriend to do a little climbing (there are some fuck off big cliffs down by Ton Sai). But today was their snorkelling day and they were looking for intrepid pals to join them in a longboat charter. With no plans and no inclinations I jumped at the chance.

They loaded us into the longtail complete with water, fried rice and fresh fruit and we set out for Phi Phi Ley. First stop Maya Bay, the beautiful sea lagoon popularised by The Beach. Which means that flotillas of tourist boats ferry in from Ko Lanta, Ko Phi Phi, Phuket, Ao Nang, Krabi and basically anywhere else within range. Nevertheless if you can block all the traffic out it's quite serene to be in a lagoon that's basically enclosed by huge limestone cliffs. In two corners there are beautiful white beaches.

While the coral is nothing to write home about (scarred by bad anchoring and tsunami trauma) the schools of tropical fish that call it home are. This was my first time snorkelling and I quickly fell in love with the serenity of watching these beautiful, rainbow coloured fish dart in and out of the coral. It's kind of like kayaking except the fish were much prettier than your standard mullet and you could see a little deeper than 10cm.

After Maya Bay we cruised through Phi Phi's other main bay on our way to lunch at Bamboo Island. Bamboo Island is a bit of a scam. It does have a nice beach and some good snorkelling but it's also home to a chao naam (sea gypsy) village so the longboat drivers get to go home for lunch. But I did get to hang out with some of the driver's and one of them who spoke a little English translated a bunch of amazing tsunami stories. Then we headed out to an offshore reef for some more snorkelling and I even spotted my first sea urchin.

In fact snorkelling left so much of an impact on me I went back later that week on a bigger boat to hit up Maya Bay, the other Phi Phi bay as well as a couple of other spots nearby.