While in Phuket, we had to go island hopping. This particular tour was labeled "Phi Phi Island by Speedboat" on the website. We were picked up around 7:30am and made it back to the hotel a little before 5pm. Fortunately for us, the weather was perfect that day making the views of the Phi Phi islands even more spectacular with great visibility in the water. Unlike our adventure tour, the drive was only about 30 minutes, meaning our fun began much earlier. Upon arrival at the dock, there was a short wait while they tried to sell us on renting fins to protect your feet. A word to the wise, invest in water shoes.
Here are the speed boats used for this tour. Each one fits about 50 people, and they manage to make sure each seat is full. Not a great situation if you are squeezed next to an oiled up Euro.
Passing by Phi Phi islands beautiful limestone formations and clear blue waters.
First stop was Maya Bay, famous for being "the beach" in the movie The Beach.
The thing I remember most about the movie The Beach was the pristine sand and the hot French chick that Leo swoops up on. I don't remember there being so many empty suntan bottles and people taking selfies, maybe that was the sequel.
Back in the boat and away from the hoards of people at Maya Bay, we were able to pass by more of lovely Koh Phi Phi.
Next stop, Monkey Island. First rule on Monkey Island is NOT to touch the monkeys. First thing the Euros do... GRAB A F*CKIN MONKEY!
Next stop was snorkeling off the coast somewhere. I don't think we were in Phi Phi anymore, but I think we were still in Thailand.
This was the last picture I was able to take until I noticed that my band new waterproof camera wasn't so waterproof.
After snorkeling we were taken to another island for lunch. This particular island was Muslim and all the food Halal. The food was pretty unspectacular, but at least there was plenty of it. The bad part about this island was that there was no alcohol served, couldn't even find a store that sold any. After lunch we tried to kill time on one of the lounge chairs but a guard immediately told us there was a charge to sit there, so we just went back to the boat and waited there.
There was one more stop which was supposed to be the "party" island. This whole island was just a big tourist trap, there was a charge to sit anywhere and the local beers were about $7 each (ridiculous for this region of the world). There was really nothing else to do on this island except spend money. Mia tried snorkeling but she said there wasn't anything in the water to see. Once again we decided to go back to the boat early.
Overall I wouldn't recommend this tour even though it was fairly priced. The islands themselves were beautiful but the trip was ruined by having to be surrounded by rude tourists throughout the day. I just couldn't get past their lack of respect for the rules, nature, and the people of Thailand. I'm sure there are other ways to see these lovely island, I just don't think this was it.
