BOAT RIDE FROM HELL, ISLAND HOPPING FROM HEAVEN17 min read

THE THAILAND SERIES, DAY 7

RAILAY BEACH – MAYA BAY – PI LEH LAGOON – VIKING LAGOON – KOH PHI PHI – BAMBOO ISLAND – CHICKEN ISLAND – THAELEWAEK – RAILAY BEACH

Here comes David, hopping on his next Thailand boat trip adventure!

Believe it or not, today was meant to be the highlight of the trip, getting a private boat to take you around the best islands, beaches and lagoons of Thailand would excite anyone.

10 MINUTES IN I LOOKED BACK AND SEEN THE CREWMAN WITH A WET TOWEL DRAPED OVER HIS HEAD, GETTING SPLASHED AT EVERY WAVE. ALL I COULD THINK OF WAS ME BEING RESPONSIBLE.

However, all did not go as I imagined. The weather was a little fierce today, and we could feel every single wave. It should not have taken more than 45 minutes to take the boat to the island, but it took 1 hour and 45 minutes. 😭

WHERE IS MAYA BAY?

Maya Bay

THE OLD MAYA BAY

Let’s fast forward to the horrendous part. These things happen, and everyone travelling today was in the same boat.

A lot has changed at Maya Bay since I was last here, including no longer being able to sail into the bay itself and instead having to dock at the rear and take the short walk. For years, it was a free-for-all; any boat was permitted to come in, throw its anchor on the coral, and the 1000s of daily passengers and travelers, just like David hopping and exploring everything the bay had to offer.

Looking back, it was a bit wild, but what surprised me was that Thailand was happy to reduce the numbers and look after their assets, something that will no doubt happen across the world as we become more aware of the damage that we do!

Boat ride from hell island hopping from heaven

THE NEW MAYA BAY

I really didn’t want to think. Was it going to be a different beach with all the new restrictions, or was it going to be a disappointment with the weather? Well, I don’t think this beach could ever be a disappointment.

Docking on the pontoon, you pay your 200 bhat, which must be some of the best value known to mankind, and head along the new boardwalk, keeping tourists out of the groves and on the beaten path.

The short walk from here to the bay only makes things feel a lot more like the movie “The Beach”. I would have to say it’s better than sailing straight into the bay.

THE BEACH

Although a bit choppy, the beach was looking much better. You could almost say it looked like a Million Bhat. Initially, there were maybe 10 tourists, and of course, no boats. Compare this to the last time, and I would have had a hard time counting the boats, let alone the people.

Clearly, closing the beach for a period, restricting numbers, and stopping boats from sailing have had a positive effect. Maya Bay was known as a breeding area for reef sharks, which had all but disappeared. But since the restrictions were imposed, it has been said that they are now back in these waters and breeding again. The coral will take much longer to recover.

Having recovered from the initial Thailand boat trip, I was a lot more observant on the way back to the pontoon and watched many people coming off their boats. You could see no one had an easy trip, kids were crying, and adults were on the verge of being sick, but if what they were about to see didn’t fix things, then nothing would.

PI LEH LAGOON

Within the same island, we took a 2-minute sail around the corner to a secluded bay called Pi Leh Lagoon, which immediately gave me huge Philippines vibes. I hadn’t visited here before, which was a gutter seeing how close it was to Maya Bay, you could probably swim to it.

Took the opportunity to wear my new Railay Beach T-shirt I bought about an hour ago, which ripped into pieces as soon as I jumped in… made in Asia.

KOH PHI PHI DON

After a quick stop at the Viking Caves, we stopped off at Koh Phi Phi, the biggest of all the islands within the Phi Phi archipelago.

Now the plan here was to head to the viewpoint, one of the most famous on the entire backpacker trail here in South East Asia, if not the world. I don’t remember much from here last time around, apart from the wild hostel and parties at the far end and the labyrinth of alleyways. But I couldn’t remember how big it was.

DECEPTION

Koh Phi Phi is very deceptive, in two ways. Firstly, it looks small, but the little area that joins the two mountainous areas at either end is a lot bigger than you would think, especially when trying to navigate through it. How any of these shops survive is beyond me, especially when they all seem to offer one of four things: tattoos, beach stuff, massages, and pharmacies. Thailand has this thing for pharmacies; nowhere else in the world has this many pharmacies!

Secondly, the island has several pristine beaches that are postcard-perfect during the day. But see the place after dark and you would think you were on a different island altogether! In the evening, the island turns upside down in what can only be described as a free-for-all rave (although there are family-friendly areas)! Out of all the islands, I’d say Koh Phi Phi is more consistent with the parties than any other island, but cannot be compared to the size of the parties on Koh Phangan, which happen less often.

OUT WITH THE OLD

I bolted straight for the other coast in search for a nostalgic moment with my former hostel. To say it’s been run into the ground is an understatement. More modern hostels have moved in and upped the game on Koh Phi Phi and about time too.

Boat ride from hell island hopping from heaven

DISASTER WALK

I headed for what I thought was a 15 min walk up to the viewpoint but hit a dead end only to ask google maps and be told it was 60mins in the direction I had just come from.

So naturally, 15mins later I walked into 2 fellas who had done the same thing although they were going the other way. They are on holiday from America and only visiting for a week!! I thought 2 weeks were difficult! We headed back again. I was sure it was that way in the first place and several locals agreed, “15 mins this way” she said.

25 mins later, we knew she was having us on. Not the direction but the time. Actually the direction wasn’t familiar as we walked passed what was the biggest Komodo looking animal and a herd of cows.

Boat ride from hell island hopping from heaven

THE VIEWPOINT

Finally, we made it and without doubt 10 times the view than my previous trip. Why? Well it seems that we only made it to viewpoint 1 all those years ago and didn’t realise there were others beyond🤣.

After catching our breath and taking some photos, we all headed down what should have been the way up only to arrive at the place I turned around at the beginning… SMFH

Boat ride from hell island hopping from heaven

BAMBOO ISLAND

Without any lunch, I made a beeline for the boat. It had taken me 2 hours 30 min to do something that should have taken half that. But it was off to the next island, Bamboo Island. This gave me all sorts of Fiji memories and is also going through the same program with Maya Bay.

CHICKEN ISLAND & THAELE WAEK

We stopped briefly for a photo at chicken island, an island that looks fairly like the shape of a chicken with its long neck and round body then it was off to our last stop, ThaeleWaek. ThaeleWaek is one of 3 islands connected via a sandbar including Chicken Island and Koh Tap.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ll not lie the day was good. It was amazing to be back at Maya Bay and Koh Phi Phi, both probably highlights of my trip but getting back on dry land was not underrated.

NEXT UP

Rock climbing in Railay!! Click to read.

SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
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This post was part of The Thailand Series. To view the full YouTube series from the trip click here or for my Instagram highlights you can go here.
If you would rather read the rest of the series from the blog just click here.