Excursion Koh Phi Phi

"We left Ao Nang just after sunrise and the Andaman Sea was flat as glass, so the cliffs of Phi Phi Leh came up as near-perfect reflections. Our excursion koh phi phi used a longtail with a proper shade canopy, which mattered once the sun climbed. Pileh Lagoon was that pale green you assume is edited in photos, and cold enough on the skin to be a relief."

"The phi phi islands boat tour we picked held in Pileh Lagoon for nearly forty minutes, long enough to swim right up to the limestone wall and hear the echo bounce off it. Water temperature felt like a warm bath near the surface and noticeably cooler a metre down. Bring a rash vest, the midday glare off the rock face is fierce."

"Maya Bay was full of boats by the time we arrived around eleven, so the sand had maybe two hundred people on it. The bay itself is still beautiful, with that curved cliff wall closing in behind the palms, but I would pick a departure that reaches it earlier. The snorkelling stop at Loh Samah afterwards was quiet and had far more reef fish than I expected."

"We booked excursion koh phi phi tickets two days ahead online and the pier check-in at Tonsai took about ten minutes. Bamboo Island had clear shallows with visibility past six or seven metres and parrotfish working the coral heads right off the beach. The sand there squeaks underfoot, which my kids found endlessly funny."

"The boatmen call it ทัวร์เกาะพีพี and ours was genuinely relaxed, with no rushing between stops. Monkey Beach has a resident troop that comes down to the waterline, and our guide kept everyone a sensible distance back with bags zipped. Later we drifted past Viking Cave and could see the bamboo scaffolding the nest collectors use, which was something I had no idea existed."

"Loh Samah Bay was the highlight for me, a narrow inlet where you slip off the stern into about four metres of water with the karst closing overhead. Sea temperature was around 29 degrees and there was almost no swell that afternoon. The crew handed out vinegar and fresh water before anyone got back in, which felt professional."

"The crossing out was rougher than we expected and a few people on board went quiet, so sit at the back if you are sensitive to motion. Once we were in the lee of the islands the excursion koh phi phi settled into something far calmer, with stops at three bays and a long lunch anchorage. The limestone scale only really registers when another longtail passes beneath the cliffs and looks like a toy."

"Seeing the Phi Phi Leh walls from sea level is completely different from any photo, with swallows pouring out of the cave mouths at dusk. Our skipper cut the engine near Viking Cave so we could just listen, and the only sound was water slapping the rock. I would do this koh phi phi island hopping tour again purely for that ten minutes."

"We chose an afternoon departure and the light on the karst between four and six was warm and low, with far fewer boats around than the morning crowd. The excursion koh phi phi finished with a slow run past Monkey Beach and back into Tonsai as the sky went orange. Sea spray, warm wind and those Andaman landmarks going dark against the sun is what I remember most."