If I were to ask you what your favorite vacation memory was, would you have an answer? Prior to our trip to Thailand, I would have given 5 answers to that question. Now I have 1 answer, and I honestly don't think it will ever be topped.
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| Maya Bay, Phi Phi Islands |
In 2001, I saw The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. In the movie, he went to Thailand and visited a "secret" beach which in real life is called Maya Bay, located in Phi Phi Islands. This movie put Thailand at the top of my bucket list and when we decided to go, Maya Bay was at the top of my list of must visit locations.
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| Pileh Lagoon |
We booked an
early bird phi phi island tour so we could arrive to Maya Bay before thousands of other tourists. It was the best decision we made on the entire trip. We booked through a company called
Trip Store Krabi and paid just under $100 a person for the day trip on a speed boat. This included our entry fees into all the National Parks, breakfast and lunch. We were picked up at 7am from Railay West Beach which was where we stayed while in Krabi.
When we arrived at Maya Bay, I was overcome with emotions. I know it sounds ridiculous but this was the most beautiful place I have ever seen and I couldn't believe my eyes. There were a few boats who made it to the bay before us but the beach was primarily empty. We had an hour to explore Maya Bay and we had this gorgeous beach pretty much to ourselves.
After we left Maya Bay, we spent some time snorkeling in Pileh Lagoon. There were fish everywhere. I had a good time playing with my go-pro, snapping shots and swimming in crystal clear water. It was truly heaven.
We also had the chance to jump off the boat while in the lagoon. The water was electric blue and didn't seem real. It was very salty, allowing us to lay back and float.
We then took a trip over to Monkey Island and fed them bananas!! This was wild and a bit scary to be honest! I think Monkey's are adorable but I am not a fan of monkey jumping towards your boat to get bananas.
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| Monkey swimming at Monkey Island |
Our next stop was a visit to Koh Phi Phi Don, which is where the resorts are. I had major buyers remorse while there, wishing we didn't stay 5 nights in Patong Beach and knew we should have stayed here a few nights instead. We had time to shop or do whatever else we wanted.
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| Koh Phi Phi Don |
Once back on the boat, we headed to Ao Por, a private beach where we enjoyed a Thai buffet lunch in the beach front restaurant. We had time to swim and explore the beach. There were also Monkeys at this beach and we had to secure our belongings as they steal your belongings!
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| Ao Por |
Following lunch, we went to the 4 Islands in Krabi. This came to a major surprise to me as apparently I didn't read the full tour description. We had planned on taking a private boat the next day to the 4 islands and didn't have to!
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| Chicken Island |
We visited Chicken Island and walked along the sandbar at Thale Waek (Separated Sea). This is a unique occurance that happens each day during low tide and connects the offshore islands of Koh Kai, Koh Tup, and Koh Mor.
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| Poda Island |
We ended the day at Poda Island, where we spent time exploring and swimming.
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| Poda Island |
This was a perfect day that I will never forget. The staff aboard the Sea Eagle far exceeded our expectations. It was our most memorable experience from our entire trip to Thailand. If you book one tour while in Thailand, make it this one. Not only was it the top excursion of our trip, it was the top excursion of my life.
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| Poda Island |
FYI,
Maya Bay is closed through October 2018. We fortunately made it 1 week before the closing. When a destination becomes wildly popular like Maya Bay, you end up with thousands of visitors each day. Due to the popularity from the movie, over time Maya Bay has suffered from the tourism and this is the first time it has ever closed down.
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| Maya Bay |
I'm ending this blog post with my favorite photo I've ever taken on vacation. I hope to one day find myself back in the Phi Phi Islands.
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