Does the picture below ring any bells? Yes it’s the island from the Hollywood movie “The Beach”.  But other than in the movie it’s not a secret place or at least not anymore. It’s very beautiful, but also very crowded. Especially at Maya Bay, the most famous beach because of the movie and because of the stunning view of the surrounding hills.

From Phuket or Krabi Town you can get a ferry to Phi Phi Island. It takes only a few hours to arrive.

One of the most things to do is walking up the viewpoints. There are a total of 3 viewpoints. Take some mosquito spray and some water with you. Be aware that they charge entry fees to the viewpoints (30 Baht for VP1+2, 20 Baht for VP3). The picture below is shot from viewpoint Nr 2, which is the best viewpoint. You can see the spot where 2004 a tsunami hit the island.

There are many island hopping tours you can opt in. The most famous and therefore also the most crowded is Maya Bay. Pictures of Maya Bay will be posted in a second post.

The most beautiful beach (in my opinion), also because it’s less crowded, is Bamboo Island. Which like Maya beach can be only accessed by boat from Phi Phi town. Unfortunately there are no boat taxis. So you have to get a boat for a day or go on an organized boat trip.

On some island you will see a lot of monkeys. But be aware that the monkeys can be very aggressive and try to steal a bag or whatever they can grab from you, so better stay away from them. Well in some occassions they trade in their stolen goods for some bananas, but better don’t give it a chance 🙂