Today is Christmas Eve! The girls have now informed me that it will be really weird opening presents in a hotel. Here I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought that since we weren’t going to be home on Christmas, that we should be somewhere really different. But I guess that kind of backfired. Sorry girls – next year we’ll spend Christmas in Abu Dhabi.
So today was another excursion, a speed boat ride to visit 5 new islands to the south of where we were yesterday. Another early day started with a 8 am pick up! For those of you who don’t know my family, my husband and Elise love to sleep late and hang out while on vacation. I on the other hand like to get up, eat breakfast and go! I always feel that this may be the only time I’m in this area and so I want to see everything I can! No regrets! This causes tension every time we go away! So for us to spend 3 days in a row on excursions is a huge step for them! I of course am in heaven!!
We would be heading out into the bay in a speed boat! Yikes – I was a bit nervous! But we started with only 8 guests and 4 crew so it wasn’t too bad.
After a 20 minute ride we arrived at Khai Nai Island. This was beautiful! A small island that was pretty rocky with large rugged boulders on the beach. This created mini pools that were perfect for practicing snorkeling. This isn’t really something we had done a lot of as a family so the girls loved the chance to practice. The water was amazingly clear and the fish were so colorful and swam right up to them! We didn’t spend enough time here – would like to have gone back there on our own to relax!
Our next stop was at Yao Yai Island. This is the largest island in the area and inhabited mainly by muslims. This was a very peaceful beach! Here we had time to canoe or relax under umbrellas. The girls & I took out the canoes – it was really fun! Then they served us a traditional Thai lunch – I’m really enjoying these Thai meals!!
We then stopped briefly at Loh Dalum Bay on the Island of Phi Phi Don. This beach was more crowded so not as pleasant! Here we met up with another 12 guests that joined our boat. While there technically was enough room on the boat, it certainly wasn’t as comfortable as it was when we were only 8! Oh well! While the speedboat was the best mode of transportation for this type of trip, one couldn’t really see as much of the scenery while we were traveling from one island to the next. All the seats faced inwards and there were windows but up high. While the ferry ride yesterday had allowed 360* views and room to get up and walk around.
We then boated past some smaller islands that didn’t have any place to get off and walk but were interesting and beautiful to see. They were all part of Phi Phi Lae Island and included Viking Cave, Pileh Cove & Loh Samah. The boat appeared so small against the sheer cliffs that protruded out of the water. The water & wind had created spectacular formations along the water’s edge.
Maya Bay was our next stop. This is where the movie ” The Beach”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed. As we turned the corner to approach the beach we were met by over 9 other speedboats from other tour companies – bummer. This made for an extremely crowded beach. I must admit this was not enjoyable at all. I don’t like being on vacation with hundreds of other people! We couldn’t really appreciate the beauty of the beach and bay.
Our next stop was Monkey Island, but we did not get off here. As you may have guessed this is called Monkey Island because it is inhabited by monkeys. But they are of course not native to the area! They were brought here many years ago. They are wild and can be dangerous so our captain just pulled the boat up close so we could see them running wild on the beach, then we pulled out into the deeper water to snorkel!
As I mentioned earlier we had not really done a lot of snorkeling as a family, but when we dropped anchor off Monkey Island I knew I had to give it a try. Again no regrets! Leon & I were actually the first ones in the water! It was a bit cool but refreshing once we got used to it. The fish were everywhere! So I was a bit cocky I guess and thought I could do this no problem! I fixed all the gear and was ready to swim around, but the moment I would put my face in the water I just couldn’t do it – it was really weird! I kept trying because I thought this is ridiculous – I can do this! I couldn’t get comfortable enough to breathe through the tube and relax. I was so mad at myself! So I tried just using the mask and holding my breath!! It worked a bit but not the same affect! I’m going to have to practice I guess!
Our final stop was Bamboo Island. This Island had a large beach with very soft white sand! It was now about 4:30pm and we were tired! So we enjoyed lying on the beach and enjoying the scenery. We discussed that this really was a long day and we would rather have just visited 3 islands and spent longer at each one. But we did see that each one we had seen today was different which was actually fascinating. Some had rocky beaches, some soft white beaches, some didn’t have any beaches, some had inhabitants where most did not. Then it was time to board and enjoy the sunset during the one hour ride back to the dock! Even I was tired!
We finally got back to the hotel at 7:30pm! TIred and hungry we showered up quickly and headed into town for dinner! But unfortunately our restaurant choice turned out to be disappointing. We should just stick with the local food! Italian is not something to try in Thailand! But we were treated to fireworks while we ate to celebrate Christmas! That was an added bonus! Then as we walked home it began to pour with rain! Out of nowhere! The girls loved this. Merry Christmas – Santa was listening!
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