We all woke up hungover from the wild Phuket night and rushed to make it to the ferry. We thought we wouldn’t make the boat, but we got there just in time. Yet again, we barely made it onto our desired transportation. Making it onto the early boat was crucial because the ferry ride to Phi Phi island was 2 hours long. The views from the boat were beautiful, but the sun was pounding on us and we couldn’t escape it. By the end of the long boat ride we were all delirious from sitting in the sun. If you take this ferry, you should definitely bring extra water.
Don’t miss the boat
Travel Tip #44
We were going to the Phi Phi islands, which is where Leonardo Di Caprio’s film Blue was filmed. The views from the ferry as we got closer to the island were spectacular. Then, after 2 hours of intense heat, we landed on the island and went to check into the hostel. The trip was worth the delirium because the island was gorgeous and our hostel was right on the water.
After checking in to the hostel we went to the Thai place next door and got a debrief on the island by one of the workers. She told us Banana Bar was the best local bar to go to and that afterwards we should walk to Long Beach for an exclusive beach experience. We followed all of her suggestions and they turned out great. We went to Banana Bar and painted rocks while we drank, then we got more food and headed to Long Beach.
Ask a local for recommendations
Travel Tip #45
haggle for goggles and go snorkeling
Travel Tip #46
On the way to the beach we haggled with people selling googles and got two for the price of one. The rest of the walk to Long Beach was pretty deserted, but in the best way possible. The path to Long Beach passed through a lot of other smaller beaches along the way and was basically hiking over a small mountain that ran along the water. The hilly terrain made it all the more worth it when we finally made it to the beach. The water at Long Beach was clear and there was nobody on the beach. We walked to the end of Long beach because according to our local recommendations, it’s even better there. We snorkeled for hours and found cool fish and sea anemia. Seeing the under water ecosystem thriving close to the shore made me want to go scuba diving off the coast even more than I already did. We stayed on the beach for awhile after snorkeling and then headed back to the hostel for showers.
Find a secluded beach
Travel Tip #47
We took our showers pretty quickly and then headed to the Thai food market to find dinner. We randomly stumbled upon Pa-Noi, which we later found out was the best pad Thai on the island. We sat at Pa Noi for awhile and shoved our face full of food. The walls were also decorated with writing, so I added my favorite quote from Doctor Who. Turns out I’m still a nerd even on a tropical island in South East Asia.
While we were eating it started downpouring and this was definitely the most rain we had seen on the trip so far. We were going to wait for it to pass, but after 15 minutes we decided to just try and make it to the bars instead. The streets were completely flooded so we hopped back and forth across the road to different shops.
On our jumping around in the rain we ended up in a scuba diving shop called Sea Frog. They were really chill and after snorkeling at Long Beach we were all dying to go scuba diving, so we booked a trip for tomorrow morning at 7:30am. You aren’t allowed to drink 12 hours before you dive, so we decided not to go out. It also helped that we were all exhausted and had a late night on day eleven. We still went to bars, but we mostly just drank beer and played beer pong.
Our final stop of the night was at a fighting bar called Reggae Bar. The concept of the bar was interesting because basically anyone could fight each other. We watched for awhile and sometimes it was friends fighting friends, sometimes strangers versus strangers. The girls fighting each other was funny because they mostly just laughed. The bar also sponsored fights between real Mai Thai fighters and you could bet on who would win. We placed bets on the final match and my guy won!
Take out your aggreession at a fighting bar
Travel Tip #48
After beating all the other tourists at beer pong and gambling the night away at a fighting bar, we capped off the evening with frozen ice cream and street food.
