17/2/25
We found it hard to get up but we had to start early today. Our long jungle walk the day before had obviously taken it out of us. Luckily they served breakfast as early as 6:30am up here. It was the usual salad, fruit and cereal.
We had to walk down to the beach. There was no shuttle this early in the morning. It was all downhill anyway. Our boat driver was already waiting for us. He seemed a bit tired and kept rubbing his already red eyes. Jonathan wanted some flippers so we had to wait till 8am for the Let’s Sea bar to open.
There were set combinations of places that you could visit around the two islands depending on how much time you were willing to pay for. We’d settled on 4 hours and this covered Phi Phi Lee and Shark point. So Gis took the boat round the west coast of the island and to the opening of Maya bay. We could snorkel in the bay but it wasn’t particularly good and there were already lots of people. Gis had started eating his bag of rice he had picked up from the bar at the start. We told him to relax and take his time.
The beach at Maya bay had been closed for three years up until October 2024 due to over tourism. You can no longer swim in the water, only dip your feet in. And boats can’t land on the beach in the bay. They have to go around the back. Gis seemed to ask us if we wanted to go in a somewhat skeptical manner. He reminded us of the 400 baht fee, each, to enter the national park. We took the hint. As we passed the entrance point at the back there were lines of people marching up some steps. It was a money printing machine.
Instead Gis took us past all the boats and moored up in a quiet, buoyed off, area for snorkelling. He said we might see some sharks here, near the cliff edge. And we did! The snorkelling was excellent here and being the only people in the water definitely helped see the shy blacktip sharks. They aren’t dangerous to humans unless there is food about. They’re also fished quite heavily and are a vulnerable species sadly.
The next stop was Pi Leh lagoon. It was a truly incredible place that had been trashed. We immediately felt immense regret that we were on yet another boat going in to the once beautiful place. And we were early in the day. The water had a film of pollution on it. All the boats run using horribly dirty old engines. There wasn’t a fish in sight but there were people shaking their bums around in front of a camera to produce so called ‘content’. It isn’t just data they consume.
We left pretty quickly and went to Viking cave. The snorkelling here was okay but nothing magical. The waves were big and threw us around a lot.
Next stop was Monkey beach, there are at least 3 of beaches called that though. The many monkeys were there for the high likelihood of food. We had a very soft banana that we dished out. We probably shouldn’t have done. Their diets must have become radically different to the extent that, just like humans, it’s altering their body chemistry. We picked up a bag full of plastic to try and make ourselves feel better.
Our final stop was Shark Point. It was high tide this time and it made a huge difference. It was amazing to think we were standing up in water that was now so deep. The currents were vigorous and we could see the anchor dragging on the sea floor, fishes eagerly following the disturbed ground. Jonathan saw one shark. It moved quickly and rushed away.
Our long tail boat trip was at an end. Gis dropped us back at the beach. We deposited our flippers and got back our 1000baht deposit. Then went to the beach to chill. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to actually chill with the air con. We took the shuttle down to town for dinner and to buy even more water. It was crazy how many plastic bottles we were going through. It’s just not viable to continue like that. For us or anyone else.
Dow was open again and we tried something different. Sweet and sour with fake shrimp and tom kha. The latter is like a coconut milk soup. We bought a mango, a cantaloupe and some sapodilla. A tropical delicacy that tastes a bit like brown sugar. We’ll be eating that again we hope. Before bed we saw bright flashes of lightening again. But no thunder.
Surly They Won't Make It 