On Thailand Day 5, we got picked up at a slightly more reasonable time than the elephant trekking (7:45 a.m.), and were on a long drive across the island to the Royal Phuket Marina Hotel. They dropped us off at the door and introduced us to the free drink and snack table. Then we waited for the rest of the vans to arrive. We separated into different rooms by language (Chinese and English) and then they explained the day’s itinerary to us along with some safety information. Then, we separated again, but this time into groups based on the color of our wristbands. Our wristbands determined which boat we’d be on. Some boats were going on the James Bond Island/Phi Phi Island combo trip, but we chose the Bamboo Island/Phi Phi Island combo trip. It was a little cloudy, so we were hoping the rain would hold off the rest of the day. We gave our shoes to the staff before getting on the boat. When the guy took my shoes he joked that I could find them in the secondhand shop after the trip. I didn’t even realize what he said until a few seconds later and we had a good laugh.

The speedboat ride was about an hour long, a little bumpy, and loud. If you don’t do well with sea legs or seasickness, this was not the trip for you. I felt bad for the teenage girl sitting across from us who didn’t seem to be taking the boat ride well. She looked uncomfortable from the very beginning. Her mom put her daughter’s head in her lap, and thankfully, she actually did make it the full way without getting sick. As we got closer, we started seeing tall, mossy boulders sticking out of the blue-green water… it looked like something from another planet.

Bamboo Island

We arrived at our first destination, Bamboo Island. It was a short stop because they were trying to move from location-to-location quickly to avoid the impending rainstorm. They gave us snorkeling gear and helped us off the boat. Megan and I ran down the coastline to where there were less people and walked into the fish-filled water. For some reason, whenever I use snorkeling equipment I feel like I can’t breathe, and then the wavy water laps over my breathing tube and I take in a big gulp of seawater. I ditched the snorkeling gear and just grabbed my swimming goggles instead— I felt much freer without that clunky mask covering my nose. It really wasn’t much of a hassle to go up for air now and then… much better than gulping in saltwater unexpectedly. It was pretty wavy that day with the gray clouds over us, so water was coming into my tube quite often. We floated over the colorful fish, observing them swim in and out of coral. It wasn’t long before we had to be back in the boat and go to our next location.

Next, we traveled only about 15 minutes to our next spot, where we snorkeled in a deeper area with even more fish. If you could swim, you didn’t have to wear a life jacket, so Megan and I jumped in, no problem. However, all of the Chinese speaking people on our trip couldn’t swim! They were all wearing life jackets and hugging a raft that one of the guides was pulling them around on. It’s funny that so many Asian people can’t swim, even here in Taiwan. Swimming in the ocean is often viewed as dangerous here, so a lot of people don’t ever learn how do it. I watched schools of yellow and black striped fish swim right under me, and bright, blue fish scurry through the water. It was so cool to watch, I probably could have floated there much longer.

After that, we hopped back into the boat and got dropped off at yet another amazing Thai food buffet. We piled our plates and shared a nice lunch with two older, Australian women that were travel buddies. We had a very engaging talk about Australia and how important maintaining a best friend/travel partner is in life. Then we got back in the boat and slowed down at a couple iconic spots. The first was Viking Cave, a cave full of bamboo scaffolding used by collectors to gather edible birds’ nests. Apparently these birds nests are extremely valuable because they are used in a specialty Chinese soup, and the ingredient is very hard to get. The cave is also known for its 400-year-old paintings made by Chinese fishing junkies, but we didn’t get close enough to see those.

Viking Cave

Viking Cave

The second place we slowed the boat was Monkey Bay. Supposedly people used to be able to get off the boat here, but ever since a monkey attacked a tourist, they made people stay on the boat. Still, we got to see a ton of monkeys walking around the beach, and climbing and jumping on the cliff-like rocks. These monkeys could also swim! We marveled at the monkeys, took some photos, and headed off to Maya Cove… perhaps the most famous and well-known location of the whole trip.

Monkey Bay

Monkey Bay

Monkey Bay

Monkey Bay

Maya Cove is where the movie The Beach was filmed. We boated through a skinny opening in the rocks to a cliff-enclosed, blue-green, crystal-clear cove. Since it is such a popular tourist attraction, there were lots of boats and people around, but that didn’t stop us from getting in the clear, warm water, and from having a hilarious “beach photo shoot.” I think we spent all of our time in the water there.

Sadly, that was the last stop of the Phi Phi Island tour and it was time to speedboat home. We were so happy that the rain held off and we got to almost all of the itinerary. There might have been one thing that we had to skip because they said the water level was too low to go there; I’m not quite sure. But either way, it was a day full of swimming with fish, having a blast with one of my best friends, and meeting new people. We were very pleased with the day.

Maya Cove

Maya Cove

On the way back, a few of the nearby Europeans and us quietly laughed at the mom of the teenage, seasick daughter. At the beginning, she held her daughter’s head in her lap and it was sweet. But ever since we had reached the scenic areas, she had been taking non-stop videos and selfies while her daughter suffered. Now we realized she had even changed outfits to make it look like she hadn’t just taken all these (probably over a hundred) selfies in one day. Her daughter winced in pain, lying down along the seats of the boat, and she continued to pose for selfies over and over again on the edge of the boat. When one of the Europeans tried to sit by their relative, she told them that she needed to sit there because of her sick daughter. Truly, it was just because that seat had the best selfie background potential.

When we made it back to the Marina, it started to sprinkle rain. It was perfect timing. We indulged in the free drink and snack bar one more time before heading back to the hotel in our van. Another successful day in Thailand.