Islands and Beaches

A trip to Thailand would not be complete without visiting some of the famous beaches. So after the bustle of Bangkok, a week of island hopping was just what we needed!

Ao Nang

There are thousands of beaches on the Andaman Sea, spread across hundreds of islands and many kilometres of beautiful coastline. Choosing between them was a challenge in itself, let alone getting between them. Having flown into Krabi, Ao Nang (a few miles away) became our base for the beginning of our beach getaway. From there, our first port of call was Railay bay, famous for the sheer limestone cliffs which frame it on either side.

Only accessible by boat, we made a point of heading to Railay early in the day as we’d read it could get very busy. We arrived mid morning and although not as crowded as we had been expecting, Railay made Ngapali look uninhabited. With lovely white sands and a water temperature approaching 30 degrees, it’s little wonder the place is so popular. In fact there are a few hotels on the bay as well, which boggles the mind a little when you consider that on top of no road access, the beach has no pier. But building materials had clearly made it there somehow!

As the heat of the afternoon took hold, hoards of people did eventually descend on the bay, so after lunch we found another boatman who could take us to Phra Nang in the hopes it would be a little less crowded.

Phra Nang is most famous for the view from its cave, though it came as a surprise to us that inside the cave is a shrine to Princess Phra Nang who, legend has it, died at sea. She is considered the goddess of fertility and because of this, there are thousands of phallic ornaments which locals bring to pay their respects, and in return be granted safe passage on the sea. Which explains why so many market stalls back in Ao Nang were selling great big wooden penises! The hundreds of stalactites hanging over Phra Nang Cave looked scarily fragile, but gave the surroundings a spectacular frame when photographed from inside.

Koh Jum

Next on our itinerary was Koh Jum, a less developed island which we hoped would allow us to experience the Andaman Beaches in a bit more peace. As we approached on the ferry, it certainly looked like it would fit the bill – however what the travel agency didn’t tell us was that the ferry would not actually dock on the island… Oh no, this ferry was continuing to Koh Lanta. So as we passed by Koh Jum, a few kilometres off shore we were transferred to a small Andaman long tail boat provided by our hotel – with all of our luggage being passed between boats over the open ocean!

But the biggest surprise was yet to come: none of the island’s hotels had piers. So, much like Railay bay, getting to our hotel from the boat meant jumping over the side and wading through thigh deep water. Except this time, carrying all of our luggage. With our trainers, which we had foolishly been wearing, tied loosely to our rucksacks! It’s a mystery how the hotel’s older, less mobile clientele got there.

But once the adventurous transfer was over, Koh Jum did prove to be very relaxing. The beach was long and relatively empty, with the silhouettes of many other islands visible on the horizon.

Closer by was a tiny island named Ko Pe Lat. After being advised of strong currents in the afternoon, we opted to rent kayaks the next morning and go explore.

Apparently the strong currents didn’t subside much, as it ended up being afternoon again by the time we had made it over the 5km or so crossing! The island was very peaceful though, well worth the workout to get over, even if most of our gear got wet along the way. In fact, thinking back this was about the most upper body exercise we’d had since leaving the UK!

It appeared there had been a small hut built on the island at one point: whether for fisherman, a drinks stall or something else we weren’t quite sure, but otherwise the island looked deserted. Or so we thought…

After an hour or so exploring, we came back to the tree where we had hung our wet gear, only to find a hole in one of our bags… And a nosey monkey slowly walking away! Curious whether he had taken anything, James followed the monkey into the hut, only to be greeted with a vicious face. The monkey hadn’t found anything useful, and he was mad!

The photograph above depicts the exact moment before the monkey lunged at James, who gracefully ran away screaming to avoid being bitten. Needless to say, we took that as our cue to leave the island!

Back on Koh Jum, our hotel porter who loaned us the kayaks asked whether we met the monkey. It’s not known how that solitary monkey came to live there, but apparently he used to be friendly until some silly tourists decided to feed him a banana. Since that encounter, his behaviour changed and he no longer welcomes visitors who do not bring him food. Lesson learned – stay away from wild monkeys. Don’t feed wild animals when you’re on holiday folks!

That evening we went for another dip as the sun went down. Once again the water was perfect, not even a slight gasp as we entered. And after dinner, we fell asleep in our beach front hut listening to the gentle sound of the waves crashing on the shoreline, only interrupted by the occasional sound of the cicadas. Bliss.

Koh Phi Phi

The final island we stayed on was Koh Phi Phi. This island was significantly more developed (which thankfully meant no more wading through waist deep water with our luggage on arrival) and bustling with mainly Western tourists. Though it has a reputation as a party island by night, it still boasts wonderful views by day.

As it turns out, the diving around Koh Phi Phi is also superb and despite having a population of only 2,500, there are remarkably 16 different dive shops. Naturally we took the opportunity to complete 4 open water dives over 2 days, finishing our PADI diving certification. Go us!!

Unfortunately, for safety reasons underwater photography is prohibited while taking a PADI diving course. But I can tell you we went to Bida Nok, Viking Cave and Malang dive sites. Visibility was only around 10m due to high winds the previous weeks, but we still saw a significant number of tropical fish and corals. And of course beautiful limestone formations protruding from the sea.

Just before our last dive while the dive boat was stopped near Maya Bay for brunch, as if to celebrate our achievement, for the first time ever (according to staff) everyone aboard jumped from the top deck into the sea. This was amazing fun and created an unforgettable atmosphere.

After our diving course, we still had another day to see the island, so our first destination was to ascend to the famous Phi Phi Viewpoint. It took us an incredibly sweaty hour to get there, as may be visible in the photo, but was absolutely worth the effort. Remarkably, there was even a cafe at the top. Perfect for a refreshment.

Once we had made it back down to sea level, it was a relief to dip in the hotel’s pool to cool off.

We were spoilt for choice by the amount of boat trips available for our final morning on Koh Phi Phi. Many trips went to Monkey Bay, which after our last encounter we decided would not be wise for us. After a lot of discussion, we agreed on a trip to Bamboo Island and Nui Bay.

Bamboo Island might just be home to the most pristine beach we’ve ever seen. There were notice boards with dozens of rules, citing fines if not followed, but they certainly seemed effective as we didn’t see a single piece of litter anywhere on the island. Impressive, considering that with the closure of Maya Bay, Bamboo Island has become the most popular day trip destination from Koh Phi Phi.

Our tour guide advised us that sharks could often be seen swimming in the shallows off the Northern tip of the island. It was also less crowded there, so naturally that was where we headed. Equipped with a snorkel and our GoPro, off we went shark spotting.

We should add, these are not vicious sharks. In fact, the ones we had been tipped off about were baby blacktip reef sharks, very timid and less than a metre in length. Visibility again wasn’t great so after 45 minutes of investigation, we were about to give up, when suddenly a baby shark darted past!

Over the following minutes we saw several more and they were surprisingly cute. Apparently there have never been any recorded fatalities due to this type of shark, and only very few minor injuries. So we felt quite safe watching them swim around.

Our last stop of the day, on the West of Phi Phi Don, was Nui Bay. This time the water was a bit clearer, so we were able to see quite a lot more tropical fish than we did on Bamboo Island.

After that, it was time for a ferry back to the mainland for our flight North the following day. Thailand’s beaches have been idyllic. We could have happily spent much longer than a week beach hopping, as there were so many other islands we didn’t see. But what little time we did have was near perfect – we will definitely be returning in future!