What the phi phi islands are most known for, after being the location for
the film "the beach" which I've so far managed to avoid seeing, is the
beautiful clear waters with lots of coral and fish and the like near the
rocky shoreline. Yesterday, a few of us took a boat trip around the islands.
Instead of going with the expensive "adventure club" company, we went with
the standard tor via longtail boat, which is the least expensive and most
local way to go.
Now these trips are never quite as advertised. So it was no surprise that we
didn't stop at the first stop, a cave. Snorkelling was pretty good at the
next stop, but the one after that was the most interesting. It was Maya Bay,
which is quite beautiful, but also quite popular and apparently the setting
of much of the movie. We were beached near the cliffs on one side. Shortly
after, a series of strong waves came My bag got splashed on the first wave,
and after one or two more there wasn't much which could be done. The boat
shortly was completly swamped and full of water. I was the only person
besides the driver left on the boat and grabbed the bags and took them to
shore. According to the other people on the trip, they went to shore, then
looked back and the boat was under water. Soon after we were all collecting
the stuff (snorkels, life jackets, seats, food, cans of desiel, various
greasy things, box of tools) out of the grounded boat. The other boat
drivers grabbed the engine and put it on the shore. Then somehow over the
next 20 minutes of mostly calm seas they managed to turn the boat over to
dump out water, though the usual result was the boat getting swamped again.
After a while it was high enough to bail, and another 20 minutes of a few
people bailing got the boat out of the water.
Eventualy the boat was reassembled with engine and everything. The driver
went out for a spin, and we got back in the boat with only a little
difficulty losing and finding things in the water. The rest of the day was
less eventful, though we did stop in the middle of the sea to re-lubricate
the engine or something, and once to re-fill the fuel tank before going an
island, buying lunch to replace the oil-and-water soaked stuff we had with
us, snorkelling some more and going back to town. By that time the tide was
out and we grounded on some coral just before town, and the driver and I
pulled the boat in to shore.
Probaby a much more adventerous trip than the adventure club customers had!
--Matthew
P.S. My cellphone did not survive it's bath, the corrosion was pretty
impressive when i took it apart. I doubt I will replace it.