Phi Phi Island - photos and reviews of an excursion to the Maya Bay. Phi Phi island (Phi-Phi) - or the paradise island of Thailand, a description of the island, a map and a photo of Pi Phi don And now everything described above is only in the photo and video

In April, I visited the beloved islands of Phi Phi, where the film "The Beach" was filmed. This time I went without Glory, since he had already visited the island 3 years ago from Phuket. I will add his photo to the article too, so that you have a better idea of ​​this place. My mother and I bought an excursion and happy to go on a sea voyage.

Phi phi

Phi Phi Islands: on your own or with a guided tour

Initially, we thought to go on our own. We wanted to be in Maya Bay all day. But, as it turned out, for this you need to either rent a small boat for 6-8 people. The cost of an independent trip to the longtail boat will be about 10 thousand baht. It's okay with a company, but a little expensive for two.

The second option is to take a ferry to the island with an overnight stay. And from the embankment you can already get to Maya Bay by water taxi - longtail boats at a normal price. With an overnight stay, because the ferry runs only in the morning.

Hotels near Phi Phi Don >>

This option did not suit us either, since an overnight stay was not included in our plans. The sellers of the excursions did not answer us anything intelligibly on the trip on their own, shrugged their shoulders and offered an excursion, which we eventually took.

Excursion to Phi Phi: reviews

For 1000 baht with bargaining, we bought an excursion at a street travel agency and went to the islands, visiting the lagoons and other nearby islands along the way. We were immediately warned that we would only be in Maya Bay for 45 minutes. Well, there isn't much choice just 45 minutes on one of the most beautiful islands in Thailand! So little! But I really wanted my mother to have a lot of impressions. After all, living in Krabi and not visiting PhiPhi is like coming from France without seeing the Eiffel Tower.

And mom and in Krabi on a high

We started at 8 am from Noparatara beach in Krabi. On the way to the islands, those who wish can go snorkeling.

Ko Phi Phi Ley Island

And here he is! The stunningly beautiful uninhabited island of Phi Phi Lei. These islands were hit hard by the tsunami that shook the entire Indian Ocean in December 2004, but they are fine now. Perhaps Maya Bay has the most beautiful beach of all the islands. Further in this review, I will use a photo from my trip with Mom and Slavina, a photo from a previous visit to Pi-Pi.

The famous Maya Bay

Where can I book a transfer from the airport?

We use the service - KiwiTaxi
We ordered a taxi online, paid with a card. We were greeted at the airport with a sign with our name. Drove to the hotel in a comfortable car. We have already talked about their experience in this article

Phi Phi Beach

Maya Bay Beach is very small. You know who spoils all the beauty? We are tourists. Yes, no matter how rude it sounds, but there are so many tourists that it is impossible to enjoy the beauty to the fullest... It is very noisy and crowded, every minute they bring a new tour and take the old one. Everyone takes pictures and runs back and forth on the beach, because they have only 40 minutes of time.

Crowded Pee Pee Beach


Speedboats are out of place. Blocking the already small swimming space


The helicopter was still missing

How wonderful it can be there if you are alone. For a few seconds, I closed my eyes and imagined that all the people had disappeared in order to feel at least a glimpse of the place where I had long wanted to be.

And as soon as I opened my eyes, I plunged into the harsh reality with humming motor boats, yelling guides, a crowd of people taking pictures of each other, children jumping in the water and crowds of Chinese. Slava was more fortunate in his time, in the next photo you can imagine that he is alone on the island

What PhiPhi looks like without tourists

We did not manage to be so isolated. I kept trying to take good photos, so that without strangers, but the bay is so small and crowded with tourists that then I spat and my mother and I took turns running from one end of the beach to the other in order to have time to take a picture of at least ourselves against the background of wonderful views.

And we arrived in April, when the season is already ending in Thailand. What is happening here in the high season, in December-January, I’m scared to imagine. Time flashed by instantly. Full of emotions from tourists and from Maya Bay, we went further

Maya Bay beach


Photos from a trip in May. There are much fewer tourists here during the low season.

Walk inland

Of course, it's a shame that so little time is given. Ideally, you need at least 3 hours to have time to enjoy this wonderful tropical island. But if you don't linger anywhere, then you can have time to run across the island to another bay. This walk will take about 20 minutes. Here's what you can see:

The path from the beach through the roots of the palm trees


The path goes through a refined jungle with dizzying views


Log structure with the inscription Ma Ya Bay Thailand


Round uninhabited rock island

Phi Phi videos

Video from an excursion to Maya Bay, Phiphi Don Island and a view from the observation deck.

Fortunately, due to some remoteness and isolation from civilization, you, the bay, will not be so easy to spoil with exhaust gases, garbage and gobies from cigarettes in the sand. Although, more and more tourists come every year.

Live the bay - you are beautiful!

Phi Phi Hotels

If you want to come on your own to Phi Phi, you will need to stop for the night. On the island of Phi Phi, hotels are available in different price categories. The choice of accommodations is wide, from budget bungalows with a fan to luxury resorts with a pool. Just keep in mind that there are no hotels in the Maya Bay itself, they are all on the neighboring island of Ko Phi Phi Don, and you can get to the bay by boat in 15-20 minutes.

Phi Phi or Phi Phi Island is the place where many dream, dreamed, and someone will dream, get there and not in vain, because this is one of the best and most beautiful islands of the Kingdom.

Phi Phi Island in Thailand - view from the observation deck

Personally, I, for the first time, found out about this place by watching the film Beach, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. It was quite a long time ago, but stills from the film still live in my memory. At that moment, I remember that I very much dreamed of visiting those amazingly beautiful places at least once, and voila, I succeeded. As it turned out, you do not need to be a millionaire for this, it is enough to have a great desire and go towards your goal.

Phi Phi Islands

There are two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lei... Let's take a quick look at both of them, so that you have an idea of ​​what awaits you and where.

Phi Phi Don in a nutshell

This is an island inhabited by people, on which the life of Thais and unhurriedly flows. Its size is no more than 6-8 km. (out of about 13 km.) populated area. Despite its size, there are quite a few hotels here, as well as restaurants, SPA salons, bars and beach discos.

You cannot use a motorbike on the island, so you won't be able to rent it. I think this is one of the reasons why he remains so beautiful, the Thais take care of him somehow.

Phi Phi Lei in a nutshell

It is a small island located about 30 minutes ferry ride from Phi Phi Don... By the way, the film Beach was filmed on it in May Bay. There are no hotels, bars and discos on this island, you cannot stay here for a long time, only with a tour for 2 days and one night with an overnight stay in tents.

The island consists of three main bays, such as: Maya Bay, Loh Samah and Pi Ley... The first cove is the most popular as it only has a beach, both other coves are suitable for snorkelling or diving.

Usually you can get here by buying a tour or renting a boat with a boatman (pay by the hour). I will write more about this excursion and the boatman prices in another article.

More about Phi Phi Don Island

Upon arrival on the island, you will need to pay 20 baht as a cleaning and frequency maintenance fee on the island.

On the island, helpers will be waiting for you, who will find a hotel for you, take your bags to the right place, on their carts or sell some kind of excursion. You need to find out in advance which beach you will stay on, since from the pier to the desired beach can only be reached by boat, unless you have stopped at: Ton Sai Bei or Loch Dalam Bay, in these areas, to the hotel, only on foot.

Some hotels provide free transport from the pier to the desired beach, so when booking, check in advance if there is one or not. If there is, then Thais will be waiting for you at the pier with the name of the hotel.

Isle of Phi Phi port - boatmen are waiting for their customers

Advice: when traveling to Phi Phi, book a hotel in advance, during the high season there is a critical shortage of seats, in a separate article I will write about some of them, as well as their features. On Phi Phi, not all places are quiet, in some hotels it is simply impossible to fall asleep because of the night discos.

There is a good pedestrian road on the island, so it is quite easy to move around here, along the paths you can find restaurants and cafes with a pleasant interior and not very expensive cuisine and more affordable, there are no problems with food.

Also on your way there will be many hotels and guesthouses, excursion bureaus and diving centers, here they are the most common.

Phi Phi Island Map

I am spreading for you a map of the island of Pi-Pi, namely its central part, where life is in full swing.

But the general, tourist map, it is clickable.

Beaches on Phi Phi Don Island

Unfortunately, I was not able to visit all the beaches of the island, but I will tell you about the ones I visited - Tonsai Bay and Loh Dalam Bay, and later I will add descriptions of the missing beaches.

Ton Sai Bay beach on Phi Phi island

This is the first bay that you will see upon arrival on the island, it is on it that the port is located from where boats and ferries depart and where they arrive.

The central and right part of it (if you look at the island from the sea side) is not suitable for swimming, there are too many boats and boats in the central part, and there are many stones and dead corals on the right. Photo below.

The left side is more suitable for swimming, there is even a beach area with sun loungers and parasols.

Unfortunately, on the day I took the pictures, it was cloudy on this side of the beach, so you won't be able to appreciate all the beauty from the photo above, but you can still make a superficial assessment.

I want to note an important nuance, in this bay you can safely fall asleep at night, since there are almost no discos and noisy establishments nearby.

Loh Dalam Bay Beach on Phi Phi Island

This bay has a large, long beach and is more suitable for beach holidays and sunbathing than its neighbor. Here you can rent a sun lounger, the price is 50 baht, or lay your towel on an empty seat on the beach, as almost all the young people I met there do.

You can see a photo of Loch Dalam Bay beach below.

Having visited these places, I concluded that the season in Thailand matters, therefore, if you want to see Phi Island in a more beautiful appearance, it is better to go here from late December to February.

My opinion and review of this beach on Phi Phi Island. There are a lot of people, but there are enough places, the sand is white, soft, when the sun comes out is very beautiful, the water is clear, azure, the entrance to the sea is pleasant, there are not any algae, stones and corals at the bottom, this beach did not cause negative emotions in me.

Phi Phi Island video from the observation deck

IMPORTANT! You can get to the observation deck from two sides. 1) On the steps through the hotel, for the entrance you will need to pay 20 baht to go high, hard, be prepared. 2) On the way, you can rent a motorbike there to get to the top or pay a taxi driver who will take you (price 250-300 baht (sort of)), or you can walk, but it's very far. Therefore, it is better to use option N1.

Phi-Phi island prices

I will not delve deeply into prices, but I will describe an approximate picture of the island's pricing.

• Food prices: on the streets in makashniki and eateries from 60 baht for a slice of pizza or a plate of Thai food. In restaurants and cafes about 300 baht per person.
• Housing prices: Dorms from 190 baht per bed, a private room from 300-500 baht, a room in a more or less decent hotel from 1200 baht, a room in a decent hotel from 2500 baht.
• Entertainment prices: There is alcohol on the streets from 150 baht per bucket, prices are the same as elsewhere, hookah is 300-400 baht, drinks in bars are from 100 baht and above.
• Excursion prices: from 600 baht and above, depending on where. (I will write a separate article about this)
• Massage prices: can be found for 200, but the standard price tag is 300 baht for a Thai massage.
• Diving prices: from 3500 thousand baht for two dives.

Prices are for 2012, low season, in high season they are about 30-40% higher.

Pee Pee Island at Night

With the coming of night on Pee Pee, on Loh Dalam Bay beach, a completely different life wakes up. Bars and beach discos open and young people get out of their rooms to get another shot of adrenaline ... someone from discos, someone from jumping into the crowd, someone from alcohol and other pranks, someone from new acquaintances, and someone something from a fight between your friend or foe ...;)

And now everything described above is only in the photo and video.

Preparations begin for a huge flow of young people who want to break away on this night like the last time ... Merchants prepare buckets of alcohol, a start kit ...

Street bakeries prepare delicious pizza ... after all, walking all night, and it takes energy ...

Almost everything is ready, waiting in the wings ...

And everyone is waiting ... waiting for their clients, dear, loved ones and only with money, as they say in Pattaya - “ No money, no honey«.

Closer to 00:00 o'clock, the most popular beach bars Slinky, Moken, Woddy, open their doors to long-awaited clients.

Note: most of the people in these institutions are European youth (USA, England, Spain, etc.), there are few Thais, there are almost no Russians.

The night has just begun, but for the guy in the photo below it is almost over, with the last of his strength he grabbed the flag and tries to linger for at least a couple of minutes in this world of fun ...

The guy is very good ...

For some, just dancing is not enough ...

Video on Pee Pee Island

Well, perhaps the most exciting and interesting show is boxing. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the bar where the ring is located, I don't think it will be a problem to find. The bottom line is that you can challenge any visitor to the bar to a duel, and the winner will receive a free drink. No payment is taken for the duel. Total 3 rounds, 2 minutes each, the fighting style you stipulate in advance - it can be Thai boxing, kickboxing, boxing.

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to record a video, I ran out of memory, but I wanted so badly ... But I still have a few photos of one of the battles for you. Two healthy guys, they crumpled each other with dignity.

Boxing on Phi - Phi

At the end of the fight, the guys seemed to have an adrenaline rush and they didn’t want to stop, as a result, there was almost a fight between the two teams ... The spectacle was interesting ... At that moment it was about 3 o'clock in the morning (as far as my memory serves) both opponents were drunk. I advise you to visit, and maybe even take part in such a show, it's interesting.

Well, that's probably all, I tried to tell and show the most interesting things that you can see on the island. In the next article I will show you many beautiful photos, tell you about hotels and excursions.

See also about Phi Phi:

After a long period of time, I continue to write about how I traveled around Thailand. Still, I want to keep in the blog the memories of my travels not only for myself and my readers, but also for posterity. Today I will write about the Phi Phi Islands (Phi Phi, Phi-Phi Island). In the post I will tell you where and how I lived there, what I saw, what housing prices, etc ... As usual, there will be a lot of photos.

Let me remind you that before that I was on. From Phuket on a large ship to Phi Phi, I probably sailed about 2 hours.

On the way, beautiful sea views of the Krabi province opened up. There are many mountains, "pieces of mountains" and rocks covered with fluffy green vegetation.

The PiPi Islands consist of two main islands, Pi-Pi-Don and Pi-Pi-Lei.

Pee-pee-don

Phi Phi Don is a populated island. Here I was brought by ship.

Immediately, all arrivals are taxed at the entrance to the island - 20 baht. The reserve is all business. Some are outraged and go without paying. I paid, I do not mind. I went a little further. Then the "Thais-realtors" start to pull and offer to pick up and rent housing. Many offers with photos, but prices are clearly overpriced. Offers for rooms and bungalows started from 700 rubles a day. Before sailing here, I read blogs and knew that the island is small and you can quickly get around it on foot and find a suitable accommodation yourself. And so he did.

First I checked into a bamboo bungalow for 600r / day. Very lightweight, breathable and cuddly. Shower, toilet, bed - everything is ok. The only thing that didn’t suit me was the bad internet. The next day I moved into a room for 500r / day. Here the Internet is good, the shower and toilet are shared, but the worst thing is that the house was built haphazardly and it was unbearably hot in it during the day. Fortunately, there was a balcony with tables and chairs - there I hung out when I had to surf the Internet.
There are no pictures of housing - I think I forgot to take a picture.

There is also accommodation for every taste. Found prices from 300r. per day.

The island's infrastructure is underdeveloped. Narrow streets. No cars, no bikes. Only mechanical and electrical are great. But it seems to me that they are not needed here either. The most comfortable way to move around is "on your feet". Local policemen, by the way, have bikes. It's funny to watch how they move with the speed of a bicycle between crowds of people. There is absolutely nowhere to accelerate here.

Island Map:

Most of the island is occupied by markets, restaurants, bars, restaurants and massage parlors. The rest are guesthouses, houses, bungalows. The main evening party and discos are held on the beach. The party here, by the way, is quite powerful. I liked it much more than on all the other islands.

View point

There are as many as 3 vivpoints. The highest point of the island is 314 m ... Up the concrete stairs. Heat and sweat. It's good that at the very top there is a shop where you can buy some water. When you get there, you drink water and admire the beautiful views from above - an awesome pleasure.

By the way, they charged me 20 rubles for the passage. Rip off

In 2004, the island was covered by a tsunami. About 2,000 people died here. Another 1200 are missing. I don’t understand. How so? Was it really impossible to evacuate everyone to high points ... Well, okay. What was, what was.

Beaches

As you can see from above, there are 2 bays, 2 beaches.

Not deep. The water is good, transparent, warm. But it was not always so. Often at high tide, the water was dirty, and I did not want to swim.

Tour to Pi-Pi-Lay and other places

When I studied Pi-Phi-Don, I wanted to see Phi-Phi-Lei. Bought a tour of the most popular places in the island area. I don't remember the price anymore (about 400r). The places that I visited, too, have already begun to forget, and the guidebook has been lost somewhere. The tour route was something like this:

Shark Point - Monkey Beach - Bamboo island (Thailand) - Viking Cave - Maya Bay (on Phi Phi Lei)

The tour started in the morning. We sailed on a boat to the first point, which was called Shark Point.

There was snorkeling (snorkel, mask. You swim on the surface of the water and watch the fish and the bottom.) Not impressed. There weren't many fish.

Then we sailed to the island of monkeys - Monkey Beach. Small beach with clear water, tourists and many monkeys.

And so, we were dropped off on Bamboo island... There is very clean, clear water. There are no houses here. You can't stay to live.

They fed me, gave me time to swim and sunbathe, and took me to another place. There was snorkeling again, but more interesting - a lot of fish.

Then we stopped near the Viking Cave. Our guide was telling something, but half of what he said I missed, and half I did not understand. We were not allowed inside the cave.

The next stunning place was the backwater at Pi-Pi-Lei. Very soft turquoise turbid water. I didn't want to get out of it at all.

We went for a swim, dived from a boat and sailed to Maya Bay.

Maya Bay is a beautiful lagoon, protected on three sides by 100-meter stone cliffs. The beach is small - 200 meters. There are many coral reefs with fish near the coast. Since this is the most popular place in the entire area, there is no trace of the former seclusion shown in the film.

Crowds of tourists come here every day and there are 100-200 people on the coast at the same time. But if you really want to feel a calm and deserted atmosphere, then come here early in the morning (at 7-8, for example, when excursion groups have not yet arrived) or in the evening, after 17 (when tourists go home).

To get to Phi Phi Lei Island at this time, you just need to rent. Currently, next to the beach there is a small bar with drinks and snacks, toilets, showers and several houses of local residents.

2) Viking cave.

Viking cave - the second attraction, which is located in the north of the island, not far from Pi Ley Bay and is famous for rock paintings of ancient people. Almost all of the drawings have a water theme, which suggests that these people were sailors, and the boats look like Viking ships (hence the name).

In addition, in the Viking cave, you can see the nests of swallows. These nests are not made from twigs and leaves, but from swallow saliva. They are used in cooking and are considered a delicacy (the price for them is appropriate). Thais collect these nests and then sell them (usually to China, where they are especially popular).

Snorkeling

If you decided to independently visit the island of Pi-Pi-Lei, then by all means take a mask and a snorkel. If you go as a train, they are included in the price (though often the quality leaves much to be desired).

Snorkeling at Phi Phi Lei is a mandatory program of all excursions and more than one visit is not complete without it. The best places to do this are Loh Samah Bays (walkable across the island from Maya Beach) and Pi Ley. The rich underwater world will not leave anyone indifferent - neither beginners nor seasoned divers!

One can only guess what kind of paradise Phi Phi Lei was like until DiCaprio set foot there.

And hundreds of thousands of other legs: now excursion groups from Phi Phi Don, Phuket, and all the beaches of Krabi bring an endless stream of packed boats to the island.
The only way to be there in relative solitude is to hire a boat on your own early in the morning and sail to Phi Phi Lei at least by eight. Then for a couple of hours, diligently looking around the same lucky ones, it's really not difficult to imagine yourself in paradise.

All covered with greenery, absolutely all ... :))

Water of some crazy shades, rocks ... well, this is a must see.

The most madhouse starts after ten.
We jumped up neither light nor dawn and would have arrived early if it hadn't been for the goddamn rain of gazes. I will not say that it was serious - so, something was drizzling lazily, strongly getting on the nerves. The sky was densely overlaid and one could only guess what surprises the weather could throw out. But at about 11 o'clock it suddenly became slightly bluish - there is justice in life - and at breakneck speed we rushed after the boat.

It was no longer a matter of money, therefore, having bargained solely for the sake of decency, literally in a few minutes we sailed to Pi-Pi Lei, who had been making my eyes callous for three days.

I knew what a sold-out we would see at Maya Bay, but to be honest, he didn't care either. Even though we will see and maybe not in the rain - here it is, a little happiness.

By the way, Garland in "The Beach" described a completely different island - Ko Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. But the curse of Hollywood fell on Pee Pee Lei. Filming took place here:

The "main entrance", or rather, the exit, to Maya Bay costs 200 baht per person. The boatman offered to save money and give us a lift from the opposite side. Foolishly and I agreed, then regretted it. But not because the famous Beach was heated for 400 Thai rubles, but because the camera had to be thrown in the boat. The "back door" looked cool:

I had to undress and swim to get to the stairs. We walked to Maya Bey, knocked about - well, there were people! - looked at the tent camp (those who wish can stay with an overnight stay) and returned to their snorkeling. Maya Bay, by the way, seemed surprisingly clean, but there was no desire to splash among the boats and people.

On Pi-Pi Lei, snorkeling is at every corner and around every bend.

And from a variety of watercraft.

From time to time I had the feeling that we were about to run over some keen snorkeler.

If you noticed nice coves, they asked the boatman to turn there. We sailed to one and got upset - that's where it got littered. Bliiin! Whoever has a hand rises to foul such beauty.

What the island is a bit lucky with is that its vertical cliffs are not conducive to construction.

Now the island is inhabited only by sea swifts, whose nests from shaky bamboo platforms are collected by chaule. We have not seen the pickers, the hottest time for them is from February to May.

Another bay of Pi-Pi Lei, Pi Le bay is considered almost the most beautiful in Tae. Fortunately, not all boats can enter it. Cool place, I recommend it to everyone.

Not far from Pi Le is a rather large Viking cave. Of course, there were no Vikings nearby - the cave got its name from the rock paintings of all sorts of different boats. When we passed by, such a wave rose that I hid the camera.

On the way back, our longtail broke - it tried to throw off its tail - and we spent fifteen unforgettable minutes jumping on the waves exactly between Pi-Pi Don and Pi-Pi Lei. We must pay tribute to the boatman, he was able to fix himself without outside help and, in general, everything is fine that ends well.

Everyone decides whether or not to go to Phi Phi. It seems to me that the islands are already struggling to withstand the influx of tourists and it will only get worse. But if you go, it’s better not with a one-day excursion for four hours, but at least for a couple of days. Then the impressions will be somewhat different.

We had a great fun on Pipi for four days and it was time to move on. The next day someone arrived at our hotel,

and we went to Ao Nang.

And as some information:
1. Map of PiPi Islands:

2. The boat to Phi Phi Lei cost us fifteen hundred, but they took it near the hotel, and there it is expensive and you can't bargain too much.
3. It is much cheaper (but not better) to buy an excursion, it costs from 300 baht and more - it all depends on the size of the boat, the tour program and the services included. Some tours include 200 baht per Maya Bay, some will take you to the same stairs we climbed. If you choose a full-day excursion, you will be fed lunch. There are excursions combined with Bambu or with the Pee-Pee Don survey (monkey beach and long beach). But, in my opinion, the only sensible proposal is a "sunset snork" when you sail to Maya Bay in the afternoon - by this time, most of them stretch back in orderly rows or spud Phi-khi Don.
4. The only ferry to Ao Nang (via Railay) this year departed from Pipei at 15-30. The issue price is 350 baht. What's nice is that the ferry ticket includes a transfer to any hotel in Ao Nang.

Well, that's probably all about Phi Phi. :))