Our ‘Beach’ at Phi Phi Ley
Travel Location: Phi-Phi-Islands,Thailand
Booked our longtail boat again for a mornings visit to Phi Phi Ley which was the location for the film ‘The Beach’.
We had heard lots of negative press about the Hollywood bods coming to the island and basically trashing it. We have however heard that they actually cleaned the island up and removed 4 tons of rubbish and planted extra palm trees before filming could even start.
metre high waves bouncing the boat from side to side
Our boat journey here was a traumatic one. After a couple of years working in the shipping industry I thought I had had my fair share of hairraising journey’s but this was something else.
Picture the tiny longtail boat with only a tiny tarpauling roof for protection – now picture metre high waves bouncing the boat from side to side and up and down all in one movement. Our guy brought along his 5 year old son for the journey which was really lovely except that I have now taught him every English swear word in the book.
It was a strange island – when you first see it, it looks to just be rock with no bays, then you turn a corner and this beautiful beach just appears. We were very lucky to be the first ones to arrive that morning as its normally really busy with tour groups.
You can see why Hollywood chose this location as its just perfect. After a look around the interior of the island which takes you literally 10 mins we returned back to the beach to find two more boats had arrived.
After a dip in the sea we saw a huge speedboat on the horizan and decided to leave before the crowds came. On the way back around the island – again, convinced I was going to die, we passed some beautiful coves. When we turned the headland and sailed to the other side of the island the waters were calm and Lee had two opportunities to indulge in his new first love – snorkling! He saw some beautiful coral and fish – our disposal underwater camera came in useful here!
The island is a national park and protected area because of the nests of swifts here. They are collected by locals to take birds nest soup, a local delacacy.
