I think someone else has seen the map to ‘The Beach’ :
My first tour of the areas islands were taken today, including Kho Phi Phi, and other small islands. As you can see by the picture, we went to visit Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh where the beach was filmed, and I think many more people have found ‘The Map’. Despite being a national park, the bay was ridiculously busy, with most boats going right up to the beach. I was doubting whether this was the real place, but I imagine it would look completely different without the boats, and DeCaprio sitting in the water on his own (erm, not that that thought does anything for me obviously!).
We stopped at various bays to snorkel, some of which had a lot of coral, and a shitload of little fish. Unfortunately, the boat operators were throwing bread in to attract the fish, and the bays were mobbed with up to twenty boats in the bays. It was a reasonable way to see what we saw, infact its the main staple of tourism here, but it was really too rushed…..
‘Ok, we stop here, you have 30 minutes to snorkel’
‘Ok, we stop here, you have 40 minutes to relax’
By the time you found the toilet, took a picture and laid down your towel, it was time to go again.
Another shot of Maya Bay :
Despite this, it was a good day, and I managed to snorkel at a few different sites, and have lunch on Koh Phi Phi. It was a bit of nightmare on that island as I had a quick look around for accommodation, and they are charging whatever they can get away with…a small beach hut for 500 Baht with no facilities…. and just a mattress on the ground of the hut, with a fan, next to the beach. Everywhere is full, and the beach is mobbed compared to others in the area (see picture). In Ao Nang, despite being a bigger resort, you can easily get a stretch of beach to yourself without much effort. I’ll have a couple of days there in mid January, hopefully it’s died down a bit by then.
I also got an email from a mate who is going to be in Phi Phi during New Year…eh oh, it could be messy (and expensive!) if we manage to hook up!
Koh Phi Phi main beach :
