Anyway, we were on a motor powered boat that featured three propellers situated at the back of the boat. It was one of the larger ones on tour that day. I can’t remember the order the islands we went to, so forgive me =). I was busy enjoying the scenery!
We visited briefly the beach where Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie was shot. It’s called Maya Beach. If you recall seeing the movie, then you know that it’s a beautiful beach that is sort of tucked away behind a couple of rock formations that jut out from either side of the waters leading up to the beach. Our tour guide told us that the tourism authority used to charge 20 baht (about 50 cents) to get up on the beach. However, after the 2004 tsunami, they decided to charge 200 baht – about $5.75. Anyway, we have the choice of whether we wanted to get out of the boat or not. No one raised his or her hand when the tour guide asked if we wanted to get outta the boat. We were all quite content with taking photos from the boat (about 200 feet).
We also went to another tourist hot spot – James Bond Point – so unofficially dubbed because it was the setting for a famous scene in 007:Tomorrow Never Dies, where Pierce Brosnan purportedly jumps into the water from the rocky cliffs surrounding this small cove with bright turquoise water to make some sort of a getaway – how’s that for bad grammar!? To give us a taste of the thrill of being a secret agent, we were encouraged to plunge into the waters ourselves. I was a little nervous given the fact that the waters were so clear that I could see the sea bed – still, I was SO on it! It turns out the water was probably a good 20 feet deep at least. So no jumping on sharp corals for me ~
Anyway, if you don’t remember seeing the movie, Google image the beach. Maya Beach. I’d share some pictures that I took with you. Except I forgot to charge the battery before my trip down to Phuket. And I left the charger in Bangkok. Hah. Ok then. Even after the destruction caused by the tsunami, the beach is quite picturesque.
Another stop on our itinerary was Monkey Beach, so named because it is home to a large family of monkeys of some sort. Don’t ask me what kind. They were gray. And they were unafraid of humans. Much like the fish that would eat out your hands here. As much Animal Planet as I watch, I couldn’t tell ya which species of monkey they are. “Don’t touch the monkey. Don’t feed the monkey. Don’t pick up the monkey. Even the baby. And most importantly, don’t kiss the monkey! Your friend, not my friend!” warned our tour guide – again and again. Nonetheless, there were people from other boats who actually fed the monkeys some bananas. I guess their tour guides weren’t as clear about what they should and shouldn’t do.
I had the best snorkeling experience here at this particular beach. The water was clear and deep. The beach was clean and the sand was soft and white. I am sad to report, however, that all of the tourism to the area has destroyed what once upon a time, must have been a gorgeous marine landscape all along the Phi Phi boat tour routes. I can see this in the way the fish will come up to your hands if you have them closed in a fist as though you were holding something, namely food. I can also see it in the less noticeable but nonetheless veritable coral reef graveyard littering the ocean floor. It’s not even an intact graveyard. There are a million pieces of broken skeletons all over the floor. Much like gravel in a home aquarium; they were probably smashed to bits by the tour boats coming in and out or by the thousands of people that visit Phuket’s surrounding islands. I felt terrible that I was A) part of the species that fueled this destruction and B) part of the subset of said species that was paying money to add to the destruction. Sigh.
Phi Phi Island proper was one of the unfortunate places that was hit the hardest by the watery tower of death. There remains to this day about 500 or so people unaccounted for. The unique geography of the island meant that it felt the full force of both tidal waves that came through – from both sides of the island. You’ll see what I mean if you see a picture. Oh, good grief, I”ll Google is for you =).
Anyway, pretty much everything was washed away except for the largest hotel on the island. Two years hasn’t been enough time for everything to go back up on this fairly remote island about 45 minutes from Phuket; a lot of the structures there are sort of temporary looking.
On Phi Phi, we had lunch served by locals dressed in the Muslim fashion and looking distinctly different from the ethnic Thais up in the central plains where Bangkok is nestled in the Chao Phraya River delta. The food they served was a little different too.
We made one last stop at a much larger beach in the afternoon as we were heading back home. The tide was starting to go out, so many of my fellow snorkelers were swimming dangerously close to the coral reefs nearby. Here on this beach, the destruction was visible along the beach shore. The waves washed the bits and pieces to create a ring of pain (to walk on) on the sand. Still, for the few minutes I spent in the receding waters, I could see that the marine life was struggling to survive. There was some color still in some of the mostly dead formations. After I figured out the little pricks I was getting from underwater were coming from some of the more aggressive fish whose territory I was probably invading, some minor bumps and scrapes and finally, a piece of coral jammed up my big toe, I figured it was time to get out of the water – but not fully. As I examined my foot under the water, my mind flashed briefly on the years I’ve spent watching the National Geographic Channel and I wondered if the blood flowing from my toe would attract sharks. It stung quite a bit to have my toe in the salt water, but I remember from somewhere that salt water is supposed to act as a natural antiseptic and astringent, so I let it soak for a while until the pain went away and after I has washed out all pieces of coral and sand. I walked around the beach a little bit and saw other casualties a lot worse than mine and was thankful I got out when I did because at this point, the coral formations were starting to stick OUT of the water.
By the time we made our way back to Phuket, the tide was so low that the water behind us was brown from all the sand being kicked up by the propellers. Also, we were limited to a small strip of water that had probably been dredged to allow small to medium watercraft get back to the docks. The path itself was marked by a series of tall wooden poles that showed us where the point of safety met with the point of peril.
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