2nd February 2014

Today was our first full day on Phi Phi Don Island.  Maya Beach (The Beach!) is on everyone's must do  list (as we found out!) so we hired a longtail boat and Thai skipper to take us there. The boat bounced about a bit particularly in the swell of passing speedboats which was not good for me but I was ok, just about!  The boat entered Maya Bay which is on Phi Phi Lay Island just south of the big Island were we are staying.  Beautiful as it is, the pictures show the effects of mass tourism.  You will see very little of the beach is actually visable with parked speedboats on the left and longtail boats on the right taking up the rest!  After taking our pics (we declined the option to go ashore!) we were off we thought to visit Monkey Beach......but when we got out into the open sea our skipper started making noises that suggested all was not well!  The engine had conked out, he was covered in oil and grease up to his armpits and was waving a thick chain gesturing that he needed to fit it.  Bobbing around without power, with the high cliffs looming beside us we reached for the optional life jackets!  Fortunately within a couple of minutes our skipper had hailed another longtail boatman and we were quickly under tow and heading back to Maya Bay for repairs (see pic).  Anyway in just over half an hour our man had fitted his chain and we were off again slowing for pics at a couple of interesting spots before heading back to the big Island and our last stop on Monkey Beach.  We were pleasantly surprised to see very few boats and people here so we decided to go ashore for a swim.  Beautiful beach and water but no monkeys!  Probably just as well as they are known to snatch bags and disappear into the jungle! When we were done it was back to Lana Bay and the short walk across the Island to our resort.  We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach.