Phi Phi Island (Koh Phi Phi)

Southern Thailand

Page One

In December, 1997, we (I'm Glenn, in case you just arrived) spent Christmas in Krabi, Thailand. We did a little island-hopping as day trips while there, but then we decided to spend two nights on Phi Phi Island, 42 km west of Krabi in the Andaman Sea and half way between Krabi and Phuket. The sail takes about 2 hours.

Although it's referred to as "Phi Phi Island," there are two large islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lea. Phi Phi Lea rises straight out of the sea for the most part and has no inhabitants, so when people say they went to Phi Phi, they mean they stayed on Phi Phi Don. Phi Phi Don has two large parts connected by a narrow isthmus, and that's where all the hotels and tourist action is. It's really quite interesting, because your hotel can have a beach in the front and a beach in the back - a delicious choice to be confronted with when stepping out for a swim!

	The ferry that took us from Krabi to Phi Phi pulled right up onto the beach; no jetty necessary! I couldn't believe a 50 meter boat could ride so high in the water to do such a thing.
All the boats enter into the bay on the southern side of the isthmus. As you pull in, the most obvious building you see is the Phi Phi Hotel. It looks like that mountain is right behind it, but it's actually on the far side of the bay behind, as I'll show you on page two.
	We got off the jetty, turned left, and began to find our way (yes, those are my two kids) down this beach road to our hotel, the reception area of which you can see here coming up on the right. We never visited the Jungle Bar, by the way. If you do, tell me how it is.
Here's a look back through the palm trees and onto the bay. That beach has beach chairs with umbrellas all down it, something that Ao Nang Beach in Krabi needed. The coral all along the base of that cliff you see was excellent, making for good snorkeling, but the visibility the two times I went was poor. I think all the particulate matter in the water was due to it being low tide, though, at least in part.
	Here's my wife on the porch of Cabin 26 of the Phi Phi Cabana Hotel, where we stayed. The Cabana Hotel has all levels of accommodation, and I'd say this simple bungalow with fan was the bottom end. We paid 1,200 baht per night even during the Christmas high season, and that price included an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.
When you think of it, putting a giant hotel complex on a sand bar surrounded by sea water could lead to water supply problems, and when I took this picture my daughter Kelly and I were heading back to the front desk to ask why we had no running water. I found out it was a scheduled outage, but this may not be the case when you go.
	This is the main building of the Phi Phi Cabana Hotel. The people staying in the cheap rooms get the same amenities as those in the champagne suites, and my kids really enjoyed that pool!