Day 84, Year 4: Rock and Roll in the Phi Phi’s
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Weather: Beautiful with Strange Winds
Latitude: 07 degrees 43.967 minutes N
Longitude: 098 degrees 46.238 minutes E
Location: Ton Sai Bay, Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand

Phi Phi Le and Phi Phi Don are touted to be in the top three of the most beautiful islands in the world. And they are spectacular. But unlike our earlier visit where the anchorages were calm, last night we rocked and rolled all night long in Phi Phi Le. We spent the day there to enjoy the beautiful beach and to snorkel, but we headed for Phi Phi Don late in the day looking for a quieter anchorage. Unfortunately, we are still rocking and rolling here. This bay is supposed to be protected in all weather, so we are really not sure what is going on. We know it is windy and the seas are choppy, but why a west facing bay and a south facing bay would both be rocky and rolly in northeast winds has us a bit baffled. But regardless, we are managing to have a great time. And Sam slept better last night than he has since his arrival, so maybe he likes the rock and roll.

We awoke this morning to a beautiful day with clear blue skies. As soon as we ate breakfast, we all piled in the dinghy and went to the beach. Sam is always anxious to get to the beach so he can “build and destroy.” We build sand castles and he knocks them down. Phi Phi Le is an uninhabited island, but come 10 am, the tourists arrive in long boats and speed boats by the hundreds. When we first arrived, there were very few people on the beach. But before long, you could hardly move, so we escaped to a smaller beach to the east of the main one. Mark, Sam, and I played on that beach while Heather and Jed went for a snorkel, and then Mark and Sam got in the dinghy and I pulled them along to find Heather and Jed. Sam really enjoys watching people snorkel. He calls them people fish and he just sits patiently in the dinghy watching the activity. I continued to snorkel while pulling the dinghy once we found Heather and Jed and we went most of the way back to Windbird this way. After mid-day lunch and naps, we all got back in the dinghy and did another snorkel around the rocks close to Windbird. The snorkeling in Ao Maya Bay does not have beautiful coral, but it is always fascinating to see the fish. And snorkeling where you can look straight up to see the tops of the limestone karsts is just beautiful.

We will start our tomorrow here at Phi Phi Don by snorkeling off Monkey Beach and then we will go ashore for lunch. We have no plans beyond that, but I do think I’ll check out an internet cafe to see what is going on with the weather. We’re hoping to get in some more snorkeling before leaving here for the east coast of the mainland. There’s no way to express how wonderful it is to have Heather, Jed, and Sam aboard. Sam’s every move is fascinating to us and we are so enjoying getting reacquainted.

090114 Day 84 Thailand–Ko Phi Phi Le to Ko Phi Phi Don