It was an emotional goodbye with mum, Ron, and Harry, since I did not know when I will see them again. When we left in November we always had the February date to look forward to...but now...who knows.
Mum and Ron were heading to Krabi for a couple of nights, before flying back to Bangkok, and then home. Harry and Sinee were headed straight back to Bangkok, then Harry would fly back with mum and Ron a few days later.
Myself and Chris had a couple of hours at the villa, (piece and quiet!) before jumping in a tuk tuk to the pier. The boat over to Ko Phi Phi was just over an hour.
We pre booked accommodation as we arrived at lunchtime, the hottest part of the day, and I did not fancy walking around with our rucksacks trying to find somewhere. We found a bar to have a quick bite to eat then got a private long boat over to the bay we were staying in (£2 each!). It wasn't far, but far enough to warrant a boat and not walk in the heat.
We stayed at the Phi Phi Hill Resort at Long Beach. We had heard this was the nicest beach on the island, but also not too far (around 2km) from the hustle and bustle of the main 'strip'. There was one hell of a climb to get to our resort, a good work out on the thighs! We stayed in simple wooden bungalows, with a sunrise view over the cliff edge.
We quickly changed into our swimmers and headed straight to the beach. The sea is so warm that it is never really a cool off, but it was better than nothing. The views from the beach were spectacular, looking out to the other smaller islands. We stayed on the beach until the sun had set, then had dinner at our resort restaurant and an early night (after an emotional day!).

We booked on a snorkelling trip through our resort, with the main attraction being Maya Bay (the beach from 'The Beach' film), and our reason for going.
We climbed aboard a long tail boat, along with a German couple, and three French guys. The first stop was Maya Bay, just over half an hour away from the mainland. When we arrived there was a fair few boats already in the bay and a lot of people on the beach. But we managed to find a spot, take some decent photos without anyone in, and Chris went for a snorkel. The bay is postcard perfect, with clear aqua blue water, white sand, and lush green surroundings. We took a wander through the trees and shrubs, and out the other side was Lo Sa Ma bay. We had an hour at Maya bay before clambering aboard the long tail and heading to our next destination. It was like rush hour when we left - boats everywhere! And you could barely see the sand on the beach due to the vast amount of people.
We enjoyed an hour or so boats journey, weaving in and out of several bays, admiring the magnificent islands and the enticing water. We eventually stopped off in a bay near Monkey beach for some snorkelling. There was a huge school of small silver fish trying to hide from the needle fish. I couldn't believe my eyes when Chris lured me into a slight cave to see more closely exactly how many there were...they were endless! And even more terrifying Chris led later decided to lead me through the middle of the school - my heart was racing, but as I am always reminded, the fish are more scared of me than I am of them! Rightly so, they quickly swam out of the way, parting a nice opening for us to swim through.
Back on the boat we had some lunch served in takeaway containers, having been cooked that morning at the resort. It was fine to tie us over. I had chicken fried rice, and Chris had prawn fried rice. Then there was a brief stop off at Monkey beach to see the monkeys. I decided to stay on the boat, knowing that it would probably end badly with my luck of monkey experiences. Chris jumped on land and took some really great photos. What wasn't good though was that some of the other boat crew from other tours were giving the monkeys water bottles full of coca cola! The monkeys are slowly becoming addicted to sugar and therefore enhancing aggressive behaviour.
As we sailed around Ko Phi Phi Don towards Bamboo island, the captain made a brief stop in the middle of the ocean for us to snorkel. It seemed scary for me to just jump out the side of the boat into the open water - having been used to snorkelling in bays or near land. I didn't like it much, and with my tummy taking a turn for the worse, I quickly climbed aboard. It wasn't long before we reached Bamboo island, but again it was bombarded with tours. It was however a very beautiful island, around 500m wide and less than 1km in length, with white sandy beaches, and perfect clear waters.
We made it back to Long beach around 4pm, and having spoken with the French guys on our trip, Chris had heard there were reef sharks hanging around the rocks. Not feeling well (a good excuse!), I climbed the hill back to our room and left Chris to the sharks! Much to my delight, he did return, and much to his delight, he saw eight reef sharks!
Just as the sun was beginning to set, we followed the coast, and walked the 2km over to the main strip for some dinner.

Our ferry to Krabi was booked for 3.30pm, so we had a decent amount of time left to explore Ko Phi Phi Don. Knowing there was a viewpoint to climb, we checked out fairly early as we did not want to be climbing in the mid heat of the day. Having caught a boat over to the main area, dropped our rucksacks off at the booking office, we went in search of the viewpoint.
Not anticipating such a big climb, I was not impressed to be dripping from head to toe in sweat when we reached the top. The first viewpoint was fantastic, with a nicely kept garden displaying an array of colourful flowers. We stopped here for a little while to try to cool down, but the heat and lack of breeze did not really allow us to. So we pushed on, climbing further to the second view point. This was awesome! An amazing view over the connecting beaches of Ko Phi Phi Don, with the surrounding sea in its varying shades of blue. After taking our photos, we rushed back down to find some cold water to quench our thirst. Not enough, we shared a fresh cold coconut, on the beach at Loh Dalum Bay, to help replenish our body's essential minerals.
We hunted down a local noodle soup lady for lunch, then chilled in a bar until our ferry to Krabi.