Sharp jagged jungle capped rocky mountains rise steeply from the crystal clear turquoise waters, glistening under the perfect blue sky. The water shallows to fine white sand and green tropical vegetation. As our long tail boat pulls into Maya Bay you can see why they made a film about 'the beach'.

Situated in the Andaman sea off the South West coast of Thailand lie Ko Phi Phi Don and the magical nearby island of Ko Phi Phi Lay- made famous by the Leonardo Di Caprio film in the 90's. The best way to see the smaller island is to hire a longtail boat and driver for 3hrs at a cost of around £25. The driver or captain will take the standard route around the island starting with a 15 min crossing from Ko Phi Phi Don before completing a lap of the island culminating in the famous Maya Bay. En route this includes a swimming stop in the clear shallow green coloured waters of the Lagoon. The next stop on the far side of the island allows an opportunity for snorkeling in what is essentially an open water aquarium. The variety, colour and sheer number of fish on display outweigh the slightly disappointing lack of colour and life within the coral itself.

Ko Phi Phi Don captured us the first time we visited in Nov 2004. The island although mainly uninhabitable steep mountain contains a middle flat sand spit between the 2 crescent beaches. On one side the ferry pier and heavy boat traffic of Tonsai Bay and on the other the very shallow waters and numerous beachfront bars and deckchairs of Loh Dalum Bay. Sandwiched between the 2 beaches are the numerous hotels and a twisty network of narrow streets refreshingly free from all motor traffic.

Mixed with the joy and happiness of this island is a powerful undercurrent of sadness due to the natural disaster of 2004. It is impossible not to ignore the images we saw on the news as the Tsunami washed it's way through the middle of the island destroying trees, seaside bungalows, sadly also taking many lives. Our first visit to Ko Phi Phi had been 2 weeks before the Tsunami struck so we were interested to see how the island had changed on our return in 2008. I'm sure, due in large part to the spirit of these resolute Thai people, the island was impressively back on it's feet. The main noticeable difference was that the dense vegetation had become noticeably sparse and wooden corrugated iron roofed bungalows had been replaced by solid concrete hotels. A reminder of the Tsunami remains inescapable in the form of early warning towers and signs in the town and along the beach pointing the way to evacuation routes on higher ground. It was a freak of nature but you can't help feeling a certain sense of inevitability that it will happen again and given how narrow the streets are that lead to the even narrower steep steps, it is difficult to see how this route would cope with a stampede of panic stricken tourists in peak season.

The sheer raw beauty of the island is best viewed from the viewpoint on the mountain- a 20 minute steep stepped walk up the evacuation route from the town centre. The extreme heat and humidity enough to reduce us to a sweaty mess after the trudge up the steps through the trees. After a desperate search for shade and breeze to reduce our body temperature, the view of Tonsai Bay not unlike other sights we have been fortunate enough to experience in a busy 7 weeks is once again breathtaking. The intoxicating deep colour of the water and white sand of the 2 crescent shaped bays linking the harsh mountains on either side beyond the palm trees below, as close to a beach paradise as you can ever expect to witness. How often do you get an opportunity to visit a 'once in a lifetime' place for a 3rd time!

The days can be filled with all manner of watersports, rock climbing, island hoping or simply taking it easy on the scorched sand beaches. Phi Phi is equally enjoyable at nighttime with the narrow streets offering ample choice of restaurants, bars or market stalls with a particular emphasis on pirate DVDs, sunglasses or swimwear. The laid back island lifestyle encapsulated by shop staff happy to let you browse hassle free before the cheerful haggling ensues. Later in the evening Loh Dalum beach provides bars and an impressive 10pm fire dancing show at each establishment. The drink of choice being the famous 'Bucket'. This is definately not for the weak and is literally a sandcastle type bucket full of any combination of (or sometimes all of) Whisky, Coke, Beer, Thai Red Bull (apparently banned in the UK), vodka and I'm sure virtually any type of alcohol. It wasn't a wise move taking on 2 of these lethal things having already had 6 bottles of the 6.4% Chang whilst watching the 5 live football matches on a Saturday night. It was no real surprise that Sunday proved to be a complete right off!!

This proved to be a shame as Sunday was the November full moon and was therefore set aside as the date of the Loy Krathong Festival. A day of celebration to worship the goddess of water. Thai people spend many hours building Loy Krathong's (literally translated as 'floating devices') from banana leaves which hold flowers, food, joss sticks & candles as offerings to the goddess of water. These are then taken by parade and released at a nearby stream, pond, river or sea. This is accompanied by the usual firecrackers or fireworks and much joyful singing and dancing.

If there is one criticism of this virtually perfect island, it is the missing golf course! Having scoped the bare areas on many a casual stroll, there are certainly areas that could house a 9 or even 18 hole course, although the obvious plentiful supply of sand hazards may be a little too much for my game!

As with any visit to Ko Phi Phi, it never seems long enough and we are always sad to leave but having now been 3 times I'm sure we will return again one day. If our favourite place on Earth can survive a Tsunami without losing it's unique appeal I'm sure it will be equally enjoyable next time we visit....For now we will take the short return ferry to Krabi on the mainland for a couple of days and a further opportunity to explore local islands by long tailed boat and sea kayak, before stopping over in Bangkok en route to Vietnam.