ESCAPE- OLOGY Magazine Issue 3 | Page 50

Things To Do

In Phuket

Phuket is Thailand’s most popular tourist hotspot which means there’s never a shortage of things to see and do. Depending on the type of vacation you’re after, you’ll be able to tailor your Phuket experience with affordable resort and spa options, cheap eats and street food, busy markets and interesting options for a boozy night out (if you know what I mean).

This time around, we wanted to see what mother nature had to offer in Phuket’s most famous lagoons and islands. We booked our first Island Day Trip with The Beach Sea Trips. Our “Sunrise Phi Phi Island Tour” included: Maya Bay, Viking Cave, Loh Samah Bay, Monkey Beach, Pileh Lagoon and Bamboo Island. Keep reading for more details on the highlights of each pit stop.

Maya Bay

This postcard perfect bay located in Phi Phi Ley island is an absolute paradise of soft white sand and crystal clear waters nestled within 100 metre high limestone cliffs. Many tourists visit the bay in the afternoon via large ferry boats, so we booked the Sunrise Tour with The Beach Sea Trips to avoid the crowds as we were one of the first small boats to arrive at the bay. This gave us the perfect opportunity to soak in our surroundings and enjoy a much quieter experience of one of the most sought after Phi Phi pit stops.

Viking Cave

The Viking Cave is a unique carving at the bottom of a tall limestone cliff where hunters collect and harvest precious birds’ nests. These nests are precious edible delicacies popular with the Chinese Culture, making it one of the most profitable local industries.

Unfortunately, the Viking Cave is no longer accessible by foot to visitors but it was an interesting pit stop by boat after a morning of exploring Maya Bay.

Loh Samah Bay

Loh Samah Bay is a small area located on the other side of Maya Bay. Our boat anchored here to allow us some snorkelling time which is best enjoyed during low tide. Although the tide was perfect, unfortunately the water current here was a little rough on the day so we were required to wear life vests but were still able to find plenty of fish, colourful clams, larger than life sized starfish and sea cucumbers without much hassle.

Monkey Beach

Monkey Beach was our next sight-seeing stop. We spotted monkeys swinging among the overgrown vines and branches across the cliffs of Monkey Beach where we hovered for a while to watch these gentle creatures in their natural habitat. It’s always a nice thing to see animals live freely with their surroundings rather than being confined for spectators. Just make sure you don’t feed them!

Pileh Lagoon

Pileh Lagoon along with Maya Bay were definitely the highlights of our Sunrise Tour.

@anniesbucketlist / @willsbucketlist