Don Phi Phi Lay Island Tour: Bamboo Island, Viking Cave, Pileh Bay, Loh Samah Bay, Maya Bay, Hin Klang and Monkey Beach

Don Phi Phi Lay Island Tour: Bamboo Island, Viking Cave, Pileh Bay, Loh Samah Bay, Maya Bay, Hin Klang and Monkey Beach

There are three popular island tours in Krabi. They are the Unseen Four Island Tour, Hong Island Tour and Don Phi Phi Lay Island Tour. We have tried Unseen Four Island Tour so we tried the Don Phi Phi Lay Island Tour.

A common scene in Aonang beach in the morning.

You can always book the island tours in your hotel lobby and you can always try your luck negotiating the package prices. The prices are relatively the same comparing the rates from the hotel and the tour companies in Aonang. Island tours with speed boats are relatively dearer but you saved time in traveling.

Rock islands near Aonang Beach.

The pick up area will be at Aonang Beach and you can see quite a number of different travel companies and boats in the morning. Just make sure you don’t board the wrong boat and make sure you brought your extra shirts and towels.

Bamboo Island

First stop: Bamboo Island.

It took us only half an hour to reach Bamboo Island. Cruising with speed boat was a blessing. Bamboo Island was our first stop.

Snorkeling with friends, Pablo and Josh from US.

We were given an hour on Bamboo Island. You can take a dip or you can sun bath or you can even picnic.

A common sight in Bamboo Island.

The white fine sandy beach is the key attraction. We took a dip and swam a bit and the water was crystal clear and turquoise in colour. We didn’t spot much fish as maybe there were too many people on the beach side.

The crystal clear water on Bamboo Island.

Viking Cave

Viking cave is on the right.

Next, we sailed to visit the Viking Cave which was another half an hour away. The Viking Cave is a popular cave rich with bird’s nest. Bird’s nest is a highly sought Chinese delicacy that is very expensive and it is not available in China.

The entrance of the Viking cave, visitors were prohibited to enter.

Due to tight regulations, we were not allowed to enter the Viking cave but to only view the entrance of the cave from our boat. You can easily spot the beautiful turquoise colour of the sea water here.

Pileh Bay

 

When the brochure shows the beautiful pictures of Piley Bay, the place looked exactly the same as the print. The bay was a beauty, dominated by the crystal clear water and the turquoise colour sea.

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We were advised not to snorkel here due to shallow waters and also because it was a high traffic area. You can see boats sailing in and out every couple of minutes and it would be dangerous and high risk to snorkel.

With the backdrop of the stony hills, everyone got their eyes locked at the beautiful scenery. No complains.

Loh Samah Bay

Turquoise colour water at Loh Samah Bay.

It won’t be a proper island tour with snorkelling. Unlike Piley Bay, Loh Samah Bay was safer and less congested. In Thailand, it is always safety first and we had good guides explaining the essential do and don’t of snorkelling.

Snorkeling at Loh Samah Bay.

The snorkelling gears were part of the island tour package, you don’t have to pay an extra dime for the gears. If you want to bring your own for hygiene, you are always welcomed to do so.

The water was clear and you can see the fish swimming around us. Majority of the fish was the Tiger Fish. Remember to buy some breads and feed them, they will rushed to you like “zerg rush”.

Maya Bay

Have you watch the movie “The Beach”? The movie starred by Leonardo DiCaprio who acted “Titanic” and “Inception”. Yes, part of the beautiful scenery was actually shot in Maya Baya at Koh Phi Phi Ley (Phi Phi Ley Island) near Phuket and Krabi, Thailand.

This was our last stop before lunch and we had the luxury of 40 minutes on Maya Bay. We didn’t do much in Maya Bay except ventured around the bay and bought some snacks.

The bay was slightly crowded but it was clean. Boat loads of tourists sailing in and out but they didn’t leave anything unpleasant behind.

Read: Maya Bay at Koh Phi Phi Ley

Phi Phi Island

It was lunch time and we had buffet lunch in Phi Phi Island. The buffet lunch was included in the tour package and paying less than THB 900 for the tour was a steal.

Do not expect a five star buffet lunch but a decent meal of rice, noodle, vegetable, meat, soup and dessert. Cordial drink and water was free but anything extra will be charged. You can take your food as many times as you want since they refilled it quite frequently but there will be one more snorkelling session after lunch so I think that will be a bad move.

We had one hour on Phi Phi Island. We walked around after lunch. There were restaurants, bars and shops on Phi Phi Island and we didn’t venture far out due to limited time.

Monkey Beach

While the boat got heavier after lunch, we sailed to the Monkey Beach. This was the most disappointing stop of the island tour.

Firstly, the monkeys were missing. The guide tried many ways to attract the monkeys to come from the forest but no luck. Many they were having hangover or such. Hence, we moved on since they monkeys were MIA.

Hin Klang

It was our last stop of the tour and we snorkelled in Hin Klang. Luckily, we didn’t have a heavy lunch or else we would be having a hard time snorkelling.

There were definitely more fishes in Hin Klang. Like Loh Samah Bay, the tiger fish dominated the underwater scenery.

Overall, we enjoyed the Don Phi Phi Lay Island Tour. It was a full day itinerary activities cum excursion and it was well organized. The tour packages vary but do try to ask for discount for group bookings. Most of the tour operators were fluent in English and professional in doing their work. We are yet to check out the Hong Island excursion and hopefully we can visit them on our fourth trip to Krabi in near future. We enjoyed our time in Krabi and we highly recommend Krabi for your traveling destination.

 Where to buy Don Phi Phi Lay Island Tour?

You can book in one of the local travel kiosks in Aonang Street or you can book with your hotel. As I mentioned, rates vary depending on how many person joining the tour as well as the type of the boat you choose. The rates should be less than THB 1000 per person.