30C (86F) at 10AM?!

(4/26)

After partying hard for my birthday we spent the next day relaxing and soaking up some rays.  The island was heating up, and not because Team America was there.  By 10AM the mercury had already climbed to 30C (86F) and during the middle of the day it was at least 38C (100F).  Although the heat was oppressive, Kevin and I decided to be proactive and organize a boat tour of the smaller islands surrounding Koh Phi Phi.  Together with Ollie, Tylie, other friends from Changmai, and some of our room mates at The Rock, Kevin and I took a half day longtail boat tour of the islands, Monkey Beach and Maya Bay.  Maya Bay is well known as "The Beach" beach because some of the move "The Beach" was filmed there.

Ollie and I monkeying around at Monkey Beach

The boat tour was great fun.  After stopping at Monkey beach we headed for a swimming spot.  After a brief swim we moved on to a new location and snorkeled for an hour.  I was actually quite pleased with the snorkeling.  Even though there was no coral there were loads of fish in the water and I was able to swim through many schools of exotic multicolored fish.  Fortunately for us, our longtail boat captain got us to Maya beach before the crowds showed up so we were able to enjoy the beach for a few minutes before throngs of tourists crowded the beach.  The view from the beach was stunning and the water wasn't nearly as hot as the main beach on Koh Phi Phi.

The view looking out from Maya Beach

We returned from our boat tour and chowed down at Papaya.  The next couple days we spent relaxing on Phi Phi and we finally made the decision to leave on the 28th.