Discovery Cruise 6 Day / 5 Night

 

“But thinking of the fun that we had planned for the next day,

we decided to call it a day and head home.”

Day 3

Jim Jam was a bit rocky this morning due to the wind blowing from the west, but it was all under control.

You can say that it was a typical case of a beer too many, I have to admit that I had slept through the whole Bamboo Island entirely, and all I could gather was that the island is inhabited by sea gypsy. So, well, I guess I would use that as an excuse to be on this trip again the next time I am here.

Deeply taking in the scenery and the full-course breakfast as we left Bamboo Island, I could not help thinking of how funny it was days ago when I had to fight around the hotel’s buffet for food, or for a sun bed by the swimming pool. On Jim Jam, we had most of it all to ourselves–just the way it is supposed to be.

Anyway, just before lunchtime, we arrived at Adventure Bay on Phi Phi Don and right away got ourselves in the snorkel gear. Apparently today is the last day on the trip for some of us, but not me, so it was not really surprising to see some of us to be more energetic than ever before.

“God, no, by this time next week I will be at my desk working back in London,” looking at his watch, Peter cried like a baby to the whole as we were lunching after a full hour of snorkeling in the marvelous Adventure Bay.

“Oops, I am sorry,” he immediately said as he realized that he just mentioned that ugly four-letter word that we had been trying to forget. Sorry apparently was not enough, and the next thing he knew was that he, in his new Hawaiian shirt, was back in the water again.

From Adventure Bay we went straight to Maya Bay on the west side of Phi Phi Le, recently made known world-wide for being the main filming location of the movie “The Beach”, starring Leonardo Di Caprio. Sure enough, Leonardo was not there. Luckily however we were the only ones.

Despite a scene in the movie showing some Scandinavian hippies eaten by a shark which was later killed by Leonardo himself, Maya Bay is safe and in fact one of the most beautiful places in the area for snorkeling. The landscape is equally beautiful with the bay flanked and hugged by the cliffs at both ends, taking the shape of a lagoon.

Take a look at Maya Bay where the movie "The Beach" was made!

Click here to open the panorama

But then it was time to say goodbye. All of us except myself and the two Swedes would continue on for three more days aboard Jim Jam, while the others, my buddy included, would board Perfecta and travel back to the BIG island and unfortunately back to their home country. In any case, we did not forget to swap our addresses, and to these days I and Peter still e-mail each other.

After we left the rest to go back to Phuket at Maya Bay, I and the two Swedes continued the cruise around Phi Phi Le to Viking Cave.

Viking Cave, despite its name, has nothing to do with the Scandinavians. The paintings and symbols left in the deep bat cave however are real, in any case. Where they come from, I believe, is still subject to discussion. The only thing for sure is that we were definitely not the first to be there.

It was already late in the evening as we left the Viking Cave. That evening the three of us decided to skip the dinner on board and hopped on to the dinghy for some actions at the nearby Ton Sai Bay. Spoiled rotten from Jim Jam, we thought that the dinner at Ton Sai was, well, okay. What we particularly liked there however was the shopping and the bar scene. I got a bead necklace from Indonesia for my sister back home, while the Swedes went looking for something bohemian to wear.

Then we met again at a reggae bar full of travelers from all over the world. United Nations meeting of the next generation, that is what it looked like. We would like to stay longer to watch what would happen next. But thinking of the fun that we had planned for the next day, we decided to call it a day and head home.

 

Hour by hour

Day 3
08:00 Depart from Railay Bay, Breakfast (Served until 10:00).
09:00 Arrive at Bamboo Island, snorkeling.
11:00 Depart from Bamboo Island.
11:30 Arrive at Adventure Bay, Lunch.
13:00 Depart from Adventure Bay.
13:45 Arrive at Maya Bay (Movie “The Beach” 1999, Leonardo Di Caprio)
14:30 Depart from Maya Bay, 3D/2N Passengers disembark Jim Jam for transfer to Paradise Island with "Perfecta".
Exploration of Phi Phi Le.
15:50 Arrive at Viking Cave.
16:30 Depart from Viking Cave.
17:00 Arrive at Ton Sai Bay, if you wish you can explore Ton Sai before cocktails. 
19:00 Cocktails.
19:30 Dinner.

 

BOOKING