Koh Phi Phi: Feb. 26th-Mar.1st

February 26th: 

After 12 long hours of travel Doug and I were beyond ready to be in Koh Phi Phi.  As soon as we stepped off the boat we met a guy holding a sign that read the name of the guesthouse we would be staying at. We had no idea where it was so we figured he might be taking us there by boat or something. Some of the other people with signs were doing that, so we thought we would just hang out with that guy for a bit. 

Next thing we know he is taking our bags and throwing them in a cart and motioning for us to follow him. Not knowing any better we followed the guy. He seemed nice at least. Little did we know, there are no roads in Koh Phi Phi. 

There are merely walking paths that don't seem to follow any sort of pattern whatsoever. The paths weave in and out of businesses that are also randomly scattered about the land. Phi Phi doesn't have much organization to it so we were all sorts of turned around. 

Nonetheless, we followed the guy and his push cart and eventually turned a random corner to see the reception area for our guesthouse. Apparently I spoke too soon about Expedia in one of the last couple of blog posts, because this time reception could not find our reservation anywhere. We had to wait around a while and try to communicate to the receptionist that we truly did have a booking. We were hot, tired, and very sweaty (not fun). Eventually the manager called Expedia and discovered that we did in fact have a booking. We were taken to our room which was basically a sauna, it was so hot. Our room had three beds for some reason (weird), but it was clean and had air conditioning (that eventually kicked in) and a bathroom so we were happy. We went out that night only to eat dinner and look around a bit. The 12 hours had gotten to us and we both just wanted to sleep. Our room was located in a big time party area of Phi Phi so I was sweetly lulled to sleep by the sound of techo beats and bass thumps. 

February 27th: 

When we woke up the next morning we FaceTimed our families at home and then went out to the beach just to check it out. 

It was not exactly what we had expected. The side of Phi Phi we were on did not have the nicest beaches. Unfortunately they were littered with evidence of parties from the night before and you had to be careful not to cut your feet on broken beer bottles. It's kind of a shame because it could be so beautiful. Instead there was garbage in the water. 

Next we packed up our bags because we were headed to the opposite side of the island to stay at a different guesthouse that we also booked through Expedia (fingers-crossed that it was booked).  It took us a little while to find our way but we eventually made it! This time we were not let down. Our place was a minute from the beach and had a pool. Our room was more like a little bungalow this time instead of a dorm room. We loved it so much that we decided to lodge there for the remainder of our stay.  

Our first day at the new hotel was spent completely by the pool. And even though I lathered myself with sunscreen... I still somehow managed to break out in blisters. They looked pretty bad, but we bought some aloe and they were gone within a day. 

The sun is insanely hot in Phi Phi. We basically lived in our swimsuits the entire week. 

February 28th: 

Saturday was also mainly spent the pool/beach. That night Doug and I tried some new food at a restaurant we had been eyeing known as Carpe Diem. We would later regret the delicious food (don't ask). 

After dinner we met up with a guy from Island Divers and signed up to do a couple dives the next day. 

March 1st: 

Sunday morning we woke up and grabbed a quick bite to eat before meeting with our dive master for the day named Adam. He was a nice guy, probably in his forties and from England. He prepped us about our day and we met the two other people (a girl and a guy) that would be diving with us as well. 

Next we walked to the docks and borded the dive boat. It took us roughly an hour to get to our first dive spot. Once there, we put on our gear and performed our buddy checks. We were more comfortable with boat dives after doing a couple of them in Koh Tao. However, diving in Phi Phi was way different from diving in Koh Tao. 

Off the coast of Phi Phi the diving was amazing! Our impeccable range of visability seemed to be never-ending. We were instantly surrounded by schools of fish the moment we deflated our BCDs (buoyancy control devices). Our equipment was great and the dive seemed effortless. 

Everywhere we looked we saw multicolored fish with various patterns, coral of all different colors and sizes, and starfish everywhere. It really was quite beautiful and the song "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid played on constant replay in my head (which was very fitting if I do say so myself). 

I could not believe how clear our view was. Even through his mask I could tell that Doug was completely stoked about our dive. His eyes lit up every time we saw another school of fish or a "Nemo" (clownfish) pop out from its anemeni. 

It's weird when you're underwater because you can't talk to one another. Hand signals are what you rely on for communication. Occasionally our dive master would tap his air tank and point us in the direction of where to look or swim to next. 

It was nearing the end of our dive when we went into an area much more shallow.  We had been diving at 18 meters and were slowing working our way back to the surface after completing our safety stop at 5 meters. I thought we were heading back to the boat when our dive master swam around an underwater cove. Doug and I followed and there they were dead ahead of us.....sharks!!!! 

Imagine my surprise! 

Three black tipped reef sharks swam in a small group not even 30 feet away from us. My entire body froze in the water. Doug was to my right and just a little ways ahead of me. He looked back at me and made eye contact with me to make sure I had spotted them as well. I think he could tell by the size of my pupils that I had DEFINITELY seen the sharks! 

Perceiving that I was okay he started to swim a little bit further towards them. I quickly reached my hand out and smacked his left flipper. He looked back and I blubbered through my mouthpiece for him to "get back here!" It probably sounded more like "bbbyew bbtt bbach beeeer!!" And he probably didn't even hear my muffles but I think he got the message when I pointed at him and then back by my side. 

The sharks were probably 5 & 1/2 feet long, one fuller bodied than the other two but holy crap they were sharks! After I managed to get my breathing back to normal, I actually enjoyed following the sharks around and watching how they moved in the water.  Mind you, the Little Mermaid theme song I had playing in my head quickly changed to the theme song from Jaws. 

Doug absolutely loved the sharks, it was pretty obvious. However, we couldn't follow them for long because one of our group member's air supply was getting pretty low. 

We came up and signaled for the boat to come pick us up. I kept my mask on and kept looking underneath me (for sharks) until the boat arrived. Everyone was super excited about the sharks and the dive altogether. The visability was incredible and Doug loved it! I loved that we survived! 

Doug would dive one more time that day where he would also see a leopard shark.  It was sleeping on the ocean floor and was nearly 6 feet in length. 

Once our dives were finished we cruised back to Phi Phi Island. 

We spent the reminder of our day in the sun recapping every exciting (and terrifying-in my words) detail about the dive. 

Our first few days in Koh Phi Phi were a blast, but we still had some exploring ahead of us. 

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you all have enjoyed following along on our journey. We only have a few more stops before heading back to the snow of Indiana. The past three months have absolutely flown by and we are so thankful for everything we have seen and experienced. God is good- all the time :) 

Have a lovely day! :)