The ferry was pretty miserable. Someone warned us it would be cold so I was at least prepared with a sweatshirt. Unfortunately I was not prepared for the amount of children screaming. I could even hear them through my ear plugs. After getting just a few hours of sleep the night before, I really wanted a nap. Luckily, our next hostel was a short walk from the pier where the ferry dropped us off. When we stepped out onto the beach I was lost for words. It was amazing. The water was so blue and the beach was a wide cove surrounded by tall limestone cliffs. I read that they were forced up from the ocean floor when India collided with Asia. The long tail boats only added to the scenery. I was really excited to see it was just like a smaller, more authentic Seacrets. The bar and beach were just steps outside our door. The trade off for this was that the hostel lacked most creature comforts. Again, the showers and toilets were in the same stalls. There was sand everywhere. The “mattresses” were like rocks. The comforter was really thin. It wasn’t nice but it had a great vibe, came with breathtaking views, and was convenient to the party. We met most of our roommates and they seemed great. We especially hit it off with another American on his way home from a semester in Australia. We set our stuff down and then walked to another recommended scuba place. This time we actually booked a trip. After we walked home we decided we needed naps so we could function that night. After dinner I went back to the hostel and Andrea went to a quieter guest house for a good night’s sleep before our big underwater adventure. The hostel had a fire show every night so I bought a beer and sat down on a mat with some friends I had met earlier. We hung out for a while and then I called it a night. The fire show was kind of memorizing to watch and would probably never be allowed in the US. The guys doing it just had a giant vat of gasoline. After the fire show, they brought out a limbo pole and a giant jump rope. We were warned the music would be loud and that was not a lie. I had a few drinks to help me sleep.
In the morning I fell back asleep after my alarm and luckily was woken up by Andrea texting me to move it and get to the scuba shop. I hustled over without even taking the time to put shoes on. In my haste I forgot my dry bag so I couldn’t take photos which was a bummer. The diving was really good and I was pleased that after 13 years I still did OK. The only issue was that after the first dive we had to wait on the surface for the boat to pick us up and that bobbing on the surface made me sea sick. They served a spicy Thai curry between dives and even though I was hesitant I had a little. I didn’t feel great for the next dive and I was burping up curry. I was dreading finishing the dive and coming back to the surface. My worst fear, which thank God didn’t happen, was that I would throw up in my regulator. I got sick again when I surfaced and tried to sleep the whole way back to the dock. Andrea gave me some medicine she had in her bag which helped a lot. We ended up buying a CD of photos that someone from the dive shop took of us. So other than getting sick, the dive was great! We saw hard and soft coral, eels, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, clownfish, puffer fish, and lots of other sea life that I can’t even name. The trip to and from the dive site that I was paying attention to was beautiful. After the dive we got some more food, napped, and shopped around town a little. Andrea stopped into the clinic because her nose was really red and swollen. It looked like staph so she requested an antibiotic. At the hostel we fell in love with our new roommates and everyone got together for drinks on the beach and the fire show. We even met up with our British friends who turned out to be staying in the hostel next door. That night was probably my favorite night of vacation. We all had so much fun dancing and partying. For the second night in a row I ended up in the ocean with my clothes on. One of the Thais painted me with glow in the dark paint and the Brits, some Ausi’s and myself shut the place down after 4. Even though this was my favorite night, this is also when my cell phone went missing along with my room key.
The next morning I slept in pretty late. Andrea hiked to a view point on the island. I tried unsuccessfully to find my phone and was pretty bummed out about losing it. Once I got some food I just laid on the beach with friends which turned into drinking with them at night. Every night the hostel did the same fire show but it didn’t seem to get old. I love drinking on the beach and doing so in a beautiful place with friends, dancing, music was so special. I felt closest with the people we met at this hostel and had a great time laughing and hanging out with them.
In the morning I was really sad to be leaving. Koh Phi Phi was the most beautiful place I had ever seen and I had so much fun there. In all honesty my body probably could not have handled the purely hedonistic place for too much longer. All the same I was sad to leave our friends, sad about my phone, and sad the trip was coming to a close. I stopped into the police station as a last ditch effort for my phone and the police officer actually laughed when I asked about anything being turned in. Too soon. At least we had a much more enjoyable ferry ride this time. We sat with a Brit on his way home from fourteen months away. We all shared stories and laughs and passed the time quickly.