Have you ever been somewhere that you couldn’t stop dreaming about after you left? The first time that happened to me was in Greece but more recently I felt it in Thailand. Spending 3 days on the Phi Phi Islands, I could have never imagined a place could be so exquisitely beautiful.
Here’s Spending 3 Days on the Phi Phi Islands: A Dream Destination:
Getting to the Phi Phi Islands
After staying in Bangkok for 48 hours, we flew from the DMK airport to Krabi. The Arunsiri Travel Company handled our entire transport. Taking a van from the Krabi airport to the Klong Jilad Pier, a ferry then brought us to Ko Phi Phi Don. Upon arrival to the port, a landing fee of 20 Baht, or about 60 cents, is collected to aid in clean-ups from over-tourism.
Read more: Bangkok in 2 Days – A Travel Diary
Accommodation on the Phi Phi Islands
Staying with the Phupaya Seaview Resort for our 3 nights on Phi Phi, we booked through AirBnb for $36 a night. The bamboo villas charmingly sit on the steep hillside within a lush jungle atmosphere.
While the bungalow is very small, it includes everything you’d need for an island vaca, especially that fan! The option to upgrade with a room with A/C is possible. Thailand charges high fees for using more than the alotted electricity so we opted for the fan to keep things cheap. Included with the stay at Phupaya is breakfast, a magnificent infinity pool overlooking the bay, a full bar and cafè-style restaurant.
If you’re a light sleeper, this place not be for you. Since it’s in close proximity to Tonsai Village, music bumps from about 10 PM to 3 or 4 in the morning every night. Talking to a couple with kids, they were considering leaving the island early as it seems more party-centralized than family-friendly.
Visiting Koh Lanta on your Thailand trip? Check out my pal Cassie’s guide to Koh Lanta here!
Day 1
Arriving to our Accommodation
After landing at the Tonsai pier, a staff member from our hotel greets us with that warm Thai smile. Placing our bags into a cage-like wheelbarrow, he began wheeling us through the village. After about 5 minutes walking straight uphill, he pauses at a tuk-tuk style truck and puts our bags in the front seat. From here we hop into the bed of the truck and make the final ascent up to Phupaya Seaview.
Lunch and a Dip
After settling into our villa, we rush down to the pool to cool off from the treacherous humidity. The infinity pool stunningly overlooks the curving white and palm-fringed beach that extends out between the mountains. We bob around in the perfectly-temped pool for a couple of hours while admiring the views.
Phi Phi View Point
After cooling ourselves off, we decide to get the heart pumping a little by making the trek up to the Phi Phi Viewpoint. Although there are easier ways to get there, we opt to hike the trail up by our accommodation.
The hike uphill is pretty demanding, especially in the Thailand hell-fire heat. The Viewpoint is on private property so a vendor sits at the entrance collecting 300 Baht ($9) per person but the views are totally worth it.
Loh Dalem Bay
With golden hour setting in as we descend from the viewpoint, we head down to the path at Phupaya to Loh Dalam Bay.
The best time to come to Loh Dalem Bay is in the evenings when the tide recedes. So many different types of marine life can be seen like oysters, clams and hermit crabs.
Sunset on the Beach
Before embarking on this trip, I read an article ranking places throughout the world to see sunsets. Phi Phi made the top 3 and I definitely didn’t anticipate just how stunning they would be. I was completely speechless every night watching the colors of the sky change.
Dinner in Tonsai Village
For some grub, we stop in at Madame Rusto for pizza and drinks in the Tonsai Village, about a 7 minute walk from our villa. The wide variety of shops, restaurants and bars is why most people on Phi Phi spend their evenings here.
Day 2
Breakfast with a View
Supplying us with the most epic breakfast views, I adored this part of our accommodation. There aren’t many more things better than waking up to a buffet-style breakfast and coffee while staring out at serenity.
All Day Boat Tour
During check-in at our accommodation, we were given the option to book a half or full day tour with a local boat company. Since something like this had been on my radar before deciding to come to Thailand, we chose a full tour and paid 1600 Baht ($50) per person.
While the actual experience of island hopping by boat was outstanding, the U-Rip tour company is not one I would recommend.
For a full review and details of our experience exploring Phi Phi by boat, click here.
Golden Hour at Loh Dalem Bay
That beautiful evening sunlight was hitting the island by the time we were walking back to our accommodation so we stopped on the beach to catch some views.
Sunset at the Pool
It’s almost like you have to prepare yourself for sunsets on the Phi Phi Islands. They are simply incredible and I’ve never seen another like it.
Day 3
Breakfast at the Resort
Could you ever get sick of waking up to these views?
Kayak Rental
Since our last full day was completely open schedule-wise we had the plan to spend it at the beach. On the walk down, we pass by a man asking if we want to rent some kayaks. Since the boat tour the day before didn’t take us to the real monkey beach, we figure this would be the opportunity. Paying 200 Baht ($6) for 2 hours, we take off into the bay.
Monkey Beach
Paddling against a strong current of waves from nearby boats, we finally make it over to Monkey Beach. Two workers sat on some chairs collecting landing fees but, I’m guessing since we were in a kayak, they didn’t approach us for any money.
Monkeys are literally scattered every where on this beach! In the trees, on the beach itself and in the vegetation behind. As we walk down to view some in the trees, we hear some commotion behind us. To our surprise, a monkey is ravaging through all of our things! He cracks open our only water, takes a swig and dumps it out all on to the beach. It doesn’t take him long to lose interest and he was off back onto the island. What an experience!
Sunset Boat Tour
Since we didn’t get to catch the sunset on our boat tour, we decide to head down to the pier to search for a captain. Sure enough, finding a local to offer up his boat is pretty easy to do. After negotiating one of them down from 700 to 500 Baht ($15), we end up experiencing the highlight of our entire vacation. That skyyyyy!
Read More: Exploring the Phi Phi Islands by Boat
Dinner in the Village
Heading back to the Tonsai pier, we walk to a nearby restaurant for some dinner. After some drinks and reminiscing over our amazing three days here in Phi Phi, we retreat back to our bamboo villa for the night.
Leaving Phi Phi
After those 3 days on the Phi Phi Islands, the next step on our Thailand adventure was hopping on a ferry to Krabi’s Klong Jilad Pier. Once arriving back in Krabi, a bus transported us 3 hours to Surat Thani’s Donsak Pier. We then hopped on a ferry to Koh Samui, with the whole excursion taking about 8 hours. After Koh Samui, we went on to Koh Tao for a couple of days before heading home.
Read More Thailand Travel Posts HereRead More: A Short Trip to Koh Samui + Tips / Basking in the Paradise of Koh Tao
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What a beautiful place! The kind of place dreams are made out of! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Isn’t it incredible?! It really felt like a dream, even now looking back, can’t believe I got the opportunity to visit. Would be happy to spend the rest of my days on that little island! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this process step by step. I have never been to this island or any remote-is island before so this is such an amazing eye opener.
The sunsets are breath taking. 🙂
Ahh thanks so much! I really hope you can make it to a remote island like this one day! It was my first experience with it and it was so incredible! The sunsets are just something else, complete magic!