The limestone island scenery at Maya Beach was truly top notch. The limestone outcrops shaped by thousands of years of rain stand in front of me across the beach. The beach is a wonderful powder white sand that will thrill any sun worshipper. So is this paradise? If looks are the only things to consider, I would readily say yes. However, it is not as simple as that. Remember that our boat has 40 other tourists aside from me. That would have been okay. However, they were around 20 other boats parked at Maya Beach when we were there!
It would have been an understatement to say that there were a lot of people at Maya Beach. The water really looks inviting, but there were just too many people there, aside from the fact that I need to find a way to keep my camera safe somewhere while I go swimming. The beach itself was crowded with people from all over the world. I couldn’t get a shot without any people in the photo. I was also waiting for the sun to come out from behind the clouds to get the really iridescent color I was longing for.
Unfortunately for me, time was up and the sun didn’t fully illuminate the entire bay. Our tour guide was already hollering for us to get back to the motorboat. If you got left behind by the boat, I really have no idea how you can go back to land. Maya Beach is not the only place to see here on Ko Phi Phi Leh, there are hiking trails which can get you a 360 views of the island, I would have wanted that.
Alas, the boat was not mine alone and there were other places to see aside from Maya Beach. I have read there are no formal hotels on the island but it is possible for visitors to spend the night there on the beach. I can imagine the beauty and excitement of having the entire island all to yourself. That is until a thousand tourists come all at the same time and remind you that you are not in paradise afterall. If you want to have a taste of paradise surrounded by limestone islands, secluded beaches with powder white sands and secret lagoons, Phi Phi is a great place to be, but only if you can have it all to yourself – which is impossible.
I would recommend that visitors go to the Bacuit Archipelago in El Nido in Palawan, Philippines intead. It doesn’t have the mass tourism that exists in Thailand (yet), it doesn’t have the noisy bars that practically line the streets of Phuket, but this is a place that is just or maybe even more beautiful than Phi Phi Island. This is a place that you can really call paradise.
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