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This week we have a special guest post by LeAnna from www.economicalexcursionists.com. LeAnna and her husband Travel Hack their way around the world and are now living in Europe. In this article LeAnna shares about their once in a lifetime experience at The Beach in Maya Bay, Thailand. We want to go!
Take us away LeAnna…
Want to explore more of Thailand? Check out these 50 ideas for things to do in Thailand. Heading to Cambodia? Check out 10 awesome places to go in Cambodia.
Living Life by a Bucket List
I am convinced that there are few places on Earth more stunning than The Beach.
What Beach?
THE BEACH! Come on, you know the one! The one where Leonardo DiCaprio finds a map while in Thailand that leads him to a mystery-shrouded, utopian society on The Beach.
Ok, only Hollywood may call Maya Bay, which is a short boat’s ride off of the main Koh Phi Phi island in Thailand, just, “The Beach.” But this little piece of heaven doesn’t need much description or introduction. One look at the tiny, uninhabited island and it is no wonder why Leo and his crew decided to use Maya as the set of “The Beach.”
Unfortunately, since the filming of the movie, the island and now preserved national park has taken on a tourist life of its own. If you go during the day, you’ll have to battle for a small section of sand and will have to share the small cove filled with the most beautiful blue and green waters with hundreds of other beachgoers. But the fact that even despite the hordes of people, it is still a site to behold says a lot about just how stunning this piece of paradise really is.
After watching the movie and seeing even just a few pictures from the trusty Google, there was no question whether going to Maya Bay was going to be on our itinerary while at Koh Phi Phi. However, I like my personal space and didn’t want to share my experience with all those other people.
This was when I stumbled upon Maya Bay Tours.
Now, before I explain, I have to say that I have a small “Bucket list” of things I want to accomplish, see or do in life. These usually aren’t places, but instead actual experiences. Going Zorbing in New Zealand (check!) or go to and participate in a nude beach (awkwardly, check!). Another one of these items was to swim at night in the ocean with Phytoplankton. You can actually see this phenomenon in the movie, “The Beach”, but I didn’t realize that that portion of the film was actually based off of reality!
The excursion included a night full of activities including snorkeling in crystal clear coves, a BBQ on the beach, spending the night under the stars, breakfast on the boat, hilarious games to break the ice with the other travelers and yes, you guessed it; swimming in the phytoplankton rich waters at night.
At almost $85 per person, the cost of the excursion was way over our usual penny-pinching budget. There are few things that we’ll actually spend big on, but since it came down to a bucket list item, I was able to justify the splurge. And I am thankful I did because it was one of the most memorable and magical nights of my life!
The excursion started with a boat ride out to the island, Ko Phi Phi Leh. Along the way, we sailed passed a Vikings Cave (The Swallows Bird Nest Cave) to learn about the fabled history of the cave as well as the current Chinese bird Swallow industry.
We then stopped in a cove where, if we didn’t know any better, we might have thought we were the only ones on the planet. It was just our group, the colorful fish and the sheer cliffs surrounding us. We could snorkel, jump off the boat roof, kayak or just take in the beauty of the island.
We then headed into Maya Bay. Our boat anchored just before heading into the bay so that we could see all the people packed onto the beach, but still were close enough to view the bay in all its glory. Once again, we hopped in the clear waters and snorkeled with the friendly fish and then watched as all the tourists started to leave, boat by boat, for the day, leaving only ours left floating by itself in the peaceful, isolated bay.
As a national park, the island technically “closes” for the night. Unless you are with this specific excursion, no tourists are allowed to stay on the island overnight. So, by the time we were tendered onto the beach, it was only our small group just in time to watch the sun dip slowly into the ocean in front of us.
As the advertisements promised, we indulged in an amazing Thai BBQ on the beach, played hilarious games appropriate only for adults and then spent the evening next to a bonfire as our guide strummed on his guitar under the moonlight, us humming along.
As the night enveloped us, we were taken back to our boat. We could already see the water start to sparkle as the phytoplankton came to life against the movement of the small dinghies cruising in the water.
At the boat, we jumped into, what looked like pitch black waters. However, with even just a slight movement of the hand of flutter kick of the feet, the waters burst into flashes of white. Hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton swirled around in the dark waters making it look as if you were literally swimming in a sea of diamonds. I have never experienced something so magical and surreal.
While I could have stayed in those warm, sparkling waters all night, we were eventually told it was time to turn in.
As we fell asleep on the swaying boat dock under the clear night’s sky, I was reminded, yet again, that travel is not always about a checklist of places to see. Instead, it is about living every moment as if it was your bucket list.
Julie says
This excursion is also on my travel bucket list! I’m glad you had such a good time of it, and that it worked out as planned. For some reason I have this thought in my head that the plankton can move spots each night so you have to ‘find them’ – or something 🙂
Jennifer Joslin says
Haha 🙂 That’s a good point! I wonder if the plankton are there year round or just at certain times.
priya says
Those Looks like Really awesome Places and Best Travel Experience
Holly says
Love the pictures. I hope to visit Thailand soon. Glad you got to have some amazing experiences.
Stacey Valle says
I honestly never seen that movie, so I didn’t know about the famous Beach in Thailand until I went to Thailand last summer. “You never saw that movie!?!” my travel partner said. Even today, I still haven’t seen that movie. To come think of it, I should any time soon, haha. My travel partner and I were supposed to last summer but didn’t get a chance to due to monsoon season – the weather wasn’t good. Despite how touristy it is now, I don’t mind giving it a try and get the idea.
LeAnna says
Honestly. we had never seen it until right before the trip! We like to find films though about where we are going (even the Hollywood ones) just for fun!
Jen Seligmann says
What a beautiful experience LeAnna! You told the story wonderfully and I almost felt like I was there with you.
I’ve never heard of the phytoplankton before but will be adding it to my list of things to do when in Thailand someday.
LeAnna says
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it. Just google phytoplankton, you will be blown away! I wish I had personal pictures, but w/out the right tech gear, you just have to have your memory. It was out of this world, though!
Mia says
Everything about this is amazing! I would love to go to Maya Bay when there aren’t 10,000 tourists there. Lucky you being able to snap these shots without anyone else. We had a similar moment on the Great Wall of China. I’m dying to the bioluminescent tour. Good to know I can know off two things in one trip!
LeAnna says
I think that even in the touristy spots, if you do your homework you can find out when to go without less people! Honestly, I didn’t even have to work to get these vacant pictures…it was just about the 20 of us from the excursion! It was amazing!
Veronika says
Night tour seems like great idea! I am not much a bucket list traveler, but I think I would like to climb Mount Everest, or at least some par of it. That would be a big challenge!
Keet it going! And – I love your video! Cheers, Veronika
Danka says
Wow, I didn’t know you can take a night tour to Maya Bay! I was in Kho Phiphi and I decided not to go to The Beach because of the amount of tourist. I was sure it would completely destroy my experience and love for that place. But this is pretty awesome! Next time I go there Ill make sure I take this tour. It sounds like a great experience!
LeAnna says
I agree! I try to avoid the touristy spots and crowds for just that reason. Sure, this was out of our typical budget, but I’m so glad we did it!
Cailin says
This sounds like a wonderful experience! I would love to visit some day and it would be so nice to have it without all of the big crowds! Also swimming with the plankton would be cool!
Orana says
Isn’t the phytoplankton amazing? We saw that in Krabi on kayaks and the kiddos loved it!!! You were really lucky to have experienced Maya Bay all on your own like that! We knew about an excursion that went to Maya Bay at 5 am before the crowds. The sunset experience sounds much better!
LeAnna says
We got to glide through the phytoplankton in boats in Bali, too and it was beauitful! But, SWIMMING in it was just magical! Glad you got to enjoy a piece of magic in Krabi 🙂
Natasha Amar says
I was there a few years ago, but they didn’t have the night tours going on at the time. So great you got to experience something so magical!
Dave from Daves Travel Pages says
It sounds like you had a really good experience, and diving in with the phytoplankton must have been incredible!