Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [590]
Reggae Bar (Tonsai Village) The most popular nightspot waves its Rasta flags high. Drinking competitions, moo·ay tai boxing and the occasional gà·teu·i (ladyboy) cabaret get patrons out of their chairs.
Carpe Diem (08 4840 1219; Hat Hin Khom) Sit on pillows in the upstairs lounge and watch the sun go down (locals say this is the best spot for sundowners). Carpe Diem rocks well into the night with fire shows, dance parties and live music on the beach. It’s very popular, and an easy spot for mingling if you’re travelling alone.
Hippies (08 1970 5483; Hat Hin Khom) Hippies is a good place to end the evening. There are candlelit tables on the beach and chill-out tunes on the sound system. Moon parties are thrown throughout the month.
Apache Bar (Ao Ton Sai) With a strange Native American theme (think the Village People) lit by fluorescent lights, this long-time favourite is definitely campy. It fills up early and blasts loud music to all hours (to the annoyance of people sleeping nearby). Look for a new instalment of Apache in Tonsai Village.
Carlitos (08 9927 3772; Ao Ton Sai) This fairy-light-lit beachside bar, which puts on impressive fire shows, attracts fa·ràng seeking beers and a chair in the sand. It gets rowdy and packs in major crowds on dance-party nights. We like how Carlitos does its bit for the environment by recycling.
Getting There & Away
Boats link Ko Phi-Phi to Krabi, Phuket, Ao Nang, Ko Lanta, the Trang Islands and Ko Lipe. Most boats moor at Ao Ton Sai, though a few from Phuket use the isolated northern pier at Laem Thong. The Phuket and Krabi boats operate year-round while boats to Ao Nang, Ko Lanta, the Trang Islands and Ko Lipe only run in the November-to-May high season.
Boats depart from Krabi for Ko Phi-Phi at 9am, 10.30am and 2.30pm (450B to 490B, 1½ hours). From Phuket, boats leave at 8.30am, 1.30pm and 2.30pm, and return from Ko Phi-Phi at 9am, 2.30pm and 3pm (400B, 1¾ to two hours). Speedy bus links on Phuket have made it possible to make a beeline to/from Phuket International Airport. A boat departs from the Ko Phi-Phi Marine National Park headquarters jetty (near Ao Nang) at 9am, returning from Ko Phi-Phi (via Railay) at 3.30pm (450B to 490B, two hours). Prices often drop by 50B in the low season. To Ko Lanta (with continuing service to Ko Lipe and the Trang Islands), boats leave Phi-Phi at 11.30am and 2pm, and return from Ko Lanta at 8am and 1pm (450B, 1½ hours). Rumour has it that a Phi-Phi–Ko Yao ferry will start running soon –ask around for details.
Getting Around
There are no roads on Phi-Phi Don so transport is mostly by foot. If you want to visit a remote beach, long-tails can be chartered at Ao Ton Sai for 100B to 500B depending on how far you go. Chartering a long-tail boat costs 1200B for three hours or 3000B for the whole day.
KO PHI-PHI LEH
Like a giant earthen crown rising up from the ocean floor, Ko Phi-Phi Leh is truly a sight for sore eyes. The smaller and scruffier of the Phi-Phi sisters, the island features rounded soaring cliffs that cut through crystalline waters and gorgeous blooms of coral. Two lovely lagoons hide in the island’s interior – Pilah on the east coast and the legendary Ao Maya on the west. Ao Maya hit the jackpot in 1999 when it starred as ‘the perfect beach’ in the movie version of Alex Garland’s cult classic The Beach. Visitor numbers continue to soar.
At the northeastern tip of the island, Viking Cave (Tham Phaya Naak; admission 20B) is a major collection point for swiftlet nests. Bamboo scaffolding reaches its way to the roof of the cave as nimble collectors scamper up to gather the nests built high up the cliffs. Before ascending the scaffolds, the collectors pray and make offerings of tobacco, incense and liquor to the cavern spirits. This cave gets its misleading moniker from the 400-year-old graffiti made by crews of passing Chinese fishing junks.
There are no places to stay at on Phi-Phi Leh and most people come here on one of the ludicrously popular day trips out of Phi-Phi