Due to the rain we had the previous day, we needed to reschedule the diving and snorkeling trip to today. We were planning on maybe doing a boat tour on our last day so I asked the dive shop if there was a way we could do both activities. They offered to take us to Phi Lei Lagoon which is on the opposite side of the island that Maya Bay is.
We met up with our guides for the day. I need to do a quick plug for Blue View Divers. If you’re in Koh Phi Phi definitely check them out: http://www.blueviewdivers.com/ I really liked the fact that they’re the only dive shop on the island that have their own private pool to teach diving stuff whereas everyone else does it in the ocean which is a little freaky for your first time doing drills.
Joanna and Xu basically had their own private guide for snorkeling which was awesome. I was a little nervous going diving again as the first time I went diving during our Okinawa trip I started freaking out a little during the descent because the water was so deep jumping off the boat. My diving guide reassured me by covering the dive plan and all the safety stuff, which made me feel a lot better.
My first dive went really well. I’m going to have to remember to wipe my face before doing my first dive of the day because my sunscreen got in my eyes and I wasn’t able to do anything but blink away the burning 60 ft underwater. Apparently there were 3 black tipped reef sharks that I didn’t see, my 2nd shark sighting while scuba diving that I didn’t get to actually see. Joanna and Xu however were able to see 10 sharks in a group swimming under them while they were snorkeling.
Both dives were incredible though. I saw giant pufferfish the size of a medium dog, moray eels, big schools of yellow snapper, and even a mantis shrimp which is kind of hard to find since they usually live in their little lairs. I even saw a few stingrays which I followed along the ocean floor for 20 or so feet.
I think there were cooler individual animals to see this time but Okinawa had more fish and coral to see as a whole.
Between dives we took a lunch break at Phi Lei Lagoon. The water in the lagoon was so aqua blue. When I surfaced from the first dive, the waves were really choppy and I instantly got sea sick while trying to swim to the boat. I didn’t have more than a few bites of lunch during the break but I eventually recovered and took some great pictures of us playing in the water.
I hung out at the dive shop for a while when we got back to share travel stories and stuff. One of the workers suggested we check out the fire show at Carlito’s bar at 9:30. We grabbed dinner and headed out that way. I think I forgot to mention that Koh Phi Phi is completely walkable within 10 minutes. I didn’t see any cars nor are there any roads to drive on either. You only needed to buy a drink at the bar to attend the fire show. It was a little over an hour and so impressive. We couldn’t sit in the front row because you could really feel the heat from the chains and sticks they lit on fire and flung around the stage. It started pouring rain in the middle of the show but they just kept going on, it was totally badass.
They asked for volunteers during one part of the show. Xu decided to go up and they passed her a cigarette to put in her mouth. The guy swung chains that were on fire and lit her cigarette in her mouth. So crazy.
Today was a really busy day today hence all the pictures. During the trip planning I was really worried about coming to Koh Phi Phi because it’s the off season as it rains often. I’d say we were really fortunate to have the weather that we did. It wasn’t too hot and we ended up having a fantastic time.
Update on the suit situation. My credit card company confirmed the refund to my account but the clothing store has 90 days to dispute my claim, we’ll see what happens next.
