Southern Thailand by Boat

Phuket to Koh Phi Phi to Ao Nang to Railay to Koh Phangang to Koh Samui. Four ferry rides and two longboat rides brought us to all these spots. I guess boats are my new favorite way of transport between places.

After arriving in Phuket at 10 pm the previous night, we spent the morning walking around and grabbing some street food. A sense of familiarity crossed over me when I realized I was wandering around the same spots I’d gone with my family four years ago in 2019. Everything was similar yet different. Maybe the legalization of cannabis played a role…I didn’t remember people selling weed at every other establishment.

We took the 1 pm ferry to Koh Phi Phi, where we’d spend the next four days lounging on the beach, scuba diving, kayaking in the crystal clear water, and taking advantage of the crazy nightlife. After four long days of traveling every night from Bali to Singapore to Phuket, it was nice to relax. At night, we found awesome live music and heard covers of all our favorite Van Morrison, the Eagles, and Beatles songs.

The scuba diving was spectacular. In every other crevasse in the reef, huge moray eels stuck their heads out. Turtles lounged at cleaning stations, and schools of barracuda swam above. Our dive master took us through six swim holes that were too tight for comfort. To top it off, by our dive master’s recommendation, we were served delicious green curry on the boat for lunch.

Koh Phi Phi was beautiful, but after a few days, we were ready to make our way to Ao Nang. I think the fourteen-person dorm room in our hostel and people loudly stumbling in the door until 6 am may have played a role. We thought staying out until 2 am was late enough.

In Ao Nang, we watched amazing sunsets and spectacular fire shows on the beach before heading to the markets every night. On our walk to the beach during the day, we were “greeted” (tormented) by the monkeys. I will never understand why people feed them and expect the monkeys not to bother them. Do you not wonder how it impacts their behavior and how they’ve become dependent on humans for food? I could talk about my frustration with this for a while, but instead, I’ll talk about another highlight of the trip.

At 7 am, we were picked up from our hostel by a tuk-tuk to catch a longboat over to Railay Beach. Powered by a new staple, 7-Eleven coffee and Greek yogurt, we were prepared for a full day of rock climbing. What an unexpected and unique experience. Now, I obviously knew about the climbing in Railay from research, but actually doing it was surreal.

Our guides lead climbed and set the ropes while we put our harnesses and shoes on. Having only done indoor climbing and outdoor bouldering, I was ecstatic to be belayed on a cave overlooking the ocean. Aware of my lost finger strength and calluses from not climbing for a while, I was glad none of the routes were too challenging. At one point, they even let my friend Ella belay me. She did an amazing job even though it had been a bit since she belayed someone. Except that one time I fell a few meters because there was too much slack…maybe spending five weeks straight traveling together was starting to create tension.

Our last two stops in Thailand were Koh Phangan and Koh Samui, which are both on the east side of Southern Thailand, opposite from where we were. A bus ride and yet another ferry later, we arrived at our beachfront hostel. We had arrived just in time for the half-moon festival. We spent the day hiking up to beautiful viewpoints and night covered in glow-in-the-dark paint at a party on the beach.

Our last night in Koh Samui was somewhat bittersweet. As we sat on the sand watching the sun dip under the horizon, we realized it would be our last “beach” part of the trip. Southern Thailand was an absolute dream. While I’d been to some of these places before with my family, I gained so many new and different experiences this time around; I can’t wait to go back again.