tl;dr Went to Koh Phi Phi (did not enjoy), pool party at the hostel, and out on Bangla Walking street until 5:30am – 3 activities
Activity 1 – Koh Phi Phi Island:
I had heard that Koh Phi Phi was beautiful, so I decided to book a trip to the island. A little background first: there are two islands that comprise Koh Phi Phi – one of them has hotels and infrastructure, the other is where the filmed the movie “The Beach.” There are basically two options to get to Koh Phi Phi – ferry and speedboat. The ferry takes quite a bit longer and only goes to the main island, while the speedboat includes snorkeling, a stop at both Koh Phi Phi islands, and a stop at some other island.
I wake up early and get picked up by a minibus, which proceeds to take me (and others) to the docks on the other side of the island. Here we waited for about 20 minutes before getting our briefing. Finally, we get on the speedboat and head to our first stop – snorkeling.
Snorkeling was fine…saw a lot of fish (barely any coral and minimal variety of fish). We swam for about 30 minutes. So I did not take my GoPro and therefore have zero underwater pictures…oops. The ride on the speedboat was not enjoyable – it was extremely choppy and water kept spraying up over the side and getting everyone soaking wet.
The next island was 100% a tourist trap. To sit in a chair, you had to pay to rent it. To use the bathroom, you had to pay. There was nothing to do for the 30 minutes we were there.
Next up, an hour and a half ride to Koh Phi Phi. This was the worst part – people got sick cause of the choppiness and you could not read or listen to music cause of the water spraying. FINALLY, we get to Koh Phi Phi and eat lunch with our speedboat (included in the price), but it was terrible.
I made an executive decision: skip the other island and take the last ferry back to Phuket (2hr ride). I did get to see the island from the beach though.
The ferry back was a much smoother and more comfortable ride. If you go to Koh Phi Phi, take the ferry and give yourself freedom to do what you want (you can hire a boat once on Phi Phi Don to go to Phi Phi Leh).
Activity 2 – Lub D Pool Party:
I make it back to Lub D in time for the beginning of the pool party. This was a blast. Played some more giant Jenga and drinking games. Hung out in the pool and met more people from all over the world. Stay at this hostel!
No pictures though as I was generally in the water or hanging out with people.
Activity 3 – Out in Phuket:
A massive group of us from the hostel (organized by the hostel) went out together. Our first stop was a bar on Bangla Walking street. We camped out at this bar for an hour or two drinking massive drinks and dancing. The coolest part of the bar was a guy walking around playing Sax on beat with the music.
We went out to Illuzion to dance – this is a massive club. I had tried going there the previous night, but found it nearly empty. As it turns out, bars in Phuket stay open to **officially 4am – I think,** so when I got there – it was too early. Illuzion was a ton of fun – great music and great atmosphere.
The lights turned on at 4am and everyone started to filter out. As I started moving to the exit, I saw what appeared to be a shorter line to leave going the other way; I grabbed the people I was still with from the hostel and started in the other direction. AFTER PARTY! These people were not leaving, they were going into a back room that had an after party going on. We hung out here for a while dancing and enjoying. Around 5:30am, I decide that sleep is not my priority and make for the exit. But, it’s raining – so now I have a dilemma: brave the rain or go dance some more until it stops raining. To my surprise, I chose sleep (and the rain had started to let up). Made it back to the hostel in time for the beginning of the sunrise and went to bed.
Andrew's Activities 