Koh Phi Phi: The Dives

The sheer walls of Lay Phi Phi make for dramatic scenery. Phi Phi is surrounded by awe inspiring vistas and tranquil seas.

This last week I spent most of 5 days on Koh Phi Phi. This is a very famous island on the west coast of Thailand, accessible by ferries from Krabi and Phuket. To be honest, I knew little about Phi Phi prior to my visit so I went in with unsure expectations, just knowing its reputation as an island paradise.

First let me start with the diving. We did 8 dives in Phi Phi. The marine park that surrounds Phi Phi has 6 islands total: Koh Phi Phi, Lay Phi Phi, Bida Nok, Bida Nai, Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island. The first day there was an option for a trip to the south, to Hin Dang and Hin Muang, two submerged sea mounts or pinnacles about 2 hours by speed boat. Our two dives there were good but not spectacular. One member and a DM from our group did glimpse a whale shark swimming past. This is the draw of Hin Dang and Hin Muang. A few years ago they were sites where whale sharks and manta rays were frequently spotted. The frequency has dropped off but it is still a popular site. It is in the middle of nowhere and still there were two liveaboards and our speedboat there the day we dove.

The second day we convinced our dive shop, Blue View Divers, to do 3 dives instead of their usual 2 dive trip. Our first dive was on the west side of Lay Phi Phi. It turned out to be a great dive with a couple of turtles and my best every viewing of a leopard shark. The leopard shark swam as close as two meters to me. Our surface interval was at Maya Bay on Lay Phi Phi, which I will tell you more about later.

Our second dive was Bida Nok. A nice dive with the usual suspects, the highlight being a huge school of baitfish that were flitting here and there in unison along a 10 meter wall in the middle of the dive.

Our third dive was the Viking Cave Artificial Reef. The reef is large concrete cubes, stacked on one another. The cubes are just the frames so you can swim through the center of them. The dive was fairly average.

The last day we were given the opportunity to charter a yacht for just 10USD extra and do three dives. The first dive was King Cruiser, a huge ferry that sank in 1997. The visibility was poor but the wreck of the King Cruiser is the largest one I have dove to date.

Next stop was Shark Point, which failed to live up to its name. Instead it is a reef teeming with soft coral and anemones. We saw several lion fish and morays on the dive.

The last dive of the trip was back on the west side of Lay Phi Phi and a very sad dive to end our trip. The highlight was a reef octopus hiding in a hole near the end of the dive.

I really enjoyed the yacht. It was nice to just relax and lay on the deck while doing surface intervals. So peaceful. I just wanted them to stop the music and kill the engine most of the time so we could just hear the waves and other ocean sounds. Alas, they did not. The downside was that we did long surface swims each dive, the last one being about 200 meters. I would’ve liked to be dropped closer to the dive sites. I definitely would do the boat, the Dragonheart, again but I don’t think I would pay what they will eventually price it at. We had a special trial rate.

Phi Phi is not a diving destination. The dives were all good dives but nothing spectacular. If you dive Krabi, Phuket or Phi Phi you will be diving pretty much the same sites from each place.

It solidified in my mind that I don’t enjoy diving with most Western dive operators in Asia. They only offered two boat dives a day and never mentioned a night dive. Most dive operators I have dove with in Malaysia offer three boat dives. The dive masters were nice but a bit demanding. One required that we do buddy checks on every dive even though we had the same buddy and same equipment on each dive. Releases don’t wander around your equipment between dives. Also, when the signal to take a safety stop was given, you had to immediately start your safety stop. You couldn’t finish looking at something and start it a minute or two later. It had to be NOW!

I have found the dive operators in Malaysia more flexible, albeit sometimes too lax on rule following, but generally I prefer the Asian style.

Phi Phi is a place where the dives are another activity that is added to the overall list of things to do on the island rather than a specific reason to visit.

Our yacht, the Dragonheart.