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Blog, Living on Koh Phi Phi, Photography, SCUBA, Taking a Sabbatical

Visiting and Living on Koh Phi Phi Islands

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I’ve been in Thailand for nearly a month now and spent the entire time on Koh Phi Phi Don Island. I love it!

Don’t get any romantic ideas of a quiet, remote village surrounded by beautiful sea, mountains and jungle à la Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach.  It was up until The Beach was filmed here and now it’s a tourism and scuba diving magnet with a big party scene and it’s more expensive than most places in Thailand. It is however surrounded by beautiful sea, mountains and jungle and still has its own soul and vibe. The people that live on Phi Phi tend to be very helpful and smiley. Everything and everyone moves at their own pace and locals still seem genuinely curious about people that come to stay on Phi Phi for a while. I think the place is just on that fine line of being big enough to be able to handle dozens of boat loads of tourists everyday while still maintaining a local community feel and mentality. Oh, and it really is a spectacularly beautiful place.

Loh Dalum Bay
Loh Dalum Bay

The town is built on a sandy beach between two tall limestone ridges and is less than two meters above sea level. On both sides are semicircular bays lined with beaches. Tonsai Bay on the south side of town is crowded with longtail and other water vessels. Nice to look at but generally not great for sunbathing and swimming. On the north side is Loh Dalum Bay and it’s the place to be for swimming, paddling, sunbathing and of course, partying. During the day it’s fairly quiet and chilled while it night it bursts to life with beach bars and clubs.

Tonsai Bay and Loh Dalum Bay
Tonsai Bay and Loh Dalum Bay

Since I’m diving almost everyday starting at 7am I haven’t been seeing much of the partying side of Phi Phi. We mostly have a beer at work in the evenings then head to one of the more chilled out places for one or 2 more before bed. If you plan on visiting and you’re looking for chilled out drinks that don’t cost a fortune head to The Sports Bar, Relax Bar or the only rooftop bar on Phi Phi, Banana Bar (also one of the diving communities favourites). If you’re looking for a more lively scene then start at Dojo and Stockholm Syndrome and when they close head to the beach and somewhere like Slinkys.

In less than a month I’ve stayed at 3 different bungalows/rooms. If you’re staying more than a month there’s a huge range of accommodation options and not very much useful information on the internet to help. My first place was towards the back of town (10 minute walk to work) and cost 9000 Baht per month. It was one room, had a private bathroom and a fan but no hot water and toilets that are flushed manually using a bucket of water. Despite being a hot and dark room it was fine until the rain came. Then it turned into a dank, leaking puddle cave with new layers of mold growing daily. Any lengthy exposure to mold can be really really bad for your respitory system. Not cool if you dive very day. Time to move! Next was a 10000 per month place 2 minutes from work. Complete with hot shower, flushing toilet and a little fridge I thought I’d hit jackpot when I inspected the room. It was bright and spacious compared to my previous room but they had used a heavy amount of cleaning products which I didn’t like but I figured at least that meant they had just cleaned the room. Turns out they had just covered up the smell of mold. One nights stay revealed everything was riddled with mold. Even the pillows smelt like mold. Time to move! Only this time the manager refused to give me back my months rent. She wouldn’t move me to a new room either. After hours of arguing I decided my health was more important than 10000 Baht so I moved out anyway. A word of sincere advice if you’re coming to Phi Phi, do not stay at K House! I’m now in a 10000 a month place which is dry and clean. I have a hot shower and flushing toilet but dear god I miss having a fridge. Oh well.. can’t have everything.

Moldy Toilet
Moldy Doors
The hot shower that had to be fixed before use
The room at K House

If you’re thinking about staying on Phi Phi for a month or more most places will range from about 7000 Baht per month to 25000 per month. For 7000 Baht you’ll get a private room with a fan and shared toilet facilities. Expect no hot Water and toilets that are flushed manually using a bucket of water. Reach the 10000 Baht per month mark and you’ll be looking at private bathroom, hot water, flushing toilet, and maybe aircon and/or a small fridge. 25000 will get you a beautiful new building over looking one of the bays on a quiet location but it’s still likely to be just one room. I haven’t seen or heard of any actual apartments with a kitchen etc… needless to say, everyone eats out all the time. Good thing the food is relativey cheap. A couple of last words on accommodation speaking from some bitter experiences:
1. Book a hotel or dorm room first, come to Phi Phi then start walking around and viewing accommodation
2. Check if bills are or are not included in your monthly rent
3. Try and pay your monthly rent half upfront and half at the end if possible
4. Always check the room for damp. Lots of rooms are really unhealthily damp so if you smell or see it walk away no matter how good the deal is.

If you’re staying for a few days, Trip Advisor is definitely worth a visit to find your accommodation options. If you have any questions please just shout using comments below or use my contact form.

Yep, so I eat out everyday, 3 meals a day. It’s my least favourite thing about living on Phi Phi. I miss being able to make myself a simple sandwich or quickly scramble some eggs the way I like them. Since everyone eats out all the time there is (thankfully!) quite a a lot of variety and options. My personal favourite is Grand PP Arcade. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, the menu is relatively small but the food is perfection, prices are reasonable and the owners are lovely. It’s possible to eat out for less than 60 baht a meal but more realistically you’re looking at between 100 and 200 baht a meal. I’ve started putting together my top 10 restaurants on Phi Phi Island here.

Breakfast at work. I love working next to PP Arcade. My wallet doesn't!
Breakfast at work. I love working next to PP Arcade. My wallet doesn’t!

The diving on Phi Phi is awesome but my shop doesn’t allow instructors to take cameras with them (for good reason) so I need to come up with another plan to bring you some diving pictures. When I have that I’ll do a full article on the diving here. For now I leave you with some above water shots of the dive sites 🙂

Ciao for now
Ben

Blog, Photography, SCUBA

Ever Wondered What it’s Like To Dive in a Cavern or a Cave? (Video)

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It’s been said that per attempt, cave diving is the single most dangerous sport in the world.  It’s dark, the spaces are cramped and you can’t easily get to the surface if something goes wrong. Going into a situation for the first time with that in mind is pretty daunting.   Luckily, in terms of personal risk,  there is a big difference between SCUBA diving in a cave and in a cavern and there’s plenty of locations to start gently and work your way up. An experienced local guide and good buoyancy control are an absolute must though! I was fortunate to get the opportunity to do both in one day recently. Thankfully I was diving with good friends among which is a very experienced cave diver.  That said, the large quantities of adrenaline coursing through my veins told me this was still a new, challenging and somewhat scary experience.

Easy to get to but still a remote dive site. Experience and planning required!
Easy to get to but still a remote dive site. Experience and planning required!

We were diving in 2 different cenotes,  El Pit and Dream Gate.  They’re approximately 45 minutes from Playa Del Carmen along the main highway.  Turning off the highway for Dos Ojos to get to El Pit you quickly realise that although the cenotes are tourist attractions this is still very much a remote location.   Dream Gate even more so.  There is no sign for the turning and you have to drive through private property to get to the dirt track. El Pit is exactly as the name suggests,  a deep circular cavern and a really nice introduction to cavern diving.

Not for the faint of heart
Not for the faint of heart

El Pit Map

El Pit Cenotes. A beautiful place for cavern and cave diving
El Pit Cenotes. A beautiful place for cavern and cave diving

These places are wild and beautiful, that is if you’re not at the big tourist hot spots where the tour buses go.  El Pit was exactly the picture I had in mind for a cenote and it certainly met my expectations. Facilities are limited though so experience and planning is essential. There are no places to set up your gear so you either assemble everything on the floor or on a rickety bench. The hike to the entrance is mercifully short however there is a long and steep set of stairs to tackle before you jump in. As you dive down through the cold and crystal clear water to approximately 25 to 30 meters you meet a layer of liquid hydrogen sulfide which looks like a surreal and dreamy cloud of chalk approximately 2 – 5 meters thick. It’s difficult to see through and toxic if you spend a lot of time in it. We didn’t stay below the hydrogen sulfide for very long. My dive buddy, Phil, experienced nitrogen narcosis in a big way on the way through and along with near zero visibility, casually descended to a whopping 51 meters! Since we couldn’t see a thing on the way through the cloud we didn’t see the dive leader level out before 40 meters and once visibility returned it became apparent I’d followed my buddy down to 49 meters… Ooops!  Luckily our experienced cave diving leader saw what was happening very quickly, made contact and recovered the situation. With the narcosis fading, we spent the next 45 minutes gradually ascending as we circled the cavern many times. There was an incredible amount of different spaces to explore.  From large cavernous areas with huge stalactites coming from the ceiling to small shelved areas with only 1.5 meters room from floor to ceiling. It was a new and magical experience for me and I couldn’t help but smile every time I caught a glimpse of the open cavern filled with sunlight back-lighting a group of descending divers.  It’s just such an iconic view of cavern diving which I’d recommend it to any diver without claustrophobia 🙂

Next was on to Dream Gate.

Maximum depth is only 7 meters
Maximum depth is only 7 meters
Once you're in the cavern there are 2 routes to follow.
Once you’re in the cavern there are 2 routes to follow.

PANO_20150111_145550WEBWhile still technically a cavern dive it’s right on the boundary of the definition of cavern. In reality it’s about as close to getting to do a cave dive as you can without a cave diving qualification. The diving companies only take experienced divers here and that can been seen in how pristine everything is. This was a truly beautiful experience. The cave formations such as stalactites and stalagmites were amazing. The maximum depth may only be 7 meters but at some points you have less than 1 meter between floor and ceiling which is exhilarating the first time you glide through such tight spaces in the pitch black. We managed to do both routes in one dive, barely saw a single other diver and exited feeling both elated and super relaxed. That said while it was beautiful, exhilarating and relaxing I wouldn’t recommend doing this dive if your buoyancy control isn’t spot on.  You’ll spend your whole dive crashing into the floor and ceiling while surrounded by a cloud of extremely fine sand.

As a thank you for making it this far through my article I’ll leave you with a video mostly filmed in El Pit 🙂

Filmed and edited by Phil Bunyard (In his spare time between episodes of narcosis!)

As always, I’d love to hear about your thoughts and any experiences you’ve had with diving in caverns and caves.

Ciao for now!

Ben

p.s. coming up I have an article discussing the pursuit of happiness as I’ve spent a fair bit of time thinking about it recently.  I’ll also be looking for a way to give you more insight into nitrogen narcosis – what it is, how it feels, what happens when you have it etc…

Blog, Living in Playa Del Carmen, Photography

Tequila, Panettone and a Slice of Serenity – Feliz Navidad!

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I’ve been privileged to have experienced Christmas in many different countries around the globe and can honestly say I have no preference between a summer Christmas with a BBQ around a swimming pool or a winter Christmas with snow and an open fire. They both paint a wonderful picture on the surface with the reality having both pros and cons. In short, bah humbug!

Not knowing many people, having a student budget and lacking motivation, this year in Playa Del Carmen Christmas was looking like a none event for us. That was until one of our fellow diving students, Ricky, invited us to his place on the 24th for an Italian Christmas dinner. Actually, several people ended up inviting us to dinner. The people around us are just incredibly welcoming and giving!

Antonio Banderas in Playa Del Carmen
Me and Antonio Banderas.. I mean Ricky C

Ricky lives with Marco, a very cool diving instructor and Max, the most helpful and welcoming man in Playa who knows everyone! They’re basically a house full of awesome Italians. Arriving unfashionably early at 9pm, we were welcomed in by Max’s parents, ushered out to the bar by the pool and handed a beer.

As the night progressed we were treated to large quantities of lasagna, aubergine parmigiana (I think that’s what it’s called) and other amazing home made Italian dishes (thanks to Marco’s Mum!). The panettone, pandoro and coffee rounded off a night consisting of several toasts of tequila washed down with margaritas and interspersed with beers.

Moral of the story. If you’re ever invited to Christmas by an Italian, say yes please immediately!

We were fairly well behaved on the tequila and margarita side of things as we had this great idea that we might get to go diving with Bull Sharks on Christmas day. Turns out most of Playa had the same idea and the dive boats were too full for us to join the party. Who knew Christmas day was when everyone in Playa wanted to go diving?!?!

Plan B! We took to the streets to explore more of Playa… Turns out, those that weren’t diving were also exploring Playa!

Quinta Avenida, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
The Masses…

Wondering down 5th avenue brought as back to a cool little shop we’d seen weeks previous called The Little Teapot. Perfect place to escape the crowds and watch the world go by. Just for fun and because we can here’s a short clip of the adventure. (Phils videography debut!)

With our sanity restored we headed to Mamita’s Beach to walk off the amazing peanut butter cookies. A little stroll north and we discovered a small slice of serenity. A pleasant break from the masses of people everywhere.

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
How’s the serenity? Espléndido!

With our legs giving in from a hard days exploring we decided to head home for cervezas and chorizo. As usual, despite my best attempt at imitating Ebenezer Scrooge and although some fairly important people in my life were missing, I thoroughly enjoyed my first Christmas in Mexico.

Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad and Merry Christmas all 🙂