Wettest Boat Ride Ever

Friday17 Nov
We awake and go for our 2 hour tea time (breakfast). We are really chilled people now, even 6 cups of tea can't get a rise out of us. This is exactly what we wanted, two weeks on the beach just chilling before our three days of shopping in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. We head off to catch our 1130 longtail boat for the sunset tour under a blazing sun without a cloud in the sky. It turns into the wettest boat ride ever, but more on that in a minute. I do however have a flash of foresight and bring two disposable camera's, while issuing the challenge that we both have to use all the shots on each (Rebecca accepts the challenge), thinking I don't want to spend the day worring about my BELOVED digital camera. It has been our best device on the trip as it fits easily into my pocket, and we have heard so many travelers complain about the size and weight of the cameras they have brought. We do take all the pictures on both cameras and think we have some great shots, we will develop them in Bangkok and post them once we have them.
First stop on the tour is snorkeling at Sharkpoint. Which is actually a misnomer as we see no sharks, but Rebecca spots many barracuda's. She has an incredible knack for spotting them just on the edge of our vision field and points them out to me constantly. It is obvious that she is the master out of twelve people on the tour at, swimming, snorkleing, and spotting wildlife in the water. After about tenminutes, she points to a spot of coral that she thinks will have some cool fish and says "lets head over there quickly" . I think I am a good swimmer and put my head down and kick the fins as hard as I can!!!! After about 30 seconds I look up, and she is in front of me by 30 yards!!!!! So, I put my head down again and start using my arms to catch up. No Luck!!!! She is a true PICSES for sure. More at home in the water than on land. She slows down and grabs my hand and takes a second to show me how to kick with fins more efficiently. Within a few moments she is pulling me like a dead weight through the water, now I am really EMBARRASED!. So when she stops, I start quizing her exactly on her technique. This time she spends 5 minutes to teach this desert dweller how to move in the water, and I can tell the improvement immediately. My first lesson on BRUTE FORCE not working in every instance.....lol!!! After snorkling they take us to Mosquito Island for lunch. I don't know the name till after the tour, so the old adage "WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN'T HURT YOU" comes true as I get no bites. It is too rocky to snorkle here so we walk the beach looking for seashells and get quite a collection.
Next stop, MonkeyBeach. This is really sad to both of us. There is trash everywhere on the beach and tourists literally "mauling" the WILD monkeys. They are walking up to them grabing there hands, feeding them soft drink cans, and having no respect for them, nor their personal space. These monkeys have canine teeth larger than any dog I have seen and the tourists treat them like domesticated animals. We are both very sad at the appearence of the beach and the conduct of these people, so much so that we decide to take no part. Choosing instead to lay on the beach and catch some rays.
Back into the Longtail boat and onto Phi Phi Ley Bay (the spot where the movie "THE BEACH" was filmed) this is where the boat ride turns into crazy amusement park ride. Crossing the channel between the two islands it starts to blow and rain. You can see how the current and wind are being funneled through this channel. We hit three foot waves, then five foot waves, and people start donning the snorkle masks to keep the spray out of their eyes. Then the lifejackets come out, not to wear but to stop the stinging spray of salt water coming off the bow of the boat as it crashes through these white capped waves. Quite a sight to see, a boatload of "farongs" in snorkle gear with lifejackets in front of them like shields. We look like some sort of modern day knights trying to joust with mother nature. Then the waves get so large people start screaming as we go up and down the waves and your stomach does the same in your throat. Rebecca, of course, is cracking up hysterically. Like a child on a roller coaster ride!!!!!!! She has no fear, she has a mask and a life jacket and just sits back and giggles and enjoys the ride.
Once we pull into the bay, everything calms down as we have a 3000 ft rock mastiff blocking the wind and current. Now this bay is really cool, with lots of flourecent fish and coral everywhere. Having learned from Rebecca, I am much better at kicking the fins and can almost keep up with her. I use her spotting technique of looking on the edge of your vision field and spot a 3 ft black-tipped reef shark. Very Cool! This is the first time I see Rebecca scared in the water and she grabs my hand very tightly. Guess I am good for something in the water after all..... We saw all kinds of different fish, sea urchins, and these flourecent clam type things that breathed in and out. Even more cool! The boat took us into the actual beach from the movie and Rebecca and I did the non-tourist thing again and donned our snorkle gear. This was very cool, as Rebecca pointed out these large black spots in the water that turned out to be HUGE schools of these 2-3 inch long silver fish. They swam in perfect unison and the group together was so large and dense you could not see through them and they cast dark shadows in the water. This was the absolute coolest part and we both decide at that point, and made an agreement that when we get back we are going to get our scuba diving certification!!!!!! This was a life changing experience for me!!!!! Being under water islike being in themountains skiing you forget all the worldly troubles and existence and truly commune with nature.
Then it was back into the Longtail Boat for the 2nd wettest boat ride ever!!!! Back into the 5-6 foot white capped waves, snorkle masks on, with the french and japenese tourists behind us screaming as we went up and down every wave. Rebecca............laughing and gigleing the whole way!!!!!
We decided to go back to the Garlic Resturant, as it really is the tastiest food on the Island ( and about a 1/3 the cost) Yum! Yum! Yum! Can paradise get any better??????? Yes!!!!!!, we try to order desert and our first choice of Flammbe banana with ice cream is crushed as they have no ice cream. So we opt for choice number two, Poached banana in coconut milk. Who knew a desert could be so lucious and delectable!!!!!!! This was absolutely outstanding!!! and a desert we decide to import to the US and into our everyday lives. YUM! YUM! Paradise did just get even better!!!! On the walk back to the resort Rebecca is literally falling asleep. We are both pooped, but my hyperactiveness helps as I am not so sleepy as her. I don't want the day to end. WHAT FUN!!!!!! Pictures to come!