A few hours ago I returned from a two day live-aboard dive boat. It was a quick trip, but it was all diving all the time. We did 7 dives in just over 24 hours. The dives included a wreck, Shark Point, Anenome Reef, a night dive, and the last dive was off the beach that the movie 'The Beach' was filmed on. Actually, the island of Ko Phi Phi was where much of the movie was filmed, but this was where the island that the secret place was located on. I haven't seen the whole movie, so I don't really know the whole story. I may have to watch it sometime.

The diving here wasn't great because of the limited visibility, and the reefs look like they were pretty beat up from the tsunami and haven't completely recovered. There is limited coral that is alive, but the fish populations are impressive. A few more years, and the reefs will be back to bright colorful and healthy coral. The night dive we did was the most memorable one ever. An electrical storm began a few minutes before we entered the water, and during the dive we got an incredible light show under water while this was going on. Night dives are cool because your world is only as big as your beam of light, but during the storm, it would suddenly expand for a for seconds and show you the whole site, and then just as quick, it would be dark again. As I said, it was a dive I will always remember:)

Tomorrow we catch a morning ferry to Phuket. We will be there for about a week, but I will be getting on board a 4 day live-aboard to go dive the Similan Islands. These are considered the best diving in Thailand, and Val has agreed to let me go on the boat for 4 days while she suns, snorkels and shops in Phuket. This seems pretty fair to me:) We'll be eating noodles for a month afterwards, but what the heck!

Looking back, Ko Phi Phi was a great place to hang out for a few days. A bit expensive for backpackers, which is much of what there are here, but I would recommend anyone who wants to see Thailand beaches and hang out and drink on the beach to come and spend some time here.

Until then, life's a beach, so soak it up.

Eric and Val