July 2016

Maya Bay Sleep Aboard is an overnight adventure tour based out of Phi Phi Don, Thailand.

The tour takes you to Maya Bay, a small tropical island where the movie “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed! I highly recommend watching “The Beach”, prior to visiting Maya Bay. It offers a unique experience of sleeping overnight on a boat, while it is docked on Maya Bay. You will have the opportunity to explore the island WITHOUT the crowds of tourists! How awesome is that?! This was definitely my highlight during my Thailand trip aside from the elephants.

CLICK HERE for more on my elephant experience in Thailand.

ACTIVITIES  

I don’t even know where to begin! The tour includes snorkeling, a buffet style dinner on the island, swimming with the glowing plankton and more! I must also add that watching the sunset while the other tourists, who didn’t choose Maya Bay Sleep Aboard, left the island, was a pretty AWESOME feeling!

The next day you have the option to swim, snorkel or kayak to Monkey Island and feed the monkeys that live there.

Depending on the weather some activities may change.

*CLICK LINK BELOW to see a short teaser clip

—> Maya Bay short clip <—

Maya Bay Sleep Aboard Boat

GOOD-BYE OTHER TOURISTS!

My friends and I spent about two hours in the waters of Maya Bay, jumping the waves, swimming and enjoying the picture perfect scenery, while double checking to see if we were dreaming or not. After witnessing the sunset between the surrounding limestone mountains we watched, with big smiles, as the other tourists began to board their boats to leave the island.

DINNER ON MAYA BAY ISLAND

We were THRILLED we got to stay and to think it was just the beginning! Dinner was held away from the beach, deeper into the jungle. Our meal included, freshly cooked Thai food with vegetarian options, it was delicious. Music and conversations with people from around the globe filled the quiet night. Dancing while holding our “Thai buckets” commenced and the island nightlife began. Some stayed with the crew to play games, while other’s preferred a quieter night on the secluded beach.  My friend’s and I enjoyed both.

Mae and I with our Thai Buckets

MOONLIT SAND ANGELS

My friend Maria and I took a stroll in the dark, to get to the beach. Our other friends were engrossed in figuring out a puzzle the crew put together. Thankfully, I brought a small flashlight my dad gave to me. It Definitely came in handy when trying to use the restroom in the dark and when wandering around the island. Maya Bay had minimal lighting other than the moon and stars.

We got to the shore and the weather was absolutely perfect. The breeze was refreshing and the sand was silky soft, you wanted to exfoliate your whole body in it. We relaxed and laid down on the secluded beach moving our arms and legs back and forth making sand angels in the silky sand.

THE POWER OF THE MOON

Maria and I giggled and laughed, completely overtaken by the moment. We kept saying, “Oh man, I can’t believe we’re here” and “Let’s take in this moment.” We sat up covered in sand and stared out into the bay while the moon sparkled brightly onto the water. The moonshine illuminated the sky so we could see the surrounding limestone mountains in the distance, which painted a rare tranquil picture. We watched a tiny hermit crab scurry into the water as soon as our light from my flashlight hit it.

Later the others from our group, Mae and Jez joined us. We sat on the beach staring out into the moonlit bay, which opened up into the vast dark ocean. We talked about how thankful we were to be half way across the world on this fascinating island TOGETHER and how there could be more breath-taking moments, similar to this, waiting for us.

MY EPIPHANY

It was pretty much that moment staring out at the moonshine, that ignited something inside me. That moment made me realize that amazing unimaginable places like this exist in this world and all we have to do is make a choice, go out of our comfort zone and explore it. That moment made me realize there’s so much more to life than a mundane routine that many get comfortable with. There’s beauty, inspiration and so much to be learned in the unexplored and adventure waiting.

I was sure I’d never forget this epic moment and took a snapshot of it in my head.

“I AM NOT THE SAME HAVING SEEN THE MOONSHINE FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD”

A TITANIC MOMENT

It was time to head back onto the boat. They gathered us up as we took smaller boats back to our main boat. It was challenging boarding the small boats as the waves rocked us in the dark. The small boats swayed side to side, with the darkness surrounding us and I got an eerie feeling.

We had to completely rely on the crew to take care of us. The thought of the movie, Titanic, popped into my head. More specifically, the scene where they are all in the rescue boats, with someone calling out, “Is there anyone alive out there??”

Lets just say I was very thankful we weren’t in frozen ice-cold water.

GLOWING PLANKTON

It was time to snorkel to see the glowing plankton. The water felt great. The crew made sure we all had our life vest on as a safety precaution. Looking under the water and moving our legs and arms back and forth made the plankton glow! The plankton looked similar to tiny bubbles or confetti, but it was the plankton glowing underwater. I’ve never seen anything quite like it!

After I had enough of the glowing plankton, my girls and I literally floated around. It was super relaxing, my cousin Jez and I, laid back into the water linking arms, just like sea otters. We admired the stars and moon lighting up the sky, so romantic huh? I wanted to stay there all night and sleep like that, in the warm waters of Maya Bay, staring up at nature’s night-light.

This is how we looked but in the daylight the next day

JAMMING OUT WITH THE CREW

After snorkeling, surprisingly, the majority of the other people on the boat decided to go to sleep. What?! Sleep? Now? Never! I thought… we are here, docked on the bay, on this gorgeous island and you’re gonna sleep? No way, not me!

Excitement filled me and I wanted this experience to last as long as it could.

My friends, the crew and a couple from Spain, met on the lower deck to kick it. Everyone else went to sleep on the top deck under the Thai night sky. The crew took out their guitars and began to jam out singing songs in Thai and English. Some used coolers as drums. They sang old school alternative jams, some of us sang along. The night was unfolding so organically and was a lot of fun!

MOVIE NIGHT

To top the night off, they decided to play the movie, The Beach, on a laptop because, why not?! We were exactly where it was filmed! I was one of the few to stay up, completely engaged in the movie, even though I’ve seen it countless times.

I caught myself staring out the window thinking, “Omg I’m at THEE Island”, I freakin love that movie! Eventually, I knocked out next to my cuz, Jez. My feet were propped up on a gasoline tank near an open window. I woke up to the sunrise and with about 20 new mosquito bites all over my legs. Yet there was no doubt in my mind, I would do it all again.

You sleep wherever you happen to knock out

Our crew jumping with gratitude for an AMAZING experience!

Overall, I can’t stress enough how memorable this tour was! In addition, the crew was so awesome and definitely made sure everyone had a GREAT time.  If you want the luxury of exploring Maya Bay Island without the loads of tourist, this tour is for you!

THANKS FOR READING! – VAL PAL