We headed around the island to the other side where the sea was calmer.  We went into Pileh Bay (I think?) and put the anchor down.  This was gorgeous and not as busy.  The water was a wonderful color and looked clear from above.  We were able to jump off the boat here and swim around a bit.  The water was warm like a heated swimming pool.  Once in the water, you could see some fish, but it was cloudier so not a great place to snorkel.








Next stop was Monkey Beach.  This is a small area (not really a beach even!) where there's monkeys that inhabit the trees on the side of the cliff.  People stop a lot so the monkeys come down and get food from the tourists.  We pulled our boat straight up to the cliff and our guide gave the little guys some oranges.  We were probably 1 of 5 boats doing this at the time.  I think these guys get fed pretty well.

We then went around to the next island and laid anchor a little ways out from shore to snorkel.  We grabbed our gear from the back of the boat and dove in.  The coral isn't so colorful here, but the water is crystal clear and the fish are plentiful!  I took an underwater camera along but it's from our honeymoon (read: 7 years) and it turns out that if you don't develop it until 6yrs after expiration, the pics don't turn out so great!  Who knew?!  We had about an hour to paddle around and I took every minute of it.  I was the last one back to the boat.

Next up was our lunch stop on Bamboo Island.  On our way there I saw a dolphin surface near our boat for just a second, but we had some speed on us so I didn't get to see it again.  We were one of the first boats there which was great.  There were picnic tables on the beach and each group had a cooler with our lunch choices for the day.  Unfortunately our lunch choice was filled wrong, but we made the best of it and enjoyed our time.  We had about 2 hours to eat and just hang out on the beach here.   Jay and I walked a little bit of the island and got some sun. 

bamboo island beach

our tour boat

After lunch we were asked if we wanted to snorkel some more.  Most on the boat shrugged their shoulders or turned away, but I nodded emphatically.  Let's do it! 

We stopped off near another island - not another boat in sight.  The water was deeper and the reef was bigger.  There was a pretty strong current so to stay in one spot you had to paddle constantly, but the scene was great.  I saw all kinds of fish - even a pufferfish, the largest oyster I've ever seen, and I think a jellyfish hanging out!  Again I was the last one back to the boat. I'm sure my tour-mates loved that!  When I was getting back in one of our boat guys was looking under the water in a mask and he said he saw 3 reef sharks.  I'm so bummed that I didn't see them!!!  Jason says he's glad we didn't or no more snorkeling for him.  I really think I want to learn how to scuba dive.  I know Ella will love snorkeling when she's a stronger swimmer and eventually maybe we could dive together.  Jay's not into it, but that's ok - I could just sit there all day by myself and watch the world swim by.  Unbelievable. 

After that we headed back to the marina.  About half way there the guy in the back of the boat said "cut it" to the driver and we stopped on the open water while they took out the wrenches and fixed the one of the motors.  About 20 minutes later all was good.  Thank goodness the water had calmed by then or we would have been rocking out there while we were waiting! 

I loved this day and our time out in these somewhat secluded areas.   They are definitely getting ruined by humans though which makes me so sad.  We saw a lot of garbage around and out on the water.  While we were snorkeling, I picked up what I could and put it in Jay's pocket to take it back to the boat.  I wish people would be a bit more careful, but in Thailand there's a lot of garbage everywhere on the land, so what's to keep people from doing the same thing in the sea?  Heartbreaking to know that if we keep doing it, these areas are not going to be a place our grandkids will want to visit.   

Kanpai!
Jess