Friday 15 December 2006

Thailand (14th December) - PHI PHI Islands and Swimming With Sharks

These photos here are all from Phi Phi Ley Island - scene of the film The Beach. Although whilst I was there it was a bit more crowded than you see in the film. Also, in the film, there are Palm Trees on the beach but in reality Palm Trees are nowhere to be seen.










Later on this day, we went Snorkeling in a bay close by followed by lunch. The snorkeling was excellent but better was to come. After a lunch , we went by Speedboat to a tiny Island called Khai. Our guide for the day was himself an avid snorkeler, so he took us away from the crowds, where he said we would have a much better time snorkeling. It was when we where about 100 feet from the shore that he said "Those that want to come and see the sharks, follow me, the other just stay here" :- I opted to go and see the sharks. I couldn't believe I was snorkeling in 30 feet of water actually looking for sharks that I knew were there. After 20 minutes of looking and wondering I was going to react when I saw one, in the distance one came out of the blue literally!!! It didn't look at all threatening. It just circled us, below us for about 5 minutes. It was a 4 foot Black Tip Reef Shark. I hoped it was fully grown and mother wasn't all close by. After that we saw a few others. The closest I got to one was about 6 feet. Believe me, that was close enough.

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