We had to make a death-defying, barefoot run down a floating, jointed pier to get to the beach. What a sight. It was the Thai island of your dreams.
Our hotel was one of a few on the beach, including a hostel - which we looked up just to make sure we weren't spending hundreds of dollars when we could be spending $30. There was a bunk bed situation we wouldn't have been happy with. The hostel's beach bar was, however, where we parked ourselves every afternoon for cheap cocktails, sea shell hunting, hermit crab spotting, ocean swimming good times. The cocktails were also the best I'd had in Thailand - if I had to drink another mojito I thought I might just stay sober. So a big thanks to them for keeping my cup full.
Because I'm a nerd, we watched a lot of Discovery Channel shows on Thailand, including one about sand bubbler crabs... which, if you look really closely, you could spot on this beach. We were the only ones not trampling through all their tiny balls of hard work.
There was also a reggae bar where we sat on pillows on the floor, listened to a live Thai reggae band and watched a guy throw fire around on the beach. Once the clock struck 10 p.m. however, the tide came up so high we had to run through 6 inches of water all the way home because the beach had fully disappeared. I might note we were cackling the entire time.
Three nights was the perfect amount of time here. We're not big on lounging on beaches, we like to explore. Which we definitely did, our hotel had bikes we checked out and rode into town, wizzed by a few elephants on the side of the road and found a few more bars to visit. There are also wild monkeys in this jungle all around our hotel, we got to see a group of them right outside our hotel room door.
Kayaking from out hotel was a really cool way to explore the island from afar. We paddled out and around, it was drizzling that day but made for some picturesque views. Also pretty sure I saw a box jelly fish, so be careful around these islands, they kill you. Me yelling 'oh baby jellyfish!' was Kevin's cue to cue our abrupt exit from the water... and into our private pool with a perfect view of the sunset.
Spoiled much? If you don't get a room with a private pool, you just have to deal with this terrible situation instead. Just joking, look at this thing. In love yet?
The food at Pimalai was superb. You get spring rolls with a jungle view on one side...
And fried soft shell crab and coconut soup with a beach front seat on the other side.
They really like to tout their happy hours, which is cute because the delicious bar 100 yards down the beach shakes up cocktails for a full $1, but the views from Pimalai really can't be beat.
Sunsets were spent lounging on our outdoor bed, watching the sunset perfectly right behind a tiny island in the ocean. Sigh. This is what dreams are made of.
Read our Bangkok itinerary, our Chiang Mai itinerary and some general food and Thai travel tips by clicking the links! We had too much fun for one blog post. And you can take a little break from work and watch this video of our trip:
