Snorkeling the underwater rainforest of Bamboo Island, Phi Phi Islands

On the first snorkel of my third snorkel trip around the Phi Phi islands traveled 40 minutes from Koh Phi Phi Don to the remote, uninhabited Bamboo Islands. I hired a longtail boat and paid ฿2,000 Thai Baht which is about $50.00 US Dollars, which was pretty expensive to pay alone. But I wanted to get out to Bamboo Island and have the boat to myself so I could explore different reefs.

We docked at the drop off about 300-400 meters from the sandy beach of the island. You can see the beach where tourists can pay a national park fee to enter. From the boat, I could see many tourists on the beach, but I didn’t go so can’t say whether it is worth it. There were numerous boats docked near the beach, however, we were the only boat docked to snorkel, meaning I had the whole coral reef to myself!

On my final day at the Phi Phi Islands, I hired a longtail boat to take me out to Bamboo Island, also stopping at Nui Beach on the return journey. It was about a 45-minute journey from the North side of Phi Phi Don beach to get to the North-side of Bamboo Island, passing Nui Beach, Loh Lana Bay, and Mosquito Island which has been closed since 2018. The ocean was flat with clear skies, I was unable to get to the island a few days before due to high waves, so I was hoping for perfect snorkel conditions!

It’s an extra ฿400 Baht ($12 Dollars) to go onto the beach, which is a popular tourist attraction. I chose to stick to the snorkeling and not go on the beach, so can’t judge whether it is worth it. We docked up off the North of the island, just off the coral reef drop-off. There weren’t any other boats docked up for snorkeling, but many further along closer to the beach. You could see many tourists on the beach in the distance, but I could also see an empty coral reef, there weren’t any other snorkelers, which was paradise!

There was a small wave, and the beach of the island was approximately 300-400 meters ahead. I jumped in the water just off the drop-off and could see heaps of rock and coral raised up high, just below the surface, including Table coral, red Fan coral, and Elephant Ear coral. There was a lot of colour and life to the reef, the visibility was ok but got better as I swam further into shore.

As I started to swim closer to the beach, the water depth went from 3 meters to 1.5 meters, there was a lot of large boulder coral zigzagging along the sea bed. I spotted a Giant Moray chilling in between the reef, a very large Keeltail Needlefish in the deeper reef which chill at the bottom. I’ve enjoyed seeing red fan coral, I love the deep red colour and elegant, organic shape.

I swam further in over a sandy, dead coral patch where I joined a school of Parrotfish who were swimming with the current, which was moving at some speed! You know it’s a good reef when you see schools of Parrotfish swimming through it. Then I entered what I called Boulder City, there were mini mountains of this stuff everywhere. I saw these unusual fish, called Razorfish, which swim vertically.

I was very far into the maze of coral when the tide started to go in and I knew it was time to head back to the boat. It was at this point that I spotted in my periphery a striped object swimming at the bottom of the coral. After a second take, I realised it was a black and white Banded Sea Snake (1m), These snakes are generally shy, but extremely venomous and potentially fatal to humans.

I didn’t want to get too close to the snake or for it to get curious, so I decided to make my way back to the boat. As I was then shooting some GoPro footage of the deeper coral, I came face to face with the Sea Snake! It was at that point I went back to the boat.

In my opinion, Bamboo Island was the best quality coral reef in the Phi Phi Islands and the most diverse marine life. Although it isn’t suitable for weak swimmers as there is a current, flippers are required, and navigating the coral can be a bit tricky. Also, the only way to enter the reef is from the drop off which is pretty deep and can have some waves.

Another popular snorkeling spot close to the island is Mosquito Island, but it has been closed since 2018. On the way, you can pass Nui Beach and Loh Lana Bay which are great snorkel spots to add to a trip.