Day 4: Absolutely Beautiful...Stunningly So...

After spending nearly two weeks on the go seeing as much as we could in Australia, our trip to Thailand was to be slower paced.  For this reason we only did one excursion away from the hotel.  We decided to take a tour of Phi Phi Island and do some snorkeling as well.  Good decision...very good!!  Let me start by saying that pictures do not do the trip justice, but will share a few nonetheless.   We joined a full day tour (Laguna Tours) that used a large speedboat, with a capacity of 18.  We had 11, 5 under the age of twelve, the extra space made the trip even more enjoyable.  We made four stops along the tour.  The first was at a small lagoon where we spent some time snorkeling and some time on the beach.  This particular beach had sand that felt as fine as freshly sifted flour.  The coral was not as nice as the Great Barrier Reef, but the scenery was incredible.   Our next stop was in the lagoon where they filmed the movie "The Beach".  This spot is very popular with the tourists, so we took some pictures and Ron and the boys explored some less populated areas near the rocks.  Next we took a scenic tour of the Island; visiting several beautiful lagoons and towering cliffs before heading to Bamboo Island for a picnic lunch on the sand.  Here the kids enjoyed searching for hermit crabs (see the picture of Justin's new found friend) and swinging on a tree swing.  This beach was only occupied by a few boats and was a great place to hang out while we ate.  The last stop was at a coral reef between the many islands which had many colorful fish and a very large jellyfish (which we didn't venture too close to except to take a picture, of course). After we finished snorkeling we had about an hour ride back to the harbor.  The kids crashed as soon as the anchor was pulled up and they finished their snack.  The day was topped off with a fabulous sunset; the picture below was taken from the balcony of our hotel room.  The day was about as perfect as could be...do we have to leave?!!?!?