When I first came to Phi Phi in 1993, the island was a true paradise! There were only 10 resorts. Though “resorts” was perhaps a bit of a stretch, since most were simple huts with just a fan. When the power regularly went out in the evenings, generators would be fired up in the small restaurants. And several times a week, an Italian man would screen films on videotapes he’d somehow managed to get hold of.

Swimming left from Tonsai Bay, you’d reach a shallow area with small coral reefs, regularly visited by young whitetip reef sharks. There’s no need to be afraid. The dive sites around Phi Phi were covered in beautiful hard and soft corals, with schools of fish weaving through the reefs.

Mass tourism hasn’t made all of this disappear completely, but there’s far less of it now. The 1997 photo already shows permanent houses replacing the palm forests. By 2017, the once-green peninsula had been completely built over.

Paradise is a thing of the past. But Phi Phi is still worth a visit. You just need to know exactly what you’re looking for. Take a longtail boat to the quieter side of Run Tee Bay—it’s worth it. There are still a few simpler resorts there that have retained some of the old charm. And the snorkelling in the crystal-clear water is well worth it!

Shark Point used to be a sure bet for seeing the beautiful leopard sharks. Unlike other shark species, they usually lie still on the sand when divers approach. What’s truly disastrous, though, is the bad habit (!) of wanting to touch them. In the long run, this drives them away. I was lucky enough to dive in the area back when there were few dive tourists. The huge crowds of recent years have damaged many reefs (inexperienced divers drop onto the corals and break them, or touch everything!). What a shame. Hopefully, the pandemic will also give this beautiful dive site—which is home to colorful soft corals—a chance to recover. Overfishing isn’t the only problem in these waters; too many divers are also taking their toll!

Just 10 minutes from Tonsai Pier, this beautiful cave is a dive site. The entrance is at a depth of 18 m. FOR VERY EXPERIENCED DIVERS ONLY!! At the start, there’s a wide passage that narrows into a sandy-bottomed tunnel. Kick up the sand with your fins once, and visibility for everyone behind you will drop to zero! At the end of the approximately 60 m tunnel, you reach a freshwater area that opens into a chamber with stalactites. You can carefully climb out of the water (watch out for the slippery surface!) and shine your torch up into the vast chamber above. The mountain ridge must be somewhere up there!