KKday User
For those who are discouraged by the lack of details, please read this: gather at Pattaya 13/3 Alley's 7th Street at 9am (subject to Manta's notification on the KKDay system), and Manta's staff on the beach will call the speedboat over. You need to wade through shallow water to get on the boat, so baby strollers are not suitable and cannot be pushed on the island, but it is better to bring small children with you if they need to sleep. The boat ride to Koh Phai takes about 40 minutes. When you see the number of ferries and people heading to Koh Phai, you will be glad that you chose a chartered boat trip. However, since Bamboo Island is a protected area, motorized rides such as jet skis are not allowed. There are only SUP, snorkeling, and a water sofa (3 people at a time) that is similar to a banana boat but smaller and more stable. As soon as we got ashore, the captain began to help us set up an exclusive rest area: 2 large parasols, 4 beach chairs, 2 small square tables and 1 ice bucket filled with ice cubes, mineral water and cola. The navy stationed on the island will collect an island entry fee of 150 baht per person (50 baht if you are Thai), which I prepared in advance. The water sofa is towed by a speedboat brought to Bamboo Island, and you can choose the speed and whether to land in the water. The masks used for snorkeling are quite new, but they are shared items after all, so the fit and the angle of the breathing tube may not be suitable. Fortunately, there are enough of them and you can choose. The captain will point out where there are sea urchins and where the beautiful things are. In fact, there are a lot of small fish, which can also be seen in shallow water, but the colors are not eye-catching and cannot be photographed with a mobile phone. We played SUP for the longest time. The whole bay was calm and waveless, so we could paddle around to our heart's content. Whenever we saw sea urchins, we could jump in to snorkel or dive to take pictures. In addition to us, there was a group of Koreans that day. They were all 2x-year-old young people who had no interest in anything. After lunch, they asked their captain to take them back. There was also a group of Europeans who came on a double-decker yacht. They basically just sunbathed and didn't play much. Moreover, our boat had its own SUP and snorkeling mask, so there was no need to share. When we are having fun, the captain will grill skewers and chicken wings. I must recommend that they are non-spicy and slightly sweet, so there is no need to worry about someone not being used to Thai spicy food (spicy and sour dipping sauce is also provided). After that, he will take us fishing. The captain will prepare the fishing rod and bait and demonstrate how to operate the fishing rod. It doesn’t matter if you really can’t do it. The captain will put the rod away and hand it to the tourists. He can even catch the fish and then hand it to the tourists to take pictures. When we got back to shore, the captain immediately brought out barbecue, grilled chicken wings, fried rice and watermelon. While we were eating, he grilled our fish, although most of them were caught by him. If Koreans don't go fishing, they won't have fish to eat. The European group was just a bunch of freeloaders, it was a completely empty group XD Only a couple came to borrow our SUP to take photos and asked us to help them take them. The park closes at 4pm so we had to return by 4pm at the latest. I was worried that the teenagers would get bored and not stay long, but they ended up playing until 3:30pm! Finally, the sea water is clear and you can take a lot of beautiful photos.