Although it was tough to leave Railay—even for a couple days—people told us we had to visit the islands of Ko Phi Phi. Smack in the middle of the South West gulf of Thailand, these super-exotic islands take “paradise” to new heights.

We caught the 1.5 hour ferry from Railay and arrived in Phi Phi Don ready for more island adventure.

This island, which is huge compared to Railay, was among the most devastated areas after the tsunami hit, but four years later you wouldn’t know it. The place is well-developed with hotels and resorts and crawling with travelers and sunburned tourists.

Phi Phi Don’s smaller cousin, Phi Phi Lay is a protected island that lies a mile to the south. With it’s dramatic contrast of limestone cliffs and bright green waters, it’s no wonder that this island was chosen for the set of The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. That movie made this place world famous overnight and continues to bring thousands of people here every year—pretty ironic given the romantic idea portrayed in the movie—of an island escape that no one knows about…

With closed bays, white sand beaches, waterfalls and hidden forests, Phi Phi Lay is still a must see, despite the crowds. The snorkeling is pretty decent and every new little enclave you discover as you putt around in your longtail boat, will make you want to build a little house here and retire from the grind, forever.

A bonus for this visit if you’re looking to get your blood pumping, is an 85 ft cliff jump. I hucked it twice and it was just about as high as I’m willing to go these days. A drop that’ll make ya say DAMN! (pictured)

We’ve been on somewhat of a cliff jumping bender this week and after jumping off several cliffs above 70ft in a two day stretch, you tend to feel as though you’ve been in a serious car accident. But worry not! This is Thailand and there are cabanas with Thai massage experts standing by. At 6USD for an hour massage, there’s no excuse not to indulge.