Pure Shores...

We've all seen the film...

That somewhere special? The perfect beach? Paradise? Nobody else knows about it?

Ringing any bells?

It's 'The Beach' of course; the film which reveals a secret island set in the heart of Phi Phi Ley... a stunning cluster of islands in the middle of the Andaman sea.

It's the one place in Thailand's stunning coastline that I had to see. I must admit, prior to my visit to Maya Bay I'd never seen Danny Boyle's adaptation of 'The Beach,' but I had heard of this stunning island from other travellers past and present and seen their amazing pictures.

So there we were, standing on the white sands of Koh Phi Phi with Maya bay in touching distance. "How far is it? 1, 2 Kilometres?" I could almost hear Leonardo's estimation echoing in my mind. Fortunately for us, we were not planing on swimming over like him and his fellow travellers. We paid a local taxi boat 1,000bht (£20) for the hire of 3hours, ensuring a comfortable ride and speedy pace (neither of which they were!) And so off we sped through the turquoise infused sea to our first stop, Phi Phi Lagoon.

Despite the number of boats filled with eager tourists crowding this secret lagoon, it still felt like paradise. Our driver stopped the boat in the middle of the crystal clear water, the greenest and most appealing water I've ever seen, and asked us if we would like to swim. Immediately I dived straight in, and could have stayed there for hours. The water it's self was breathtaking, but the scenery that enclosed the lagoon was just amazing. The green cliffs housed beautiful flowers and branches and all of this surrounding the tropical water made it seem like I had my very own secret pool.

Next came the creme-de-la-creme...our entrance to Maya Bay. As we neared the opening mouth of the cliffs, I could almost hear the faint tune of All Saints, 'Pure Shores,' "Take me to my beach...." Maya Bay was everything I imagined and more. The deep sea was so blue and so clear, just leaning over the boat I could see at least 20ft below the ocean. And there was more... the sea was filled with all of the tropical and most colourful fish you could imagine. We dived into the water with our scuba diving gear and couldn't believe the tameness of the aqua life. Our boat driver threw fish food to us and immediately we were surrounding by hundreds of fish, big and small, suckling by our bodies, desperate to grab some grub. Thank goodness one narrative on the film was a myth...there are no man-eating sharks in the bay!

Our boat slowly headed towards the shore of the bay where the water become a much more crystal green colour. After watching the film on return from my travels, I can assure you that the sea really is that colour! There is no need for any photoshop!! Unfortunately we decided against stepping onto the actual beach; given that Maya Bay is a national park, all tourists must pay 400bht each (£8) just to walk on the beach. Personally, we thought the view from the boat was more than enough and decided to frolic in the water some more.

Throughout the whole of my trip I am adamant that one of my favourite days was visiting Maya Bay. It truly is one of the most beautiful and perfect places I have ever been and seen...definitely too special not too share.