Body paint was the thing to do :)
I first heard about the Full Moon Party from Nomadic Matt’s travel blog when I was planning for my trip to Thailand. I’d already had it on my list of things I wanted to do, so when one of the guys here at Project Getaway suggested we go to the party as a group, I was all in! The Full Moon Party is a huge monthly beach party held on the island of Koh Phangan, Thailand that happens on the night of every full moon. From sundown to sunrise, there are 10,000-30,000 people on the beach in the town of Haad Rin enjoying music, dancing, food, fire dancers and cheap alcohol by the bucket.
What’s a Full Moon Party without a full moon???
It costs 100 baht to enter the party grounds and you get a wristband to wear for the night
On April 25, 2013, I attended the famous Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan, Thailand. We rented a speedboat to get from Koh Tao to the party location in Ko Pha Ngan, about an hour away.
Now I’m not really a big party girl when I’m at home in DC so I’m surprised I survived the experience of being in that environment for 12 hours straight. I had SO much fun on the beach with 10,000 half-naked drunk people from all over the world dancing nonstop to techno, house and reggae.As if the all-night party didn’t provide enough excitement to my life, I got another shot of adrenaline when my group got STRANDED in the middle of the ocean on our way home! I was sleeping when I felt a hard jolt. Our boat stopped suddenly and everything got quiet as the motor died out. Apparently, our speedboat had crashed into a rock and ran aground when we were about halfway back to our villa in Koh Tao. I’m NOT a good swimmer, so I was thisclose to having a panic attack when the boat hit the rock. I thought we were gonna drown! Thankfully we got help from a nearby ship.
I put together all my iPhone video snippets to share what the vibe was like at the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan. At the end, you’ll also see some footage from how we made it home after our little boating accident. What a crazy, crazy night! Definitely an experience to remember…
(If you’re reading this post via email or in a reader, click here to see the video.)
For a comprehensive guide to attending Thailand’s famous Full Moon Party, check out Nomadic Matt’s post here: The Ultimate Guide to the Full Moon Party
Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives.