Great Barrier Reef

     One of Australia's most remarkable natural gifts, the Great Barrier Reef is blessed with the breathtaking beauty of the world's largest coral reef. The reef contains an abundance of marine life and comprises of over 3000 individual reef systems and coral cays and literally hundreds of picturesque tropical islands with some of the worlds most beautiful sun-soaked, golden beaches.

     The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. This reef supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labeled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

 

                                                                           

Source: http://www.greatbarrierreef.org/

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef

            http://www.oceanleadership.org/2009/outlook-poor-for-great-barrier-reef/

            http://www.australiatravelonline.net/australia-destinations/australia-beaches-islands/great-barrier-reef-eden-of-underwater-world/418/

Phi Phi Islands

     The Phi Phi Islands are located in Thailand, between the large island of Phuket and the western Andaman Sea coast of the mainland. The islands are administratively part of Krabi province. Ko Phi Phi Don ("ko" (Thai: เกาะ) meaning "island" in the Thai language) is the largest island of the group, and is the only island with permanent inhabitants, although the beaches of the second largest island, Ko Phi Phi Lee (or "Ko Phi Phi Leh"), are visited by many people as well. The island consists of a ring of steep limestone hills surrounding a shallow bay, the Maya Bay.

    

     Maya Bay has become the main tourist attraction of Phi Phi since The Beach was filmed here in 1999. It was always very popular before the film but now people around the world who haven't even heard of Phi Phi have certainly heard of Maya Bay. According to the Lonely Planet's Thailand guidebook, the 2004 tsunami dramatically improved the look of Maya Bay. This was due to the fact that the high waves had cleaned up the beach and removed all the landscaping the Fox production team had added.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Phi_Islands
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ao_Maya
            http://www.phiphi.phuket.com/beaches/maya-bay.htm
            http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/2473722
            http://www.ko-phi-phi-don.com/