In the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, The Beach, college students seek paradise in the Phi Phi Islands of Thailand with disastrous results. Four years later, my family had a similar experience within minutes of arriving in Maya Bay where the movie was filmed. This was the last photo I took before we were nearly killed by the 2004 tsunami. If you look closely, the water is retreating under this long-tailed boat. Soon the water completely drained from the bay and a few minutes later a huge wave engulfed me and my two children. We nearly drowned. Read the full stories in the Adventures section.