Phuket Phi Phi Day Trip with a Private Longtail Boat

Phi Phi is the most photographed group of islands near Phuket, and this listing offers a day trip that avoids the crowd for part of the time. It combines private transfers, shared speedboat crossings and a longtail boat of four hours that belongs to your group alone. GetYourGuide shows it from about US$402, which is 350 euros on the page, and rates it 4.6 from 444 reviews. The day is self-guided, which means that the captain drives the boat but there is no guide.

The day starts with a private pick-up at your hotel in Phuket at 7:00, and you reach the Rassada pier to board the shared speedboat at 8:30. After a scenic crossing you arrive at Phi Phi Don at 9:30 and have an hour of free time to walk through the car-free streets. The page presents this as a worry-free day trip, with boat trips and transfers organised from beginning to end, and no overnight stay on the island.

At 10:30 you board your private longtail boat, where the captain gives you a freshly prepared lunch box to eat while you sail, and the four-hour cruise begins. You choose how much time to spend at each place, within the limits of the tides and the captain's advice, which is the advantage over a fixed group tour. The listing names six stops, and the order can change with the weather.

Maya Bay is the first and best known, the beach of the film The Beach, where you can explore the sand and watch baby reef sharks in the shallows. The page counts an hour there. Maya Bay is closed to visitors for part of the year to let the coral recover, in the monsoon months, so ask the operator whether it is open on your date, and whether the entrance fee is included in the price.

The second stop is Pileh Lagoon, where you can swim in crystal-clear turquoise water surrounded by high cliffs. The third is a snorkelling stop, where the listing promises harmless black-tip reef sharks, tropical fish and brightly coloured coral. The fourth is Viking Cave, where you stop outside the cave to photograph the historic facade and the swiftlets that nest there.

The fifth stop is Loh Samah Bay, where you sail into a spectacular canyon of limestone to see a unique rocky islet. The sixth is Monkey Bay, where wild crab-eating macaques can be watched from a distance, from your boat. Do not feed the monkeys, which the park forbids, and keep your bag closed, since they are quick to take what they can reach.

At 14:30 the longtail boat returns you to Tonsai pier, where you have an hour of free time to relax on Phi Phi Don. You check in at 15:30 for the shared speedboat that leaves at 16:00 and takes you back to Phuket. Your private driver meets you at Rassada pier at 17:00 and takes you to your hotel, where you arrive before 18:00. The day lasts about eleven hours.

The listing does not itemise what the price includes, apart from the transfers, the speedboat, the longtail boat and the lunch box. Ask the operator whether the national park fee, the snorkelling equipment and drinking water are included, since they are paid separately on many Phi Phi trips. Bring cash in baht in case, and bring your own snorkel if you have one.

The price asks a few questions. The page counts travellers, with the label persons x 1, so the price shown is probably the amount for one person, and the longtail boat is private for your group, which makes it cheaper per head for a party of four. Confirm the total for your group before you pay, and compare it with the shared day tours from Phuket, which cost much less but are crowded.

Think about the season. The calm months, from November to April, give the best conditions for the crossing and the snorkelling, and the monsoon from May to October can bring rough seas and cancelled boats. If the weather is bad, ask what happens to your booking. Take a rain jacket, sunscreen, a hat, a swimsuit and a towel, and wear shoes that you can take off, since you may step into the water from the boat.

The rating of 4.6 from 444 reviews is a solid one for a day on a popular route. The crossings are shared with other travellers, so be at the pier on time, and expect other visitors at Maya Bay in the middle of the day.

Choose this day if you want your own longtail boat for the best-known sights of Phi Phi, with a private driver at both ends. If you want a guide to explain the islands, look for a guided tour, and if you want to avoid the crossing by shared speedboat, a fully private speedboat is another option at a higher price.