For the four islands from Ao Nang, the cheapest ticket is a seat on a shared longtail: ฿990 (about $27) per adult with Barracudas Tour, or ฿1,190 (about $33) on the speedboat over the same route, which spends less time between the islands. Five to seven friends pay less per head by taking a whole longtail — ฿4,500 (about $125) for the boat, ฿900 each with five aboard — but lunch is not included. For comfort, the private catamaran-speedboat is ฿22,000 (about $609) for one to four people: a bathroom on board, the park ticket included, and the sunset and a night snorkel among plankton in the same afternoon.
| Boat | Operator | Price | Time | Food | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared longtail | Barracudas Tour | ฿990 (about $27) per adult, ฿750 per child | 09:30–15:00 | lunch included | couples and solo travellers on a budget |
| Shared speedboat, same route | Barracudas Tour | ฿1,190 (about $33) per adult, ฿950 per child | 09:30–15:00 | lunch included | more time at each island; Barracudas collects from Railay only for this one |
| Whole longtail, 2–7 guests | Krabi Travel The Sea | ฿4,500 (about $125) per boat | 4–6 h from 08:00 | not included | groups of five to seven |
| Private longtail, up to 10 guests | Wangsai Speedboat | ฿6,250 (about $173) to ฿8,100 per boat | pick-up 08:00, back about 14:00 | breakfast and a picnic lunch | families who want the food sorted |
| Luxury private longtail | Boat and Beyond | ฿8,500 (about $235) per boat, 4 guests in the price, 8 at most | 08:00–12:30 or 14:00–18:30 | food sets on board | parents with small children |
| Private catamaran-speedboat | Thalassa Tour | ฿22,000 (about $609) per boat for 1–4 people | 13:00 to about 19:30 | canapés and a Thai buffet | sunset, plankton and a bathroom on board |
- The cheapest seat: the shared longtail at ฿990; the park fee is paid on top, in cash.
- Less time in transit: the speedboat on the same route at ฿1,190.
- Five to seven friends: the whole longtail at ฿4,500 — ฿900 a head with five, about ฿643 with seven.
- Small children: Boat and Beyond carries floaties and a sand-shovel kit, and the boat is yours alone.
- Comfort and the evening: the catamaran-speedboat at ฿22,000, with a bathroom, shade and the plankton snorkel after dark.
The "4 islands" is Krabi's busiest boat trip: the boat leaves straight from Ao Nang beach and every stop on the route lies a few kilometres offshore. Below: which islands these are, what you see on them, why it takes half a day rather than a whole one, and how the price per person changes with the size of your group.
- Which four islands these are
- Why the trip is short: the distances by sea
- Talay Waek — the sandbank you only see at low tide
- Whether a private boat is cheaper per person
- Longtail, speedboat or catamaran: what changes on the way
- Whether to take it if you already have Phi Phi
Which four islands are these?
Koh Poda, Koh Gai (Chicken Island), Koh Tup and the beach at Phra Nang Cave. Koh Poda is known for its white sand and the free-standing rock in front of the shore — the most reproduced view in the province. Koh Gai takes its name from a rock whose outline resembles a chicken's head. On the beach at Phra Nang Cave stands the shrine of Phra Nang, princess of the sea and goddess of fertility; the cave itself is on the Railay peninsula rather than on an island, so on the route it is a stop off the shore rather than a landing on separate land.
Why is it half a day rather than a whole one?
Because of the distances: the stops all lie within six kilometres of Ao Nang, while everything else people come to Krabi for is twenty kilometres away and further. An Ao Nang operator puts the run out to the four islands at about half an hour by longtail boat; a speedboat is quicker.
| From Ao Nang to | Km in a straight line | What it is on the route |
|---|---|---|
| Railay West | 3.0 | The Phra Nang Cave beach — the first stop |
| Koh Poda | 4.9 | Lunch and swimming |
| Koh Gai (Chicken) | 5.8 | Snorkelling by the rock |
| Koh Hong | 23.4 | A different park and a different full-day trip |
| Koh Mai Phai (Bamboo) | 23.5 | Part of a Phi Phi day |
| Phi Phi Don (Tonsai) | 33.3 | A whole day on the water |
| Maya Bay | 39.9 | The furthest point of the popular trips |
The distances are calculated from coordinates in a straight line — not the length of a sailed track, and the time depends on the boat and the swell. But the order of magnitude explains the timetable: the four islands fit into half a day, Phi Phi does not.
What is Talay Waek and when can you see it?
Talay Waek means "the separated sea": a sandbank linking Koh Tup with Koh Mo and, in the same chain, with Koh Gai. At low tide you can walk across it and the three islands look like one piece of land; at high tide it goes under. The phenomenon is tidal, so it is worth seeing at low water, and you need to check the tide for your own date — there are no tide tables here on purpose, since publishing unverified timetables is worse than publishing none.
Is a private boat cheaper per person than a shared tour?
From five guests, yes — on the cheapest whole boat. A seat on the shared longtail is ฿990 per adult. The whole longtail from Krabi Travel The Sea is ฿4,500 for two to seven guests: ฿1,125 each with four aboard, ฿900 with five. With ten aboard, Wangsai's private longtail comes to ฿810 a head, breakfast and a picnic lunch included. The comparison is not like for like: the shared seat includes lunch, the Krabi Travel The Sea charter does not, and the park fee is paid on top of both. The catamaran-speedboat never gets near the seat price — ฿5,500 a head with four, about ฿4,367 with six — but its ฿400 park ticket is already inside.
| Adults | Shared longtail, per adult | Whole longtail ฿4,500, per head | Wangsai private longtail, per head | Boat and Beyond ฿8,500, per head | Catamaran-speedboat, per head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | ฿990 | ฿2,250 | ฿3,200 | ฿4,250 | ฿11,000 |
| 4 | ฿990 | ฿1,125 | ฿1,675 | ฿2,125 | ฿5,500 |
| 5 | ฿990 | ฿900 | price for five not published | extra-guest charge not published | ฿4,820 |
| 6 | ฿990 | ฿750 | price for six not published | extra-guest charge not published | ฿4,367 |
| 7 | ฿990 | ฿643 | price for seven not published | extra-guest charge not published | capacity not published |
| 10 | ฿990 | takes seven | ฿810 | takes eight | capacity not published |
Per-head figures are the boat price divided by the number of adults aboard, rounded to the baht. On the catamaran-speedboat each adult beyond four adds ฿2,100; Wangsai publishes its totals for one, two, four and ten guests.
The same waters have an evening version: the seven islands sunset trip with a beach barbecue and a night swim among plankton — ฿1,390 (about $39) per adult and ฿1,150 per child by longtail, 5 h 15 min. If you are here for the water rather than the beaches, there is a half day of snorkelling around the Ao Nang bay islands by speedboat at ฿1,500 per person.
Important
The national park fee is paid separately from the trip price, in cash, in baht, to the rangers on site. Koh Poda is named individually in the National Parks Department announcement of 22.11.2550, which set a special rate for the island zone — ฿400 per foreign adult and ฿200 per child instead of the ฿200 and ฿100 of the park's general scale. In 2560 the park's board confirmed that rate after Krabi operators asked for it to be lowered. That is where the confusion comes from: trip descriptions quote both ฿200 and ฿400. Carry cash at the higher rate — there are no ATMs or exchange counters on the islands — and confirm the amount with your operator on the day.
Longtail, speedboat or catamaran: what changes on the way?
The islands stay the same; the boat changes the time in transit, the ride and what is on board. An Ao Nang operator puts the run out to the four islands at about half an hour by longtail. Barracudas Tour runs both of its hulls on one timetable, 09:30 to 15:00: the speedboat costs ฿200 more per adult and, in the operator's words, spends less time travelling and more time at each island.
Longtail
A long wooden hull with a car engine on a swinging shaft, shallow enough to nose straight onto a beach. It is the cheaper boat on this route: ฿990 (about $27) for a seat, ฿4,500 for the whole boat. Barracudas Tour does not collect from Railay for its longtail departure — only for the speedboat, at ฿200 per person — while pick-up from Klong Muang, Tub Kaek or Krabi Town costs ฿100 per person on either, and the transfer within Ao Nang is included.
Speedboat
Quicker between the stops, and bumpier: on its speedboat day to Phi Phi and the four islands, Koh Tour does not take pregnant guests for that reason and accepts children from three. Chartered whole for a full day with sunset, Boat and Beyond's premium speedboat is ฿16,500 (about $457), six guests in the price and ten at most.
Catamaran-speedboat
Thalassa Tour's boat is a hybrid: a catamaran hull with two 500 hp engines, so it reaches the islands at speedboat pace and sits on the water like a catamaran once it stops. On board there is a bathroom with a sink, a shaded chill-out area and tables at bow and stern. The afternoon runs from 13:00 to about 19:30 and ends with a night snorkel among plankton; ฿22,000 (about $609) covers one to four people, and each extra adult adds ฿2,100.
Is it worth taking if you already have Phi Phi booked?
They are days of different size: the four islands are half a day within six kilometres of the shore, Phi Phi is a full day and 33.3 km each way. They do not substitute for one another financially either — fees are paid per trip, even when the rate is the same.
If you only have one day, there are combined departures: the early bird trip to Phi Phi and the four islands at ฿2,395 (about $66) per adult and ฿2,195 per child aged 4–11, 10 h 30 min; and Koh Hong early plus the four islands at ฿2,200 per adult and ฿1,600 per child aged 3–11, 11 h. The second is a two-park day: Hong belongs to a different national park, so the fees are paid twice. Groups who also want the sunset have a private catamaran speedboat with the four islands, sunset and night snorkelling at ฿22,000 per boat for a party of one to four, 6 h 30 min.
