Krabi's water comes in layers, and they are easy to confuse from a booking page. There is the beach at Ao Nang with islands lying three to six kilometres offshore; there is Phi Phi, a full day away by speedboat; there is the Hong lagoon in a national park of its own with its own ticket; and there is the inland water — mangroves, freshwater canals and caves you paddle into. This guide goes through them in that order, with the price, the unit that price is charged in, and the fees nobody puts in the headline.
- The island days and what they cost
- Maya Bay: what is allowed there now
- Why Hong is paid for separately
- Kayaking: mangroves, canals and caves
- What there is to see underwater
- Sunsets, squid and night swims
- When the boat is yours alone
- Which pier your boat leaves from
- When to come
What does a day among the islands look like?
Short, if you want it short. Railay lies 3.0 km off Ao Nang in a straight line, Koh Poda 4.9 km and Chicken Island 5.8 km, and an Ao Nang operator puts the classic four-islands circuit at about half an hour of longtail time. Koh Tub is joined to its neighbours by the Talay Waek sandbank — «the separated sea» — which you can walk at low tide and which is worth timing your day around; tide tables are published locally and change with the date.
Phi Phi is the other kind of day: 33.3 km from Ao Nang to Tonsai in a straight line, out at dawn and back in the late afternoon. The Hong group is 23.4 km from Ao Nang, and only 15.1 km from Klong Muang, which is the shorter approach to the same lagoon.
| Day | Operator | Per adult | Hours | National park fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four islands by longtail | Barracudas Tour | ฿990 (about $27) (฿1,190 by speedboat) | 09:30–15:30 | park rate ฿400 (about $11) adult / ฿200 child, the operator states ฿200 / ฿100 — confirm at booking |
| Seven islands at sunset, BBQ and a plankton swim | Barracudas Tour | ฿1,390 (about $39) (฿1,590 by speedboat) | pick-up 13:30–14:00 | park rate ฿400 (about $11) adult / ฿200 child, the operator states ฿200 / ฿100 — confirm at booking |
| Phi Phi, Pileh Lagoon and Bamboo by speedboat | Wangsai Speedboat | ฿1,500 (about $42) | 07:30–16:00 | ฿400 (about $11) adult, ฿200 child, at check-in |
| Hong at first light plus the four islands | Krabi Ezy Trails | ฿2,200 (about $61) on the operator's current offer | 06:20 pick-up, back 17:30 | ฿500 (about $14) adult, ฿250 child — two parks in one day |
| Early Bird: Phi Phi and the four islands | Koh Tour | ฿2,395 (about $66) | 06:30–16:30 | ฿400 (about $11) adult, ฿200 child, on the day |
| Hong in a group capped at twelve | Krabi Vip Tour | ฿2,500 (about $69) | 07:30–16:00 | ฿300 (about $8) included, the operator says |
| Junk-boat sunset cruise with a seafood BBQ | Krabi Sea Cruise | ฿3,200 (about $89) | from 14:00, Mon / Wed / Fri | to the ranger on board; park rate ฿400 adult / ฿200 child, the operator states ฿200 / ฿100 — confirm at booking |
Important
the national park fee is paid in cash to the rangers on arrival and, as the operators describe the rule, it is not allowed inside the price of a boat trip — which is why the fee column above moves between ฿200 and ฿500 while the price column moves for other reasons entirely. There are no cash machines on the islands, so the baht for it has to leave the mainland in your pocket.
What is allowed at Maya Bay now?
Less than the photographs suggest, and it is better to know in advance. Swimming is not permitted — since the bay reopened in 2022 you may go in only to knee depth, because the shallows are a nursery for blacktip reef sharks and the replanted corals are still fragile. Boats no longer enter the bay or beach on the sand: you land at Loh Samah on the far side, on a floating pier, and walk five to ten minutes over a boardwalk through the jungle to come out on Maya Bay itself.
Access is rationed both by time and by how many people may stand there at once; the exact quotas change, so ask your operator rather than trust a number found online. Outside the closed season the bay is open daily from 07:00 to 18:00, weather permitting. It closes every year from 1 August to 30 September — confirmed for 2026 — and during those two months the boats run as usual with Bamboo Island substituted for Maya. The rest of the national park keeps working through the closure.
Why is Hong paid for separately?
Because it is not the same park. Phi Phi and the four islands sit inside Hat Noppharat Thara — Mu Ko Phi Phi; Koh Hong belongs to Than Bok Khorani, where the ticket for a foreign adult is ฿300 (about $8) and the child rate is ฿150. One payment covers Hong, Lading and Pak Bia for the day, it is cash only in baht handed to the rangers, and a wristband comes back with it. That is why the two-park day on the Krabi Ezy Trails trip carries ฿500 a head rather than ฿300 or ฿200 — it crosses a boundary that is invisible from the boat.
Inside the lagoon the rangers limit how many people go in at once and manage the flow of boats on busy days. The park publishes no seasonal closure for Hong, which is not a guarantee that it stays open all year: in the monsoon the trips are cancelled by the weather rather than by the calendar, so ask the operator the day before.
If you would rather not share the lagoon, Thalassa Tour's private longtail to the Hong Islands is ฿12,000 (about $330) for the boat with two people aboard, ฿2,300 for each additional adult, and the ฿300 park ticket is included in that figure.
What is there to do by kayak?
This is the part of Krabi that has nothing to do with the islands. Ao Thalane is a bay of mangroves and karst walls about half an hour by road from Ao Nang; Bor Thor, an hour north, has a tunnel cave hung with stalactites and a burial cave with paintings believed to be three thousand years old; Klong Rud is a clear freshwater canal.
| Route | Operator | Per adult | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klong Rud, the clear-water canal | Koh Tour | ฿695 (about $19) | three and a half hours |
| Mangroves at Baan Sai Poh | Saipoh Kayak Krabi | ฿700 (about $19) | three hours |
| Ao Thalane, half a day | Koh Tour | ฿895 (about $25) | five hours |
| Ao Thalane at sunset with a beach BBQ | Ride & Raft | ฿1,200 (about $33) | six hours |
| Sea caves at Bor Thor | Koh Tour | ฿1,795 (about $50), lunch and entrance fees included | seven hours |
| Ao Thalane, private day for four guests | Karst Aways | ฿1,800 (about $50) | five hours |
One more paddling day is priced differently rather than higher: Sea Kayak Krabi publishes amounts for its Ao Thalane, Hong lagoon and sunset trips without naming the unit on the page — worth settling in writing before you book rather than assuming a per-person figure. The private end of the category is the last line of the table: Karst Aways takes four guests a day on Ao Thalane, ฿1,800 per person for five hours, paid in full after the trip.
What is there to see underwater?
Two very different things. The islands in front of Ao Nang are a short run out and a shallow, easy dive; the King Cruiser wreck with Shark Point and Anemone Reef lies out towards Phuket, which is why trips there run to a calendar rather than daily.
| Trip | Operator | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snorkelling at the Ao Nang bay islands by speedboat | Aqua Vision | ฿1,500 (about $42) | per person; ฿400 (about $11) park entrance not included |
| Snorkelling day around the Ao Nang archipelago | Kon-Tiki | ฿1,900 (about $53) | per person; the operator states no park fee applies on this route |
| Two dives at the Ao Nang bay islands | Aqua Vision | ฿3,400 (about $94) | per diver; ฿400 (about $11) park entrance extra |
| Two dives at Phi Phi, November to May | The Dive Ao Nang | ฿3,500 (about $97) | the operator's list gives no unit — confirm before booking |
| Two dives at Phi Phi, 1 November to 31 March | Sawasdee Divers Krabi | ฿4,300 (about $120) | per head; ฿600 (about $17) park fee on the first day |
| King Cruiser wreck, Shark Point and Anemone Reef | Railay Dive Center | ฿5,900 (about $165) | per person, nine hours |
Note the fourth line of the fee column against the second: for the islands in front of Ao Nang one operator charges a ฿400 (about $11) park entrance and another states that none applies on its route. Both are quoted from the operators' own pages, and the two statements have not been reconciled — so ask which applies to the boat you are on. Never-dived guests are taken by Krabi Scuba Club at ฿4,500 per person for two try dives; the PADI Open Water course is ฿14,500 at Local Diving Krabi over three days and ฿15,500 at The Dive Ao Nang in a group capped at four students — neither page states the unit, and both are worth confirming in writing.
What happens after the day boats go home?
The evening is a product of its own here. The seven-islands trip listed above leaves in the early afternoon and gets you the sunset and a swim among bioluminescent plankton on the way back. The junk-style boat with a seafood BBQ cooked on deck runs the same shape of evening from Ao Nam Mao on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Fishing splits the same way. Squid fishing under the lamps goes out of Ao Nang pier at 17:00 and comes back at 21:30, ฿3,000 (about $83) per adult on a shared boat, with the catch served aboard as sashimi. A private fishing day is ฿7,500 for a boat carrying up to four anglers, 09:00 to 15:30, with a six-person boat at ฿10,000.
When is the boat yours alone?
Whenever you pay for the hull rather than the seat. These prices are for the whole boat; the guest numbers are the operator's own caps, and the park fee is extra unless the row says otherwise.
| Boat | Operator | Per boat | Guests | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longtail to the four islands | Krabi Travel The Sea | ฿4,500 (about $125) | 2–7 | five hours |
| Private longtail to the four islands | Wangsai Speedboat | ฿6,250 (about $175), rising to ฿8,100 for ten | up to 10 | five hours |
| Luxury longtail, four islands, half day | Boat and Beyond | ฿8,500 (about $235) | 4 included, 8 maximum | four and a half hours |
| Private longtail to the Hong Islands | Thalassa Tour | ฿12,000 (about $330), park ticket included | 2 included | seven hours |
| Speedboat charter to Phi Phi | Krabi Travel The Sea | ฿14,000 (about $390) | up to 10 | six hours |
| Phi Phi, full day with sunset | Boat and Beyond | ฿19,900 (about $550) | up to 10 | nine and a half hours |
| Private speedboat to Phi Phi | Wangsai Speedboat | ฿22,000 (about $610), rising to ฿23,800 for ten | up to 10 | seven hours |
| Siamese junk, whole boat | Krabi Sunset Cruises | ฿90,000 (about $2 495), all inclusive with crew | 1–33 | eight hours |
Which pier does your boat leave from?
The word «pier» in a booking confirmation means several different things here. Longtails to the four islands and to Railay leave straight off the beach at Ao Nang; Nopparat Thara pier, 2.8 km up the road from Ao Nang, is where trips to Phi Phi and — in season — to Lanta go out from; Ao Nam Mao, 7.0 km away, is the main way into Railay and the departure point of the junk-boat sunset; Klong Jilad, 18.0 km from Ao Nang and 3.8 km from Krabi Town, is the province's main passenger pier, with a terminal, covered waiting areas and ferries to Phuket, Phi Phi and Lanta. Railay itself is a peninsula cut off from the land by limestone walls: there is no road in, and you get there by water or not at all.
From Krabi airport it is 28.7 km to Ao Nang and 15.6 km to Klong Jilad by road, measured with a routing engine on the coordinates. Which pier your particular trip uses, and what the pick-up costs if you are not staying in Ao Nang, is worked through in the piers of Krabi.
When should you come?
The dry season runs from December to March, and December to February is the calmest stretch of it. The southwest monsoon lasts from May to October: in October it rains on most days of the month, in February on a handful, and the coast takes the wind head-on because it faces the Andaman Sea directly. March and April are hot and increasingly showery, and November is still wet in its first half.
Two dates belong in a calendar rather than a forecast. Maya Bay and the neighbouring Loh Samah and Loh Ko bays close from 1 August to 30 September. In the neighbouring Mu Ko Lanta park most of the small islands are closed from 16 May to 14 October, and the Rok islands from 1 June to 30 September.
Where to read on?
- When to go to Krabi — twelve months in numbers: rain, rainy days, sunshine and sea temperature.
- National park fees — why one trip charges ฿200 (about $6) and the next ฿400, and who takes the money.
- Maya Bay now — what is allowed, how you are landed, and what replaces it in August.
- The four islands from Ao Nang — which islands they are and what is shown there.
- Hong and its lagoon — why it is a different national park and how a two-park day adds up.
- The piers of Krabi — where the boats leave from and how long it takes to reach them.
- Krabi or Phuket — what the distances and the prices say.
- Which languages the operators work in — and what to do if your English is weak.
