Almost everything worth a day out of Phuket is an island, and the boat leaves in the morning. Four directions cover the whole map: Coral Island and Racha to the south, Phi Phi and Maya Bay to the east, Phang Nga Bay to the north-east, and the Similans far to the north-west.
They cost ฿2,500 to ฿5,310 (≈ $69–147) per person, they run between seven and twelve and a half hours, and two of them are shut for part of the year. This page is the choosing page: what each direction actually is, what it costs all-in, and which one fits the week you are here.
The four island directions at a glance
| Direction | Operator | Price | All-in | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coral Island & Racha Yai | Nikorn Marine | ฿2,500 (≈ $69) | add-ons not published — we confirm before you book | 7 h 45 |
| Phi Phi, Maya Bay & Bamboo | Andaman Leisure Phuket | ฿3,900 (≈ $108) | ฿4,300 (≈ $119) with the ฿400 park fee | 8 h |
| Phang Nga Bay & James Bond Island | Simba Sea Trips | ฿4,500 (≈ $125) | transfers quoted on request | 8 h |
| Phi Phi sunrise, small group | Simba Sea Trips | ฿5,310 (≈ $147) | ฿5,310 — park fees inside | 8 h |
| Similans, snorkelling | Khao Lak Explorer | ฿3,490 (≈ $97) | ฿3,890 (≈ $108) with the road transfer from Phuket | 10 h |
| Similans, two dives | Sunrise Divers | ฿4,900 (≈ $136) | ฿6,000–฿7,000 (≈ $166–194) with fee and gear | 12 h 30 |
Read the fourth column, not the third. Two of these six carry their national park fees inside the price and four do not, which is why the headline order and the real order are different.
Coral Island and Racha Yai — the short crossing
The cheapest island day is also the closest one. Coral Island and Racha Yai by speedboat with Nikorn Marine is ฿2,500 (≈ $69) per adult and ฿2,100 (≈ $58) for children 4 to 11, with infants from one to four travelling free — the only tour on this page with a free infant place.
Seven hours and forty-five minutes, snorkelling at Tue Bay and Siam Bay on Racha Yai, and lunch at the operator's own Kahung Beach restaurant rather than a shared buffet shed. Round-trip hotel transfer, snorkel gear, an English-speaking guide and insurance are in the price.
One honest gap: Nikorn does not publish a list of extras, so we confirm the exact add-ons for your date before you book instead of guessing an all-in figure here.
Phi Phi and Maya Bay — the famous one, in two versions
Every Phi Phi boat visits the same places. What changes with price is the hour you arrive and how many people arrive with you.
The Phi Phi, Maya Bay and Bamboo Island speedboat from Andaman Leisure Phuket is ฿3,900 (≈ $108) per adult, ฿2,400 (≈ $66) per child aged 4 to 12, and leaves the operator's own ALP Private Pier. The ฿400 (≈ $11) adult park fee is collected on the day, so the real number is ฿4,300 (≈ $119).
The Phi Phi sunrise small-group trip from Simba Sea Trips is ฿5,310 (≈ $147) with the park fees already inside, a maximum of eighteen guests, and Maya Bay at about 07:15 — roughly an hour before the day boats. Compared all-in the gap is ฿4,300 against ฿5,310, not ฿3,900 against ฿5,310.
Maya Bay is closed every August and September for ecological recovery. Tours still sail in those two months and substitute Bamboo Island, so if the bay itself is the reason you are booking, pick another month or another direction.
Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island — the sheltered one
The northern bay is a different landscape and a different sea: limestone towers instead of beaches, and water flat enough that it works in months when the open crossings do not.
Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island with sea canoes from Simba Sea Trips is ฿4,500 (≈ $125) for eight hours, eighteen guests maximum, with a Thai paddle guide in every canoe through the caves of Koh Panak and Koh Hong and lunch on Koh Yao Noi.
One booking condition matters more here than anywhere else on this page: the boat sails from six guests. A couple who books a quiet weekday can be moved to a date that already has a group, so ask which dates are filling before you fix the rest of your week around it.
Sea kayaks — the same bay, but in a canoe
Phang Nga is not only done by boat. The Andaman Sea Kayak full day is ฿3,950 ≈ $109 per adult and ฿1,975 ≈ $55 per child aged 4–12; the park fee and transfer are included, you board at Ao Por pier around 11:00, the guide does the paddling, the caves of Panak Island run 20 to 150 metres, and by 15:30 you are in the Hong Island lagoon.
The evening version is Hong by Starlight from John Gray's Sea Canoe: ฿3,950 ≈ $109 per adult, ten hours door to door, park fees in the price. The shortest format is THINN's mangrove kayaks at Tha Maphrao: two and a half hours from ฿1,000 ≈ $28, with departures set by the tide.
The Similans — the best water, on a calendar
The Similan Islands are the reason people fly to Phuket to get in the water rather than on it, and they are open only from 15 October to 15 May. Outside that window the national park admits nobody, and no operator can change that.
There are two boats and a certificate decides which one you can board. The Similan snorkelling day trip with Khao Lak Explorer is ฿3,490 (≈ $97) with the park fees inside the price, mask, snorkel and fins, a light breakfast and a Thai lunch on the beach — ten hours, and about ฿400 (≈ $11) more per person for the road transfer from a Phuket hotel.
The Similan diving day with Sunrise Divers is ฿4,900 (≈ $136) for two dives, plus ฿700 (≈ $19) in cash for the park and ฿150–฿500 (≈ $4.2–14) per item if you rent gear — about ฿6,000–฿7,000 (≈ $166–194) for the day, and twelve and a half hours door to door. On Sundays and Wednesdays the boat runs to Koh Bon, the site known for manta sightings. The whole seasonal window is in our Similan Islands guide.
Certified divers are not limited to that window. Two dives at Racha Yai with Sharkey Scuba run all year at ฿3,690 (≈ $102) per diver, transfers and meals included, back at Chalong pier at 15:15.
So does the Phi Phi diving day with three dives at ฿3,900 (≈ $108) per person plus a ฿600 (≈ $17) park fee in cash on board; and for anyone who has never used a tank, a try dive is two dives with an instructor from ฿5,900 (≈ $163), from age ten.
Islands under your own throttle
The one island tour where nobody drives you: a SEA-DOO with a guide riding alongside, four hours, up to two people per machine, no licence needed. Six Islands with BOW JETSKI Phuket is ฿6,500 (≈ $180) per jet ski and stops at Naka Yai and Naka Noi; Nine Islands with Phuket JETSKI Club is ฿7,500 (≈ $208) per jet ski and adds the far lagoons and a Thai lunch on Rang Yai.
Of all the jet ski bookings we handled in Phuket over the past year, January took 35.3% and December another 19.7%, while May was the emptiest month at 0.1%. These are the shares of our own bookings, not a market estimate (Elyxta data): in the green season the water is freer.
The price is per machine, not per head, so two people pay once. Passengers are carried from age five with an adult; the operators do not publish a minimum age for the person at the handlebars, so ask us before you plan a teenager onto their own machine.
There is also an evening island run: Hong by Starlight with John Gray's Sea Canoe, ฿3,950 (≈ $109) for ten hours that end after dark, with the guide paddling, park fees, hotel transfer, a light lunch and dinner in the price.
The daytime version of that bay is Andaman Sea Kayak's full day out of Ao Por, also ฿3,950 (≈ $109) per adult: the caves of Panak, the lagoon inside Hong Island, park fee, hotel transfer and a buffet lunch on board, and you are back at the hotel about 18:30.
Closer still, the mangrove channels at Tha Maphrao are ฿1,000 (≈ $28) per adult for two and a half hours on Phuket itself, with departures set by the tide.
So which Phuket island tour should you pick?
- One sea day, first visit, travelling with small children. Coral Island and Racha at ฿2,500 (≈ $69): shortest crossing, calmest bays, and infants under four go free.
- You came for the postcard. Phi Phi. Pay the ฿4,300 (≈ $119) all-in version if the budget is tight, the ฿5,310 (≈ $147) sunrise version if an empty Maya Bay is the point.
- May to October, or the forecast looks bad. Phang Nga Bay. It is sheltered, so it runs on days the open routes do not.
- You dive, and you are here between 15 October and 15 May. The Similans, no contest. If you do not dive, take the snorkelling boat rather than skipping the park.
- August or September. Maya Bay is shut and the Similans are shut. Phang Nga Bay and Coral Island still run.
- You would rather drive than be driven. Six or Nine Islands by jet ski, and the second person rides free.
What is not in the price
Three lines account for most of the difference between a headline and a receipt. National park fees: ฿400 (≈ $11) per adult and ฿200 (≈ $6) per child on the Phi Phi routes, ฿700 (≈ $19) on the Similan dive day, already inside the price on the sunrise trip, the Similan snorkelling boat and Hong by Starlight.
Transfers: included on the Coral Island, Phi Phi and Similan diving days, quoted on request for Phang Nga, and about ฿400 (≈ $11) extra for the Similan snorkelling boat from a Phuket hotel. Equipment: only the Similan dive day charges for it, at ฿150–฿500 (≈ $4.2–14) per item.
Would the whole boat be better?
From roughly five or six guests the arithmetic changes. A private speedboat for the day with 5 Star Marine is ฿16,000 (≈ $443) for the hull, up to fifteen guests, and you choose the route; a private charter to Phi Phi with V. Marine Tour is ฿29,000 (≈ $803) for two to ten. Split across a family that beats buying premium seats one at a time.
The list does not stop at speedboats. A private longtail from Boat and Beyond is ฿9,900 (≈ $274) for a half day to the Kai Islands, four guests in the base price and eight at most; the Silver Craft 31 from Hartt Voyages is ฿55,000 (≈ $1,524) for a half day with up to six; and the Shibuli power catamaran from Tiger Marine Charter is ฿59,000 (≈ $1,634) for four hours with ten guests in the price.
How do you book a Phuket island tour?
Tell us the week you are here, how many of you there are and whether anyone dives, in WhatsApp. Those three answers decide the direction; we book direct with the operator at the operator's price. Compare the live departures on the Phuket boat tours page, and see the wider island in the what-to-see-in-Phuket guide.
