Free Cancellation up until 4:00pm the day before this trip!
*** The Government has announed that as of June 1st 2018 for 4 months, Maya Bay will be closed. From this date until further notice, the itinerary of this tour will not include a stop at Maya Bay. ***
Update: The National Parks have now announced that the closure of Maya Bay will be extended for one month until November the 1st 2018. The extension is to give extra time for the eco-system to recover.
The original Krabi Island Hopping tour.
Just off the coast of Krabi and Aonang, The Phi Phi Islands are the best known of Thailand's West Coast Islands. Speedboats take about 1 hour to get there. The Islands started off as the main Andaman destination on the travellers trail more then 30 years ago. In those days the Island really was just a few bamboo huts on the beach. Then of course the 2000 film "The Beach" was filmed there which gave the Islands incredible world wide exposure and opened them up as one of the world's most desireable holiday destinations. The Tsunami in 2004 devastated the place and its still in the process of being rebuilt.
The speedboats are various sizes ranging from 25 seat up to 50 seats. The boat used depends on how many customers they have on the day. Most days its a 25 seat boats with a covered area with bench seating along the sides and then a small open area at the front. Its fun at the front but watch out for the sun and its also the bumpiest ride. During high season, December through to March, its very often a 40 seat speedboat.
Just a note that on windy days, its actually an advantage to be in a bigger boat as they have more power and are heavier so its a less bumpy ride.
Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Le are the largest and only populated islands. Phi Phi Don is 28 sqkm: 8 km in length and 3.5 km wide. Phi Phi Le is 6.6 km in Length. The Islands are circled by beaches with beautiful coral reefs quite close to the shore making it possible for good snorkelling right off the beach. There are now hundreds of Hotels and resorts on the main Phi Phi Island ranging from small beach bungalows right on the beach to full 5 Star Resorts. There is not an airport on the Phi Phi Islands meaning that all visitors arrive by boat.
The Krabi speed boat tour to Phi Phi Islands is a perfect combination of exhilaration and relaxation. Speed across the Andaman Sea and then spend the day snorkeling and sightseeing. You will have a tour guide with you the whole time. Along the journey you may well see some flying fish, an amazing sight leaping out of the water up to ten or more meters. Keep your eyes open as it all happens very fast.
The Krabi to Phi Phi Island Tour will take you to all the best and most famous beaches on the Phi Phi Islands. Departing from Aonang you'll have time to snorkel and just soak in the glorious views. The coral reefs at Phi Phi Islands are very close to the beach so you can just snorkel with the kit included in the Phi Phi Tour price and get to see some of the most amazing colours you will ever see.
The effects of the Tsunami and the increased water temperature had a bad effect on the coral around the Islands so its not as full as life as it was, but there are signs that its recovering.
The Krabi to Phi Phi Islands tour also takes you to Maya Bay, the place the film "The Beach" was made. It really is just as beautiful as it looked in the film. Nowadays there are many tourist groups visiting, but it really does still look in pristine condition. You will need to use your imagination though as it really is just about standing room only at high peak season and quite crowded even at low season.
Lunch is provided at a restaurant at Ton Sai, the main port at Phi Phi. Vegetarian and Halal options are available. Its only a short walk to the other side of the Island, just ask the guide and he'll direct you. There is not so much to see though.
The name of the Islands, Phi Phi, (its almost worth visiting the islands just to be able to say to people "I just went to Phi Phi in Thailand") actually has nothing to do with toilets or body functions. The name comes from the Malay name, Pokok Api Api, for the "fiery tree" a type of Grey Mangrove tree that can be found all over the Islands. Only Phi Phi Don, the main Island, is inhabited, there are no hotels or resorts or any accomodation on the smaller Island of the two, Phi Phi Ley (or Lee). Phi Phi Ley is the location of Maya Bay, Loh Samah Bay and Phi Leh Bay
The only permitted motor vehicles on the Islands are emergency vehicles, the most popular form of transport for visitors is the bicycle. The only tarmac roads are in the main residential areas, the rest is linked by small pathways. Bicycles are available to rent from many of the hotels and resorts on the Island.
The beach used for the film, The Beach, was Maya Bay, although it was digitally altered in the film, so it does not look quite the same. Its also Phi Phi's top attraction so does get very crowded at times.
One of the locations visited is Viking Cave, the name comes from the cave paintings that are to be seen on the walls of the cave that show European and Chinese design sailing ships. Its surprisingly not known who created these pictures or what date they were painted. Its unlikely that the pictures are of Viking ships, but, it looks good on the brochures... The Islands are known to have been inhabited for over 1000 years with the early residents being Sea Gypsies who don't have any tradtion of Cave Painting. The outside of the cave is covered in rickety bamboo scaffolding to aid the nest collecters to climb to the top of the 100meter high Cavern to collect the nests. Not sure what the bird's think of this, in february at breeding season, the first two nests that a pair of swiftlets make get collected before allowing them to keep the third for their eggs. The caves themselves are not open to the public to protect both the swiftlets and the paintings.
Hotel transfers, Mask/snorkel, Life jacket, Fruit and water, lunch, Tour guide and insurance
Note: ** National Park Fees not included for Island tours. Fee for this tour is 400thb per adult, 200thb per child (3 and under free). Please make sure you have the Thai Baht to make the payment. Receipts issued by Ranger ** By order of the Government, every passenger must pay the National Park fee. It is not possible to take this tour without paying the fee.
* Please Note that Speedboat operators will not accept bookings for pregnant ladies or infants under 1 year of age as it can on occasion be quite a bumpy ride. You also might want to think twice about speedboat trips if you have a problem with sea sickness or have a serious back complaint.
* Sea conditions can effect the itinerary and on days with big waves it may make it impossible to visit certain places safely. The decision on safety is taken as a group by all operators combined with information from the coastguard.
Please take care of masks and snorkels and make sure you have them to give back at the end of the tour.
The Phi Phi Islands are open sea Islands and the speedboats do make snorkelling stops at reefs just off the coast. As it is open sea, there are ocean currents which change depending on the time of day, these currents can be quite strong. Its very important to listen to the guide when instructing where is safe for snorkelling. Unless you are an olympic class swimmer :), its wise to wear your lifejackets at all times while snorkelling off the boat in water that is out of your depth.
Life jackets are provided for everyone, they do have some child jackets of various sizes, but not for for very small children and babies. Wearing the jackets is not compulsory but is adviseable particularly for children and non-swimmers. If you decide not to wear a jcaket, just make sure you know where your jacket is just in case. Accidents are very rare but nature can be unpredictable.
08:00-08:30 Pick up from your Krabi Hotel or Ao Nang Hotel and transfer to pier at Ao Nang
09:00 - 09:30 Depart by speed boat to Phi Phi Islands
Depending on the tides, you will then spend time at each of the following destinations.
Bamboo Island (Ko Mai Phai) relaxing on the wonderful white beach. Perfect white soft sand.
Viking Cave photography and sightseeing. Viking Cave is named after the painted ships on the cave walls. Unfortunately its not possible to go into the caves, but its still a beautiful sight. Its also the center for the collection of Swiftlets bird's nests, the essential ingredient in "Bird's Next Soup". These are one of the most expensive animal products eaten by people with just one nest selling for over 2500 US dollars!
Lohsamah Bay on Phi Phi Ley is a famous scuba diving and snorkelling spot. Its seperated from Maya Bay on the other side of the Island by a very thin limestone cliff. The cliff walls go down about 15 - 20 meters in the water and are covered with a great variety of soft corals making for an amazing sight. Night dives are also popular here and many of the liveaboard scuba trips include a night dive at Lohsamah Bay.
Pi Leh Bay to see the sights. Its a beautiful cliff lined Lagoon. The water is crystal clear and a beautiful color.
Maya Bay the location of the film "The Beach". Its really quite a small beach and always very crowded, but worth a short stop to just dream. (This stop is not included in the trip from June 1st 2018 for 4 months.)
Monkey beach for relaxing and a bit more snorkeling. Depending on the time, they may skip this stop to give more time at a better snorkeling location.
Phi Phi Don enjoy lunch at restaurant on the beach and relaxing
Hin Klarng to do some open sea snorkeling
Nui BayA small sheltered bay for some more open water snorkeling. Just lie in a lifejacket and get surrounded by thousands of fish.
16.00 return to Aonang
(Please note that all pickup times and departure times are approximate and do depend on how quickly the operators can pick up from hotels. They try their best but some days you may need to wait a while. Please call us if they are more than 30 minutes late and we will check status for you.)
Sea conditions can make it unsafe to land boats at some locations if waves are high.
Locations may differ from the above depending on sea conditions.