Your best day on the Andaman.
Speedboats to Phi Phi, sea caves in Phang Nga, elephants in the hills and a ringside seat in Patong: what each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
The seven you build a week around.
First visit or fifth, these carry the week: the speedboat that beats the crowds into Maya Bay, a jungle morning feeding rescued elephants, the longtail through Phang Nga’s sea caves, and the boats you book before the good dates go.
Similan Islands Early-Bird Tour From Phuket and Khao Lak!
Early-bird speedboat to Thailand’s Similan Islands from Phuket or Khao Lak, with 3 snorkeling stops, Donald Duck Bay, Sail Rock views, and lunch.
From $125 per person
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★ 4.4Worth every bahtPhi Phi Islands and Maya Bay Day Trip with LunchFrom $343,204 reviews
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Limestone, sea caves, one famous rock.
Big boat or longtail out of the pier and into the drowned karsts of Phang Nga: paddle a sea cave into a hidden lagoon while the tide allows, lunch at the floating village of Ko Panyi, then stand where the film crew stood on James Bond Island. Calmer water than Phi Phi, and the day people come back to do twice.
Which island day is yours?
Everyone books a boat day; the right one depends on your trip. Here are the three ways to spend it, from the famous bays to the far quiet islands. Take the one that fits, and the boats behind it are priced and ready to book.
The famous one
Phi Phi & Maya Bay
8 hours · from $61 · 19,266 reviews
The postcard: Maya Bay’s cliffs, the Viking Cave, snorkel stops in water you can see your feet through. It pulls a crowd, so the trick is a boat that leaves early and slips into the bay before the fleet. Longest ride of the three, and the one nobody comes home wishing they had skipped.
See the Phi Phi trips →
Closest to shore
Coral, Racha & Khai
4 - 8 hours · from $24 · 2,379 reviews
Twenty to forty minutes off Chalong and Rawai, so more beach and less boat. Racha for the clearest water, Coral for an easy afternoon swim, the three Khai islands for a lazy half day with a mask. The pick when you want islands without the early alarm.
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Nov to May only
Similan & Surin
10 - 13 hours · from $125 · 3,648 reviews
The clearest water in the Andaman, a long ride north, and a season that runs roughly November to May. This is why the divers fly in: granite boulders, soft coral, visibility the closer islands cannot touch. Early start, big payoff.
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Patong just gets going after dark.
Bangla Road lights up, a Muay Thai card turns loud under the stadium bulbs, and Simon Cabaret piles on the feathers and sequins. Want the quiet version instead? A twilight canoe through Phang Nga ends among glowing plankton. Pick the evening; the tickets are here.
Dinner starts at the night market.
Phuket eats late and cheap: grilled seafood and moo ping down the market aisles, roti fried on the pavement, a market run that ends with you cooking the green curry yourself. Three good food hours, sorted.
Swap the sand for the jungle.
When you have had enough sun, the hills behind Kathu deliver: quad bikes through the rubber plantations to a Big Buddha viewpoint, ziplines strung across the canopy, a raft down a monsoon river. Messy, loud, and a good half day out of the heat.
There is a town behind the beaches.
Sino-Portuguese shophouses in ice-cream colours along Thalang Road, the 45-metre Big Buddha watching from the hill, incense curling through Wat Chalong. Half a day of old Phuket, tin-mining money and Hokkien roots, a short drive from the sand.
Every island is a different day.
The good days are scattered across the map. Phi Phi for the postcard bays. Phang Nga for the sea caves. The Similans for the clearest water. Old Town for a break from the sand.
Water, jungle or temple day?
Not sure yet? Every kind of Phuket day has a tile below, from a snorkel morning to a jungle afternoon to a slow temple walk. Tap one and the boats and tickets are ready to book.
Worth the early boat.
The best of the Andaman is a boat ride from the pier. Phi Phi and Maya Bay to the south, Phang Nga’s karsts to the east, the Similans and the Khao Sok rainforest north for divers and jungle. Long days, but the ride is half the trip.
Your first three days, sorted.
You cannot see all of Phuket in one trip, but three days covers the big ones. Here is the order that works, the one to hand a friend landing tomorrow.
Day 1
Find your feet on land
Ease in with no boat and no alarm: the Big Buddha and Wat Chalong in the morning, the Old Town lanes after lunch, dinner down the night market.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The big island day
Early boat to Phi Phi and Maya Bay ahead of the crowds, snorkel stops on the way back, feet up on deck by mid-afternoon. The day the trip is really about.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Caves, karsts and kayaks
Into Phang Nga Bay for the sea caves and James Bond Island, or trade the water for a jungle morning with the elephants. Check the forecast and take the calmer option.
Plan day three →
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