One of the most sought-after activities travelers want to experience in Thailand is exploring the islands by boat. The Phi Phi Islands are the perfect place to do this, especially since the jungled mountains on the main island makes it nearly impossible to explore on foot. The other smaller islands that surround Phi Phi, like Ko Phi Phi Lee and the uninhabited Bamboo Island, draw in people from all over the world.
I had the chance to experience 3 different types of boats while on the Phi Phi Islands. In this post, I’ll outline those three options as well as give my experience with each so you’re able to get an honest review of what would be worth your time.
Here’s Exploring the Phi Phi Islands by Boat:
Half/Full Day Tours of the Phi Phi Islands by Boat
- How to Book: Most hotels have a partnership with local tour companies so you’re able to get a discounted rate upon check-in. Otherwise, walking through the village of Phi Phi, many different storefronts operate as tour companies. Some other companies recommended me to me were Phi Phi Islands Boat Tour and the Blanco Boat Party.
- Company Used: U-Rip
What We Saw on the Phi Phi Islands Boat Tour:
Monkeys
The first stop on the boat tour is a lush cliffside full of monkeys, my favorite animal. These apes weren’t the nicest though; even our guide was uncomfortable when they got too close. Trying to take a photo about 5 feet away, one momma screams at me so loud! That was enough for me to get back on the boat. No doubt about it, it’s an incredible experience to see them in their natural habitat!
Snorkeling in the Corals
I’ve never seen a coral reef. Crazy, I know! So, I was more than happy to jump out into the water during a thunderstorm to see the marine life. As soon as we anchor, hundreds of colorful fish surround the boat. Getting up close and personal to them via a snorkel is an unforgettable experience.
Ko Phai (Bamboo Island)
Described by locals as the most beautiful, unspoiled, uninhabited island in the entire area, Bamboo Island is the type of paradise you only see in movies. Ko Phai is a National Park of Thailand so there is a 400 Baht ($12) landing fee per person upon arrival. Unfortunately, we were only here long enough to take a quick dip before a tropical storm ravaged through.
Lo Sama Bay
Some of the richest corals in the area exist in Lo Sama Bay. I was more than happy to get the opportunity to snorkel up close.
Maya Bay
Possibly the most famous area of the Phi Phi islands is the location for Leonardo Dicaprio’s movie “The Beach.” Sadly, the Thai government shut Maya Bay down in June of 2018 for a clean-up operation. Because of this, we could only see Maya Bay from the water. Contributed to over-tourism, the corals here are absolutely devastated. The worst part of it all is that officials don’t think they will be able to salvage themselves. This area of Phi Phi may be forever destroyed.
Phileh Lagoon
One of my favorite parts of the boat trip is this gorgeous lagoon. Swimming in crystal clear waters sheltered by the forested limestone cliffs is an absolute dream.
My Experience with the Phi Phi Islands Boat Tour
This entire boat tour experience was a bittersweet one for me. While it was an unforgettable experience seeing the beauty, there were many portions of our day that contributed to my overall negative opinion of the tour.
In the months leading up to our Thailand trip, we made multiple attempts to book a private boat tour in Phi Phi but we never confirmation from any company. Figuring we would try to find something once we arrived we did just that at our accommodation check-in. They offered to book a half or full day tour with U-Rip. We were all for it, paying the 1600 Baht ($50) per person right there and reserving it for our second day on the island.
Read More: Spending 3 Days on the Phi Phi Islands
My Experience Embarking on the Boat Tour
The next morning comes and it’s storming like crazy. I consider trying to reschedule for our third day but I think maybe the storm will clear up. Meeting at our hotel’s reception office, I’m surprised to find multiple other parties of people. We were under the impression that we booked a private tour. Maybe they’re on a private tour too? Walking about 15 minutes with our guide to the south side of the island, we come to our final meeting place.
A staff member calls out for full day tours members. As we stand, about 40 other people do too. Yeah, we definitely weren’t getting a private tour.
Would I Recommend?
Being completely honest, I would recommend an all day boat tour but I would NOT recommend the U-Rip company. I also wouldn’t recommend doing a group tour.
Reasons Not to Use the U-Rip Company
- Communication about where exactly we were going all day was close to nil. Half the day was spent sitting on the boat waiting to see where we were going next and without any clue about when we’d arrive.
- The itinerary was changed multiple times without our knowledge.
- Stopping at different places, we could swim for maybe 5 minutes before the guides ushered us back onto the boat.
- The guides try to convince us we visit Monkey Beach when in fact they took us to a cliff with monkeys instead.
- We never got to see the Viking Caves as promised.
The Main Reason I would never recommend U-Rip:
We definitely got scammed. We paid upfront for a full day sunset tour so obviously we were expecting to be out on the water in the evening during that time. Well, apparently we finished our itinerary early but we had to figure that out on our own because nothing was said to us.
Now get this. Instead of waiting for sunset time inside the calm waters inside one of the bays, the operators took us a 2 minute boat ride OUT of the bay and into the choppiest of open waters. Telling us it would be an hour until the sunset and this is where we were waiting, everyone was instantly upset. In all reality, this was the guide’s way of convincing us to finish early and go back to the island. Within minutes, people started getting seasick.
Andy and I tried to stand our ground, saying we paid for an all day sunset tour and that’s what we were here for. The other 8 people on the boat got very angry with us, yelling in all different languages, ostracizing and intimidating us. We ultimately gave in to everyone and the tour guides got what we wanted, we were back on the island before sunset even began. THE WORST tour experience I’ve ever had.
Moral of the story: Say NO group tours and NO to the U-Rip Company!
Kayak
- How to Book – Head to the beach of Loh Dalem Bay and walk up to one of the kayak operators. You should see them sprinkled all along the beach.
- Company Used: We actually used a local who lived near where we were staying!
What We Saw
Monkey Beach
The fact that we were scammed out of seeing Monkey Beach the day before was a big reason we decided to rent a kayak. There are 2 workers who sit at Monkey Beach to collect a landing fee but they didn’t come to us since we were on a kayak so I’m not exactly sure how much it was. The beach was crazy dirty; so much litter, plastic bottles, fishing nets and ropes scattered the shoreline, it was hard to even walk without stepping on something.
As we began scaling down the rest of the beach to check out a group of monkeys in a tree, we heard some commotion behind us. Low and behold, I turn around to find a monkey ravaging through our things! He cracked open our water, spilling over half of it out all over the ground, then scavengered through the rest of our things for whatever we could find. Pure cultural experience to say the least!
My Experience on the Kayak
Honestly, I’ve never been in a kayak before this day. I’ve paddled around in canoes in the past but that’s normally done on some channel or lake somewhere in the midwestern US. This was a completely different experience for me and my arms were dead before we even got to Monkey Beach but it was worth every ounce of energy. We paid the local 200 Baht ($6) for 2 hours on the kayak which seems like a great deal!
Would I Recommend?
YES! If you’re okay with being out on the water and paddling against waves, kayaking was the perfect way to see Phi Phi. It’s just something awesome to do if you have time to kill and are a little adventurous.
Sunset Tour
- How To Book: If you book an all day sunset boat tour through a company then you SHOULD have experienced this already. Since we got screwed out of our sunset tour, we had to pay for one ourselves. Ask any of the tour companies in Tonsai village if they offer sunset tours or head to the pier to bargain with the locals.
- Company Used: We stumbled upon a random local by the pier.
My Experience on the Sunset Boat
This was probably the highlight of our entire time in Thailand. As we walk up to the Tonsai pier, multiple men ask if we need a ride anywhere. Telling them we want to see the sunset by boat, one guy offers for 800 Baht ($25). I really didn’t like the look of his boat so I say no and another man offers his up. Saying he will take us out for 700 Baht, I tell him I have someone doing it for 400 Baht. With my negotiating tactics working, he quotes us at 500 Baht ($15) and we’re hopping in the boat.
Heading out into the bay, he stops the boat and says we’ll wait here so it’s not so choppy. Needless to say, I trust him already! He takes us by the limestone cliffs and, since the tide is low, monkeys were crawling all over the corals for food. Definitely an awesome thing to see!
Our guide was so chill, he didn’t care what we did whatsoever. The only time he bothers us was to point out the monkeys on the coral. When golden hour starts, he revs up the engine and takes off into the open waters.
Within minutes the sky show begins. To this day, I have never seen a more gorgeous transformation of day turning into night. The colors were so insane, a rainbow popped out between the clouds and the entire sky turned a crazy sort of color. No doubt about it, one of the most magical moments of exploring Phi Phi Islands by boat and my entire trip to Thailand.
Read More: How I Booked My Trip to Thailand
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I’d say you’ve convinced me to go back and try Phi Phi again… We only did a day trip from Phuket on a speed boat and it was much like you described your first full-day trip – rushed, little to no info given, limited time at places we wanted to see, monkey cliffs rather than the beach…. It was pretty awful despite getting to see some beautiful sights like Maya beach (we were still able to go onto the beach, along with about a million other tourists…) and Pileh Lagoon. I think doing longboat tours with locals definitely sounds like the way to go! That sunset looks absolutely mind-blowingly stunning!! Thanks for sharing!!
Oh, Joannda I hope you do! I actually hadn’t originally planned on going there. We were going to just stay on the east side of Thailand for the trip then multiple bloggers came to me and said they did a day trip to Phi Phi from Phuket and kicked themselves for not staying a night. I am SO glad I changed my itinerary to go there! It was incredible and probably my favorite part from the whole Thailand trip!
Definitely would recommend doing the local tours more than the bigger companies. It sounds like they just know their way around a scam and the trips sell themselves so they aren’t bothered by people not liking it. Really sad but at least I can warn others!
Thanks for checking it out, hope you get to go back someday! 🙂