Phuket is Thailand’s leading beach resort!
From there, it’s about 1-2 hours by ship, ferry, or speedboat to reach Phi Phi Island.
In this article, I’ll introduce my experience of taking a tour to Phi Phi Island from Phuket at the end of 2023. I was amazed by the emerald green sea, which is hard to find in Japan.
I’ll introduce my experience of taking the tour, so I hope it will be helpful for those who are thinking about traveling to Phuket in the future.
What are Phi Phi Islands?
Phi Phi Islands is located about 42km south of Krabi mainland and is an archipelago that can be reached by boat tour from Phuket or Krabi. It consists of six islands: Phi Phi Don Island, Phi Phi Le Island, Yuen Island, Mai Pai Island, Pida Nok Island, and Pida Nai Island.
The best time to visit Koh Phi Phi is during the dry season from November to April!
During the dry season, the weather is stable, the waves are calm, and the water is clearer, allowing you to enjoy the beauty of Koh Phi Phi even more!
How to Book Tours
We often use this KKday website when we go on overseas trips.
You can also sign up at your hotel or local tour desk. However, it is recommended to make reservations in advance as the tours may be full!
What to bring on the day
Please check out this article for a detailed description of the items I brought with me on my tour of Phi Phi Island!
Some things can be procured locally, but we generally recommend bringing them with you from Japan!
By the way, motion sickness medicine is a very high priority item!
It’s essential for those who get seasick easily, and since you’ll be touring the islands on a high-speed boat, we recommend bringing it even if you don’t often get on a boat.
Phi Phi Island Tour Schedule
Next, I will tell you about my experience on the tour I participated in!
There are several operators and plans for Phi Phi Island tours, so this is just one example, but I hope it will be useful as a reference ♪
The tour I took included a shuttle to the Royal Phuket Marina, where the speedboat departs!
However, the hotel departure time is set to be relatively early, between 7 and 8am.
It’s nice to have a shuttle, but it might be hard for those who don’t like getting up early…
The tour will go around to various hotels to pick up other participants, so the departure time will depend on the location of the hotel.
We arrived safely at the Royal Phuket Marina. It was already 9 o’clock at this time!
In addition to the tour we were on, there were other tour companies gathering, so the place was overflowing with people. It was Christmas season, so there were a lot of families there.
However, it was a long walk from here to the boat…
After listening to the precautions for participating in the tour, we waited in line to board. Unfortunately, we were the last team to board, so we had to wait a little over an hour before we were finally able to board.
I strongly recommend taking motion sickness medicine before boarding!
I’ve mentioned “motion sickness medicine” many times, but the rocking of a speedboat is really intense lol
The boat rocked all over the place, and the boat was slamming into the sea, making your butt hurt…
Many people were feeling sick…so motion sickness medicine is a must-have item!
By the way, I use this motion sickness medicine, which is also sold at pharmacies.
Viking Cave
After about an hour’s ride on a speedboat, you will arrive at the first attraction, Viking Cave!
We have arrived at the first attraction, the Viking Cave!
Tourists are not allowed to enter the cave, so enjoy it from a little farther away! The time spent there is only a few minutes. The cave is said to be a place where pirates used to hide and live in the past, and there are various murals painted on the walls.
Pileh Lagoon
Next, we head to Pileh Lagoon on Koh Phi Phi Leh.
This was the place I was looking forward to the most out of all the places on the Phi Phi Island tour, and I was blown away by how amazing it was, even more so than I expected! I was so touched!
I had always wanted to go there since I saw it on Instagram, and the real thing is different. Definitely worth a visit!
The beautiful emerald green sea spread out before us.
The time spent at Pileh Lagoon was about 30 minutes. We were given free time to take some cool photos from the boat and enjoy swimming! Then, an announcement was made about the paid option of a longtail boat!
Maya Bay
Our next destination was Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh.
This place is famous for being the setting for the movie “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio!
This is also a place I had been longing to visit ever since I saw it on Instagram.
Unfortunately, Maya Bay is an environmentally protected area and cannot be accessed directly by boat.
Therefore, you will need to walk from the dock on the other side of Maya Bay.
The road is paved and relatively easy to walk on, but there were a lot of people. It was probably peak time, so the place was bustling with people. It’s a one-way street, so don’t try to overtake others.
We walked slowly in a single file. It took about 10 minutes.
Once we passed through the lush green area…
A wonderful view unfolds before you! A beautiful emerald green ocean!!! A truly magnificent view!!!
There are a lot of people, but the location is great.
We had about 30 minutes of free time. We took photos and sat on the white sand looking at the beautiful ocean, and before we knew it, it was time to meet up. I really wanted to spend some time relaxing and looking at the ocean, but I gave up because we were in a group.
After Maya Bay, we moved to Phi Phi Don Island and had a buffet-style lunch!
There were a lot of standard menu items such as curry, fried rice, and chicken. After lunch, we got back on the speedboat.
Monkey Beach
This is literally a beach where monkeys live.
It seems that some tours go to Monkey Beach, but the tour I took only looked at it from the boat without going ashore.
I don’t know if they skipped the landing because they were pressed for time, or if it wasn’t even planned to go ashore in the first place…
I could see the monkeys from the boat, but from a distance!
Kai Islands
Our final destination was Kai Island.
Here, we landed on the island and enjoyed some free time, relaxing at the beach, or snorkeling.
However, the weather was bad that day… Unfortunately, it was raining lightly.
We had about an hour of free time, but we returned to the boat before the rain got heavy.
We went during the best time of the year, the dry season, but it seems like there are some days when the weather is bad… Whether you can see a beautiful ocean is ultimately down to luck!
Summary: Let’s go on a Phi Phi Island tour!
It was a very satisfying tour, as I was able to see the beautiful sparkling emerald green sea!
The sea at Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon in particular was beautiful and highly recommended, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has come all the way to Phuket!
However, the boat rocks a lot, so I definitely recommend taking measures to prevent seasickness.
Some people were exhausted the whole time, so if you are prone to seasickness, please be especially careful.
If you have the opportunity to go to Phuket, be sure to visit Phi Phi Island as well.
I hope this article has been helpful to as many people as possible♪ Thank you!