Phuket Island Hopping Day Trip To Phi Phi Islands

Last Updated on 13th October 2020

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Phuket Island Hopping Day Trip To Phi Phi Islands

The Phi Phi Islands are one of the most famous areas in Thailand for island hopping excursions so when we arrived in Phuket and realised that there were an abundance of day trips to embark on, we couldn’t wait to book our own boat tour!

After enjoying many island hopping tours in Indonesia around the Gili Islands and in the Philippines in El Nido and Coron, we had high expectations for an island hopping tour around the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand.

Thankfully, we weren’t disappointed and we concluded that it was definitely one of the best and well organised boat trips we’ve ever been on!

If you’re staying in the South Thai Islands for a few days, here’s the ultimate itinerary for a Phuket island hopping day trip to the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand!

What you need to know – Phuket island hopping tour

We booked our Phuket island hopping boat trip around the Phi Phi Islands on Airbnb.

There are so many tour operators in Phuket and online who all offer incredibly similar tours but we’ve actually really enjoyed booking tours on Airbnb recently and the particular one we went for got really great reviews.

We paid around £36.50 each which is definitely one of the most expensive tours we’ve ever done but that included everything from an unlimited delicious buffet lunch, transport costs and boat tickets, as well as all our snorkel gear.

It’s definitely on the more expensive side of boat tours in Thailand but I personally think it was worth the money and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to you guys!

Check out some more boat tours around the Phi Phi Islands here!

One thing that I was exceptionally pleased with on this boat tour is that all the staff were incredibly transparent about what it included.

Unlike our boat trip on Tour A in El Nido when we were led to believe we would visit 5 or 6 different locations and we only ended up visiting 3, this tour around the Phi Phi Islands was true to its word.

The tour was hosted by Like Andaman but it doesn’t actually say that when you book it on Airbnb; you’ll only realise this once you arrive at the pier in Phuket!

Our tour guide was called Nana and she was by far the funniest and most entertaining guide we’ve experienced since travelling! I’ve mentioned this before, but we actually found that many locals in Thailand could barely speak a word of English but Nana was pretty good and was able to answer any questions we had and was always on hand to help.

Now let’s get stuck into the good stuff; the Phuket island hopping itinerary around the Phi Phi Islands!

What’s included:

Buffet lunch
Snorkel gear
Bottled water
Fizzy drinks on board the boat
Transportation to and from the pier in Phuket
Tour guide

What to bring with you

If you’re able to, I’d highly recommend bringing some kind of underwater camera such as a GoPro. We have the GoPro Hero 7 which we’ve used on every day trip and boat trip since we started travelling over 9 months ago.

If you don’t have a GoPro, then a waterproof phone case is another great option so that you can still take pictures underwater of the coral and fish, without worrying about damaging your phone! We have the Ultra Dry Premium dry bag and phone dry bag which is amazing for boat trips when you don’t want any of your belongings to get wet.

Towel
GoPro or underwater appropriate camera
Sunscreen
Swim wear
Dry bag and waterproof phone case
Flip flops or water appropriate shoes
Sunglasses/hat

Pick up and checking in

We got picked up from our accommodation in Patong, Phuket just after 8am in a small minivan with a few other travellers and then we made our way to the pier which took around an hour.

The pier is absolutely awesome and the check-in process was so smooth and easy. There’s also free tea and coffee and an assorted array of biscuits for you to tuck into while you wait for other people to arrive for the tour!

There was also free anti-sickness tablets available too which we took and we didn’t feel a slight bit of seasickness during the whole trip!

We were then sat down as a group and were briefed on what we could expect from the day by our tour guide, Nana. She ran through each stop we would be visiting, as well as all the necessary health and safety procedures too.

Shortly after, it was time to board the boat with approximately 30 passengers and then we were on our way!

Maiton Island – Phuket island hopping

The first stop on our island hopping boat trip was Maiton Island where we enjoyed 45-minutes or so of snorkelling.

We’d been snorkelling a fair few times before this excursion so we were quite the experts this time around and we had a great time jumping off the boat and swimming around with the fish.

However, we didn’t actually realise until we got out of the water but there were loads of tiny baby jellyfish in the water with us and I got stung a couple of times on my arm!

It felt and looked more like a scratch than a sting but it certainly wasn’t pleasant either way and after that, I was a little apprehensive to jump back in to the water!

Maya Bay viewpoint

Next up, we headed to Maya Bay, which avid movie fans will recognise from the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio movie, The Beach.

However, you can no longer go on Maya Bay thanks to the thousands of tourists who ruined it a couple of years ago. Local Thai officials have shut off all access to Maya Bay indefinitely in order to give itself some time to heal and put the ecosystems back to normal.

It’s such a shame that you can’t access the bay or beach anymore, especially as it looks so paradisal in the movie, but I think it’s incredibly important for people to recognise the damage that large influxes of tourism can do to natural beauty and it serves as a reminder to be more mindful when travelling.

The boat did pull up just a short distance away from Maya Bay so we could just about see the beach briefly, before heading off to the next stop on our island hopping boat trip.

Viking Cave

After a short and brief glimpse of Maya Bay, we sailed passed Viking Cave which is an incredibly cool rock feature with caves just about visible from the outside.

I can’t quite remember the exact history of Viking Cave so you’ll just have to make sure you’re paying attention when you go on the trip yourself. 😉

I just want to point how crystal clear and vibrantly blue all the water was on our day trip around the Phi Phi Islands and despite it looking pretty remarkable in all my pictures, they’re not nearly doing it justice as to how beautiful it is in real life!

Pileh Lagoon – Phuket island hopping day trip

Pileh Lagoon is yet another incredibly famous island hopping spot in Thailand and I can totally see why; it’s absolutely spectacular!

We had another opportunity to go snorkelling around this area but Matt and I decided to just chill out on the deck of the boat instead and soak up some sun rays.

It was so nice to just people watch and admire the mesmerising scenery of all the towering cliffs and rocks around us.

The beauty of these kinds of boat trips is that you’re able to enjoy them exactly how you want to. You can enjoy a gentle swim, a snorkel exploration to find exotic fish, or simply just chill out on the boat and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

Phi Phi Island (lunch)

At around 1pm, we arrived on Phi Phi Island where we stayed for approximately two hours.

We ate lunch on Phi Phi and also had the chance to wander around some of the island on our own time and explore its little hidden treasures and gems.

The island itself is very beautiful and reminded me somewhat of El Nido in the Philippines and despite it being relatively busy with tourist boats, it didn’t feel overwhelmingly crowded to the point that it was unenjoyable.

The sand here is also so soft and buttery; a pleasant surprise as we found many of the “sandy” beaches in Indonesia and the Philippines to be pretty rocky and not all that pleasant to walk along!

The food we ate on Phi Phi was actually served as a buffet lunch which I know many people have mixed opinions about but I personally love a good buffet!

There was also a surprisingly large amount of dishes to choose from including curries, rice dishes, spaghetti and chicken wings.

There was also lots of salad and fresh fruit but as you can see from my very beige plate above, I’m not the biggest fan of the healthy stuff!

It was also lovely that the buffet lunch was pretty much unlimited so you could go and load your plate up as much as you wanted to; yet another thing I was grateful for after not eating a big breakfast before we embarked on the trip!

After lunch, everyone seemed to go their separate ways so that we could all enjoy a wander around the island and along the beach at our own leisurely pace.

Phi Phi seemed like a really lovely island from the couple of hours we spent on it and I think if we ever go back to Thailand, I’d like to stay on Phi Phi next time.

Monkey Beach

We were actually supposed to go passed Monkey Beach before heading to Phi Phi for lunch but the tour guide and driver said that it was far too crowded so we headed there afterwards instead.

We didn’t actually go onto Monkey Beach itself as I think you have to pay extra to do so but it was still nice to see it from the confines of our boat.

We’d also heard that the monkeys can be a little aggressive and intimidating so I was actually a little relieved that we didn’t go on to the beach itself.

It was still so fascinating watching the monkeys frolicking on the rocks and along the beach and I was mightily impressed at their grip skills on the wet and slippery rocks as I definitely expected them to fall in to the water!

Khai Nok Island

Our final stop of the day was Khai Nok Island where we spent just over an hour relaxing and unwinding on the beach.

We were able to go off on our own again so Matt and I headed to the opposite side of the small island to soak up some sunshine before the sun slowly started to set.

We also bought a Chang beer to share and even though I’m still not the biggest fan of beer, it was absolutely delightful to be able to cheers to the day and enjoy the last hour or so of our boat trip adventure.

Khai Nok was also probably my favourite part of the whole island hopping excursion around the Phi Phi Islands and it was the perfect way to conclude a lush day.

Once we’d finished our beers and had one last paddle in the stunning warm sea, it was time to hop back on the boat and head back towards Phuket.

Our ticket also included transportation back to our accommodation in Phuket, so I took full advantage of the minivan journey to have a quick nap after a very busy day!

I really loved our Phuket island hopping day trip to the Phi Phi Islands and it’s one of my favourite memories from our one month in Thailand!

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