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See the condos →Here is the thing nobody tells you on your first Phuket trip: some of the best days here do not happen on Phuket at all. The island is the hub of one of the great island seas of the world. Within an hour or two by boat you can be standing on the white sand of Maya Bay, paddling a sea canoe under a limestone cave in Phang Nga Bay, snorkelling over coral gardens at Racha, or eating grilled fish on a speck of an island you can walk around in twenty minutes. Long-stayers know this rhythm well — a week of ordinary island life, then a boat day to remind yourself why you came. This guide walks through the eight boat trips actually worth your day, in plain English: what each one is like, who it suits, and the practical bits that decide whether the day is wonderful or merely long.
First, the Piers and the Boats
Almost every island trip leaves from one of three sides of Phuket. Chalong Pier, in the southeast, is the workhorse: speedboats for Coral Island, Racha and Maiton leave from here, and it is the closest pier if you are staying in the south or in Patong (about 30 to 40 minutes by road). Rassada Pier, near Phuket Town, handles the big ferries to Phi Phi — slower, cheaper, and gentler on sea-sensitive stomachs. The Phang Nga Bay tours mostly drive you off the island entirely, over the bridge to piers on the mainland side or to Phuket's northeast coast, because the bay's limestone seascape sits northeast of the island. Nearly every organised tour includes hotel pickup, so the pier matters less than the pickup time — expect early starts, usually between 7 and 9 AM.
The boat itself shapes the day as much as the destination. Speedboats are fast and bouncy — an hour to Phi Phi, half an hour to Racha — and in rough green-season weather the ride out can be a workout; sit at the back for the smoothest seat and take a seasickness tablet before you leave if you are prone. Big boats and ferries are slower but steadier, with decks to stand on and coffee to drink, and suit travellers who want the journey to be part of the pleasure. Longtail boats, Thailand's wooden classics with their car-engine-on-a-pole, are how you explore once you are out there — Phang Nga Bay especially — slow, photogenic and close to the water. And the sailing catamarans and yachts that run sunset trips to Coral Island and Maiton are a category of their own: fewer people, better food, and the Andaman sunset as the main event. None of these is "best" — match the boat to your stomach, your budget and your mood.
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The 8 Trips Worth Taking
1. Coral Island (Koh Hey) — the easy half-day
Fifteen minutes by speedboat from Chalong Pier, Coral Island is the trip you take when you want island water without giving up the whole day. Two beaches face Phuket: Long Beach, the livelier strip, and Banana Beach, the prettier one, tucked in a green bay with clear, shallow water and a floating pier. The formula is simple and it works — swim, snorkel over the near-shore reef, eat lunch at a beach restaurant, try the sea activities if you want them, and be back at your hotel by mid-afternoon with the evening still yours. Choose Coral for a first boat day, for kids, for a short holiday where days are precious, or for a gentle re-entry if it has been a while since you were on the water. It is popular and it knows it, so go on a morning departure and claim your patch of sand early.
Banana Beach on Coral Island — fifteen minutes from Chalong Pier and a different world: clear shallows, white sand and longtails at the pier.
2. Racha Island (Koh Racha Yai) — for snorkellers and clear-water people
About 30 to 45 minutes south of Chalong by speedboat, Racha Yai is where Phuket people go when they want the water itself to be the point. The visibility here is famously the best of the near islands — on a good day the bays run that impossible turquoise-to-deep-blue gradient, and the snorkelling off the main bay and the smaller coves turns up coral, anemones and clouds of reef fish within a few fin-kicks of the beach. There is a small village, a handful of resorts and beach restaurants, and a viewpoint walk across the island's green middle if you want a break from the sea. Choose Racha if you snorkel, if you photograph water, or if you simply want the prettiest swim of your trip without the long haul to Phi Phi. Divers love its quieter sister, Racha Noi, further south — usually a dive-boat day rather than a beach trip.
Racha's main bay — the clearest water of Phuket's near islands, and snorkelling straight off the sand.
3. Phi Phi Islands — the famous one, and famous for a reason
The Phi Phi day is the big one, and yes, it earns it. Two main islands — Phi Phi Don, with its village, viewpoint and twin bays, and Phi Phi Leh, the uninhabited one, wrapped in limestone walls — plus a roll call of stops that reads like a screensaver: Maya Bay, the beach from the film, now carefully managed with no swimming in the bay itself so the blacktip reef sharks and the sand can recover; Pileh Lagoon, an emerald fjord of still water that boats glide into at high tide; the Viking Cave; Monkey Beach; and snorkel stops over reefs that still deliver turtles on a lucky day. Go by speedboat if you want maximum island time, or by big boat or ferry if you prefer a calmer ride — Rassada ferries take about two hours each way, which turns Phi Phi into a happy overnight for many people, and honestly an overnight is the connoisseur's choice: the island after the day boats leave is a different, quieter place. Choose Phi Phi at least once. Choose the early-bird departure to beat the midday flotilla to Maya Bay, and check the season — Maya Bay closes for a stretch during the green season each year to let the bay rest.
Longtails in Phi Phi's limestone lagoons — the classic Andaman picture, and one that still lives up to itself in person.
4. Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island — the landscape trip
North-east of Phuket, Phang Nga Bay is not really about beaches at all. It is a flooded limestone world — dozens of jungle-topped karst islands rising straight out of calm, green, mangrove-fringed water — and the water is so sheltered that this is the one big trip that runs happily all year, green season included. The headline stop is Khao Phing Kan, better known worldwide as James Bond Island after it starred in The Man with the Golden Gun, with the needle of Koh Tapu standing in the water in front of it. But the day's real pleasures are quieter: paddling a sea canoe with a local guide through the sea caves and hidden lagoons (hongs) of Koh Hong and Panak Island, where the cave roof opens into a secret room of water and trees; floating past the stilt village of Koh Panyi, built over the water by a fishing community, for lunch; and watching the bay turn gold on the ride home. Choose Phang Nga for scenery over swimming, for travellers who burn on beaches, and for any day the open sea looks rough — the bay barely notices weather that cancels other trips.
Koh Tapu, the James Bond Island needle — but the bay around it, all caves and lagoons and stilt villages, is the real show.
5. The Khai Islands — three tiny islands, one lazy day
Khai Nok, Khai Nai and Khai Nui are dots of sand and reef off Phuket's east coast, close enough that tours bundle all three into a half or full day of almost pure beach-and-snorkel time. The water at the first two is shallow, clear and full of tame reef fish that gather at the shoreline, which makes Khai a favourite for families and for anyone whose ideal boat trip is short on travel and long on floating. There is not much island to explore — a ring of sand, some beach chairs, a small restaurant or two — and that is precisely the appeal. Choose Khai for a low-effort day, a first snorkel with children, or a gentle trip with grandparents. Skip it if you are chasing dramatic scenery; that is Phi Phi and Phang Nga's job.
6. Maiton Island — the quiet, dolphin one
Maiton is a small private island southeast of Phuket, visible from the coast road on clear days, and its trips run at a different tempo: limited visitor numbers, a long quiet beach, a reef that snorkellers rate highly, and a resident chance — never a promise — of dolphins on the crossing, since a pod works these waters and often plays in a boat's wake. Many Maiton trips run by sailing catamaran and stretch into the late afternoon so the return leg becomes a sunset cruise. Choose Maiton when you have done the famous islands and want the uncrowded version of the day, or when the point of the trip is the boat itself as much as the island.
7. The Similan Islands — the expedition (season only)
The Similans are the connoisseur's day and the honest traveller's warning in one: nine granite islands in a national park far northwest of Phuket, with the clearest water and some of the best snorkelling and diving in Thailand — boulders, coral gardens, turtles and, in season, manta rays and whale sharks on the dive sites further out. The cost of that quality is distance: an early van ride up to Khao Lak and roughly an hour and a quarter by speedboat beyond it, making it the longest day on this list by far. The park is open only in the dry season, roughly mid-October to mid-May, and closes through the green season. Choose the Similans if you are a serious snorkeller or diver with one day to spend on the very best water. Everyone else, save them for a trip when you can stay up in Khao Lak and do it without the dawn start.
8. A sunset cruise — the short evening trip
Not every good boat day needs a sunrise alarm. From late afternoon, catamarans and yachts leave Chalong and the east-coast marinas for Coral Island, Maiton or simply the open water off Promthep Cape, timed so dinner, swimming and the sail home all happen inside the long Andaman sunset. It is the most romantic trip on the list, the easiest on children and grandparents, and — for long-stayers — the one to book when friends visit and you want to show them the sea at its kindest without organising a dawn expedition. Choose it for celebrations, for a first-evening-of-the-trip treat, and for anyone who likes their islands with a glass in hand and the lights of Phuket coming on behind them.
Which Trip for Which Day
- Only one day, want the postcard: Phi Phi, early-bird speedboat.
- Beaches bore you, landscapes don't: Phang Nga Bay with the sea canoes.
- Half a day and an easy win: Coral Island in the morning.
- Snorkelling is the whole point: Racha for a normal day, the Similans (in season) for the expedition.
- Kids, grandparents, nervous sailors: Khai Islands or a big-boat Phi Phi — short crossings, calm water.
- Green-season day, sea looks rough: Phang Nga Bay — sheltered water, runs when others cancel.
- Romance or a celebration: a sunset catamaran to Coral or Maiton.
- Been here a month, done the famous ones: Maiton, quietly, midweek.
Practical Notes From People Who Go Often
- Season is real. The calm, clear season runs roughly November to April. From May to October the southwest monsoon can rough up the open Andaman — trips still run on most days, but speedboat rides get bouncy, some routes pause, Maya Bay takes its annual rest, and the Similans close entirely. A cancelled trip is a refund or a rebook, not a disaster: keep one spare day in your plan in green season.
- National park fees are usually extra. Phi Phi, Phang Nga and the Similans sit in national parks, and the park fee is commonly collected separately, often in cash on the day. Ask when you book so the fee is not a surprise at the pier.
- Book the early departure. On the famous routes the first boats reach Maya Bay and the lagoons before the flotilla. An hour's less sleep buys you the version of the place that matches the photos.
- Pack like a local. Reef-safe sunscreen, a dry bag for your phone, a light shirt for the ride home (speedboats are wet and windy), and small cash for tips, photos and the odd grilled corn on the pier. Tours supply masks and life jackets; your own mask, if you have one, is always better.
- Seasickness is managed, not endured. Tablet before departure, a seat at the back of the speedboat, eyes on the horizon, and ginger anything. If you are truly prone, choose the big boat, the bay, or the sunset cruise and enjoy your day.
- Leave the islands as you found them. Take every bit of plastic home, never stand on coral, and do not feed the fish or the monkeys, however confidently they ask. The sharks are back in Maya Bay because people behaved — keep it that way.
Phuket is a fine island, but it is also a harbour — and a long stay here really comes into its own when the boat days become part of the routine. One month might hold a lazy Coral Island morning, a Phang Nga canoe day when the sea was up, and a sunset sail when friends came to visit. Another month, Phi Phi done properly with an overnight, and Racha on the clearest morning of the season. That is the rhythm the island rewards: live your ordinary days in your neighbourhood, and every week or two, step onto a boat and go and look at the neighbourhood from the water. It never gets old. The sea will see to that.
About Jay & Scott — Jay and Scott are travelers and writers living in Thailand. We enjoy traveling around Thailand — the food, the beaches, the small towns — and writing about it as we go. Back home in Phuket we run our condo rentals in Patong at Patong Harbor View. Have a look at the video tours, then come stay a while: www.phvcondo.com.
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