From Phuket: Phi Phi, Maya Bay & Khai Islands Speedboat Tour

We booked this tour as it sold itself as a relaxing and fun experience. The places we visited were great, and I recommend you go to all islands (except the last one), but PLEASE use someone else! We drove over a hour in a mini bus with barely any Air con. It could hardly be called “air conditioned”. Arrived at the dock and were offered “breakfast” of white bread, cut up salad and basic biscuits. Not really “breakfast”. The toilets at the dock were unbearable; even by Thailand standards. Finally walked to the boat. The tour was delayed due to the huge amount of people booked in. It was like a school excursion. We were herded onto the basic speed boat, then told to squish in and “move-up” as they overfilled the boat. Some sitting in the blazing sun for the hour+ ride, some sat on the eski (cooler) and the rest of us sitting on each other’s arms and legs. The guide (Mr Bao) was arrogant and also treated us all like school children. (Except for the two girls he fancied and gave them extra attention). Made a point of telling everyone he was single. So unnecessary. We were sold extra excursions on the way to the first stop. Pretty much everything was extra other than lunch and snorkels. We were even told that we couldn’t even see the lagoon without paying for an additional longboat trip. We made three main stops. Most of the places on the itinerary were just a “drive-by” Monkey Bay - 10 min stop, photo in and out. Was ok, but incredibly overcrowded. The next stop Phi Phi island, this was a snorkel/scuba and lunch stop. For a total of 1 hour and 20 mins. So maybe 25 mins snorkel then herded into a hall for lunch (nice food), no drinks and no time to digest before having to be back at and on the boat. This was our longest and main stop. Next we went past the lagoon, paid for the longboat. This was 40 mins of photo shoots for the Gen Z’s on our trip. They literally spent the entire long boat trip posing for photos. Hogging views and time for the rest of us. We had to ask if we could finally snorkel. Which we managed to for 15 mins. Back on the boat. This time to where The Beach was filmed. Lovely 30 mins spent there (don’t ask me about these toilets). Then off to the money maker being the last trashy island “Bamboo Island”. The whole island was tiny and ridiculously over crowded. Three disgusting toilets that you had to pay to use, and shops/bars for us to spend an HOUR, waiting around to go home in our sticky wet clothing. We were told we could swim or snorkel, but the overcrowding provided no space at all in the “safe to swim” zone. We went for a walk and found the middle of island was a massive rubbish dump…back on the boat, and they gave us a piece of fruit, told as we were well behaved, then passed around a tip jar. Said there was “dinner” at the dock. Two spoons of pad Thai and we were rushed into the bus to go home. Bloody long day, waiting and sitting on a boat or bus. Bus ride was a good hour and bit either way. Very disappointed. Don’t do this tour. Pay more; do less in one day and actually enjoy the islands, but defiantly give Bamboo Island a miss. This was a stop designed for us to spend money. Mr Bao was way too arrogant, made it even less enjoyable. Hard pass.

Overall a disappointment but the staff were very warm and helpful. First of all, in the “what’s included session” it says national park fee is excluded, but in the itinerary it doesn’t say which part is national park, and only when we arrive at the pier, we are told we have to pay the national park fee otherwise we can’t go to the tour as the phi phi island area (our main destination) is considered national park zone. This doesn’t make sense as if it is compulsory it should be included in the price and the price getting increased accordingly, otherwise it makes it sound optional (and no part in the itinerary mentions which stop belongs to the national park, the only item that says clearly ticket not included is actually the long tail boat, the rest of the stops all include tickets or doesn’t require tickets. Secondly, I chose this tour because it says starting time is 8:30 so we can sleep in a bit later, but we were informed at 10:48pm the previous night that the driver will pick us up between 7:30am and 7:45am. We were already asleep and luckily I saw this when I woke up at night. We accommodated by getting up an entire hour early and it ended up the driver only came at 8:05am, and no message / whatsapp beforehand. At one point I wasn’t sure if the driver was coming at all. Thirdly the itinerary was changed randomly. The green island was cancelled due to weather, this was clearly explained in the email at the 10:48pm email. But the Khai Island was changed to a Coconut Island last minute without giving any good reason. I have to say this is a huge disappointment as if I’m not mistaken you can see fish / snorkel near the khai islands, but this Coconut island is a joke, the only free item on the island is swimming and the zone they circle out for swimming is full of rocks (attaching the photo). And we spend 1 hour 20 minutes on this island and was given only 30 minutes for snorkelling at a spot where the waves were quite strong so we were not able to enjoy watching the fish. And that was the only snorkelling stop. Fourthly, the Maya Bay was a huge disappointment too, with 400 Baht fee you cant swim and can’t even walk too far in the water, basically spent more than half an hour there to just take some pictures (also attached, but it’s hard to take one with only you as the beach is very crowded). We didn’t see any animals in the water. And it turns out only this stop requires the 400 Baht entrance fee, not the entire Phi phi island area like what we were told before the tour. Should we have all this information we would have chosen to skip Maya Bay. Last but not least, lunch was tasty enough but there are a lot of flies on the food, the staff was standing there, with probably hundreds of flies stinking on the food and he chose not to look after the food and shoo away the flies but look away. The hygiene condition is really worrying.

The island themselves were amazing and the trip is definitely worth it. Could have removed the Viking Cave as felt like it was an opportunity to make more money from those wanting a tail boat ride. Shame we did no canoe or no offer of it. Snorkel gear did not include fins. Shame we left hotel at 8.30 but didn’t leave the Pier till 11 and we returned to pier at 7pm so a really long day.

Not very well organised. We felt like we are on the Russian trip and we had to ask to speak in English as well as main language was Russian. The team was not polite at all. Generally poor service.

Unfortunately I have to write a negative comment about them. We felt cheated. After booking we received an email with a message that because our hotel is far away we have to pay another 1,600 bt for special pickup, when it was written to us that it includes pickup and when we went to check the fine print it was written that special prohibitions from our area entail an additional 1,200 and not 1,600. In addition, their behavior towards us was very unfriendly, they spoke to us in an insulting and offensive manner. We were not able to enjoy the trip because of this and I do not in any way recommend traveling with them.

I don’t recommend this tour , it was worst tour i had in Thailand. Whole trip was rushed , we didn’t spend more that 30 min in any of the places , while it was written that we will spend more in some places. For snorkeling we were thrown in the worst places you could do that with only few fishes. Also it was written that we we will have clear canoe and paddle board included but we didn’t have that. Guide was rude and loud( he wasn’t thai)screaming at people in boat- Sit down! Why are you standing up? You only stand up when I tell you! Very rude and arrogant , we didn’t feel welcome like we did on our other tours in Phuket. Overall if you want to relax and not feel rushed all the time and have lunch in less than 10 minutes and have rude attitude towards you, don’t choose this tour.

Very good and must-see in Phuket. time is limited for swimming and snorkeling. Magnificent landscapes, a funny and professional guide and crew. In short, we recommend this activity.

This tour is a great alternative if you do not want to book a lot of small trips yourself. One experiences a lot of good spots where the energetic English speaking guide differs a lot. There were some good snuggle experiences along the way. A good big boat so you don't get seasick. All in all, a great trip that can be recommended.

This was by far the best excursion we did in Phuket and it is a must-do! Our guide and cruise was the best! We had such a good time with him and his crew! More than accommodating with taking pictures and ensuring we all feel well. They did all the great spots for swimming and snorkeling and we will definitely be returning again

We were Told pickup time driver arrived half hour early gave the hotel workers abuse Aswell as ourselves. I told his manager she didn’t care. The boat was awful the driver of the boat drove stupidly and caused injuries and just laughed it off. We didn’t see no monkeys but that’s fine as we were promised we would see some on the way back at monkey hill. The driver asked “monkey” we replied no but you are going to take us aren’t you “ he replied “yes on the way back” he ordered us where to sit and then he just drove straight back to the hotel past the monkeys in such a rush to cuddle with his boyfriend in his watching tv so the only monkey we saw was him his name is dan or Dam something like that beware of him.they try to make you buy bananas for the monkeys but it’s just a massive scam. They do a presentation charging you rental for shoes and they don’t do nothing just scare mongering. I highly recommend using a different operator as these are a bunch of monkeys . We contacted the operator and they didn’t acknowledge us and tried to blame us. Terrible I would avoid at all costs.

The last beach is overcrowded, but everywhere else was amazing and all of the views are breathtaking. Wish we spent more time at the first two beaches. Such a great relaxing day.

The goals are also well chosen. Why only 4 stars? The beautiful picture of the islands that you see on the internet, unfortunately, is absolutely no longer the facts. The beaches are crowded with Chinese and Russians, who take every opportunity to make new pictures for Facebook and Instagramm. The "lonely island" feeling does not come up rudimentary. In addition, the "still" beautiful nature is polluted with empty cans and garbage. In some areas, it stinks of urine and other excrement. So if you only want to make selfies, you will certainly do it in some areas. Who hopes for the "lonely island and untouched nature-Felling", will be disappointed here.

We were extremely unhappy with the tour from Oh-Hoo company. We had a group of 28 people on Dec 11, 2019. We were told that the boat had a capacity of 30 people therefore we expected the boat to be probably full with just our group. Unfortunately, on that morning, we were delayed getting tendered to shore to Patong Beach from our NCL ship. When we reached the jetty to commence our tour, we discovered that many other people were waiting for us and they were very agitated with our delay. Further on, when boarding the boat, it was a challenge as well for some of our people who were seniors. It did not look at all like what we had expected. It was an old boat, small windows, engine fuel smell throughout the tour. There were more than 45 people cramped up like sardines on that boat. The owner or the manager of the boat was extremely rude. She had no manners when speaking to us. At some point, when someone in my group told her she had a big mouth, she began dancing in retaliation with absurd words. Who behaves like that in tour business? Anyways, the day went by as they did respect the itinerary despite the delay. The sightseeing went well. The other boat staff were very nice. We ended up tipping them all except that woman who claimed to be the owner of the boat. Hope this complaint gets reviewed by the company for better service in the future as we sent them a complaint email. It was not pleasant at all when you’re on vacation to have to go through this negative attitude. We booked many other tours with Viator throughout our cruise but only this one left the bad taste in our mouth unfortunately.

The staff were lovely and well informed. I'd really recommend this tour. The larger boat meant we didn't feel unwell, as we travelled to the different islands. The staff were great and kept a look out for everyone. Great day out.

The tour was very nice and on the whole very well organized. There was a lot to see and snorkeling was also twice. It should be mentioned that the corals are dead and only a few fish are visible. Phi phi Island has beautiful beaches, really like in the catalog! I can only recommend the tour!

Super Trip, neat guides, great service,Best value for my buck. Hassle free hotel pick up in Mai Khao was appreciated.

First of all, they picked us almost at 8 am, and we were the first ones, when the itinerary says that they start at 7 am. After that we needed to wait for all the buses to arrive at the departure area for more than one hour, during that time the guide is trying to selling items to the people. First stop: The snorkeling time was about 45 min, all the boats go to the same point so was full of people, wasn’t enjoyable. Second stop: The Monkey island, it was crowded, so we saw the monkeys from the boat. Thrid stop: Lunch time, not special at all, more than one hour to take a simple lunch in a island where is not even posible to enjoy the beach. Fourth stop: They took us to a very small island super busy with elevated prices for simple food and drinks. Wasn’t only me, but some other people totally regreted to have booked this trip, we spend around 3 hours and a half in the places and the rest of the 12 hours in at the boat, van or waiting. From my experience was a totally waste of time and money.

Take the beach water wear shoes with you, otherwise the guide will force you into buying them there,which is almost double the price. We went to 2 islands only. As she said the weather was not okay(which seemed perfectly fine). We did not see the famous Ma Ya bay.

The boat was a bit crowded but it was a great deal and the staff was very good. Got to take some awesome pictures at different locations, will love to come back soon!

It’s quite good, but it’s a pity that it’s raining all day, there’s nothing to see in the snorkeling area, the boat is fast, the driver picks up the load efficiently.

Very good travel itinerary, snorkeling fish is very beautiful and very friendly, the ship owner service is kind, I suggest you choose.

Phi Phi Island is pretty! Snorkeling also sees many fish and corals but tourists are really too much. Bamboo Island is very beautiful, white sand beach like in the picture.

The trip is not recommended for anyone who does not speak Russian, as both at the port and all tour information during the trip are only given in Russian and only in very small parts in English upon request (!). The biggest scam of all is the recommendation of swimming shoes. They say that you could cut yourself on something or step on something - but that's complete nonsense, because you don't have to wear such things while snorkeling or on the beach, as there are no dangers in these places. Or do you all always wear swimming shoes when you go for a walk on the beach? The places we traveled to were mostly beautiful, but completely overcrowded. The biggest joke is the visit to the Maya Bay National Park. You won't be able to take a picture of yourself on the beach without other people in it. The food was mostly okay. The lunch dinner felt like it was the leftovers from the hotel buffet where you ate. All in all, my girlfriend and I wouldn't do a tour like this again because all you're doing is jumping in the water, getting out of the water, going to the next bay and doing the same thing all over again. That's really no fun, especially since the boat is completely overcrowded and you sit on the perch like chickens.

Reservation with Viator for phi phi, paid and canceled one day before by Viator, with documents confirming it. They don't refund the money, we had to book another excursion and they don't want to take responsibility. I will not contract with Viator again. Taking into account that we had booked 5 excursions.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the tour. It was organized in a pretty chaotic manner and we did not feel comfortable. When we arrived at the resort, we were told that we needed to buy swimming shoes (250 Baht per pair) because the risk of injury was too high. But in the end, we didn't need them. The snorkeling goggles were already used. Which wouldn't have been a problem if they had cleaned the used ones first. Of course, you could buy new mouthpieces (50-60 Baht). You got the feeling that they were trying to get extra money out of everything. There were always additional costs, such as a boat trip on the longtail boat for 300 Baht per person. A private trip would have cost 2000 euros. Just to take a picture at the front of the longtail boat and to stop briefly on a small beach for a few pictures. You could also refuse, but then you would just have to wait on the boat for the others and that was too stupid for us. After all, we wanted to do something. You were only at the individual spots (Maya Bay, Phi Phi Island, Khai Island) for a short time. You had the feeling that there was only time for a few pictures, a quick drink or to use the toilet and then you quickly moved on. At the end I asked if you could go canoeing or stand up paddling with a glass, as it was described here on Tripadvisor that this was included. The answer was that they didn't have any because it was broken - new ones had been ordered and weren't there yet (seemed like an excuse to us). It's a shame, because that was one of the reasons why I booked the tour in the first place. The boat also doesn't look like the pictures!! Which I also thought was a shame. It wasn't that nice. Unfortunately we didn't like it. I've done a lot of tours in Phuket, but this was the worst.