Hong Island vs 4 Islands vs Phi Phi: which Krabi island tour is best for you?

The honest answer is: it depends on what you want from the day. The 4 Islands are the shortest route to the best-known pictures (sandbar, Chicken Island, Phra Nang) and suit beginners and families well. Hong Island is the calmer, scenic option with lagoons and bays. Phi Phi is the big name with Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon, but with a longer ride and a long day.

If you take away only one rule: short distances and sandbar means 4 Islands, lagoons and a swim picnic means Hong, big name and adventure means Phi Phi. The details follow below.

The table summarises the three tours. Travel times apply to a speedboat from Ao Nang in calm seas. In each case the price is per boat for up to 5 guests, not per person.

Koh Hong lies northwest of Ao Nang and is part of Than Bok Khorani National Park. The heart of it is the lagoon: boats glide through a narrow entrance and you are surrounded by overgrown cliffs, the water emerald green. Access depends heavily on the tides: at high tide the lagoon is easily navigable, at low water it becomes shallow.

Our tour starts early at 8 am so that the lagoon is as calm as possible. Then it goes on to the tiny cove of Koh Lao Lading and the twin beaches of Koh Pakbia, perfect for a long swim and snorkel picnic. More in our Hong Island guide.

Hong is the choice if you value scenery and time in the water over “ticking off sights”. It is a day with little programme and a lot of atmosphere.

The 4 Islands are the most compact of the three tours. According to our tour data the Poda group is only 15 to 30 minutes from Ao Nang, with a few boat minutes between the islands. That means a lot of time in the water and little time on the boat. The stops are Koh Poda, Chicken Island, the Tup sandbar and Phra Nang.

The catch is the crowds: the islands are small and are visited by many group tours in the same time window. Our private version therefore starts at 1 pm, as the group boats head back, and ends with the sunset in front of Phra Nang. How sandbar and tides relate is explained in our guide to the 4 Islands with names, layout and timing.

For first-timers this is often the best choice: you see the best-known motifs, the ride is short, and the day is easy to adapt to children or beginners.

Phi Phi consists of the inhabited main island of Phi Phi Don and the uninhabited, rocky Phi Phi Leh with Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon and Viking Cave. By speedboat the crossing from Ao Nang takes about 45 to 60 minutes in calm seas, which is why it is the longest of the three days: our Early Bird tour lasts 8 hours and starts at 7 am.

The early start is the core of the concept: we reach Maya Bay before the big excursion boats and ferries arrive. Then come the turquoise Pileh Lagoon, Viking Cave and a lunch break on Bamboo Island’s white beach.

Two notes matter. First, swimming in Maya Bay has not been allowed since the reopening; you swim in Pileh Lagoon, for example. Second, according to the most recently published dates the bay is closed from 1 August to 30 September; short-notice changes are possible too. We explain both in our guides to Maya Bay and to Phi Phi early in the morning.

The characteristics of the three tours give a simple mapping. It is guidance, not a law, and with a private charter it can often be adapted individually:

All three tours are private charters, so the price applies per boat for up to 5 guests: from 18,500 THB for the 4 Islands, from 21,500 THB for Hong Island and from 28,500 THB for Phi Phi. The price differences mainly reflect duration and distance. A breakdown of the cost per person and of the items often missing from offers is in our cost guide.

An entrance fee is charged on site and is not included in the tour price. Whether and how much applies at your destination, you will learn when booking.

Not sure which tour fits your date? Send us your preferred date, group size and interests. We will tell you honestly which tour makes the most sense on that day given water level, weather and season. The enquiry is non-binding, and a date is only reserved once we confirm it.