Bamboo Island and Khai Island: the sand stops north of Phi Phi

Most of the Phi Phi day is vertical. Maya Bay has walls around it, Pileh Lagoon is a slot in the rock, Viking Cave is a cliff face seen from the water. The sand island is the opposite: low, flat, sandy, and surrounded by shallow water that shelves so gently you can walk out a long way. It is where the day stops being a sequence of sights and becomes a swim.

The operators describe it consistently. One calls the sand powdery white. Another lists the pristine shores of the island as the last stop of the day. A third promises crystal-clear water, white sandy beaches and Andaman Sea scenery. It sits north of Phi Phi Don inside the same National Park, which is why the boats that include it tend to have the park fee in the fare.

Khai Island does the same job on the other side of the map. It is a small sand island on the run between Phuket and the Phi Phi group, and the full-day listing from Phuket uses it as the last swim before the mainland. Same idea: shallow water, a beach, no cliffs.

The practical point is about the shape of a day. A trip that ends at one of the sand islands finishes calmly, in shallow water, after the busy hours at the famous stops. A trip that does not ends with a long run home from the cliffs. If you are travelling with people who want to swim rather than photograph, the sand stop is the part of the itinerary to check for.

From the Krabi side. $37 is the most reviewed listing on this site, seven hours, and it pairs the white sand with snorkelling at Loh Sama and the turquoise water at Maya Bay. $40 runs seven and a half hours and names the powdery white sand of the island directly, with an international buffet on Phi Phi Don. $55 takes a premium speed catamaran to the same beach and then holds on for the sunset at Tup or Poda.

From Phuket. $125 is a speed catamaran day that finishes on the pristine shores of the island after Pileh Lagoon and Viking Cave. $98 puts Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon and the beach on a 40-guest catamaran limited to 28 passengers. $81 runs ten hours and adds Maithon Island and the chance of wild dolphins to the same round.

Khai Island. $35 is the one listing here built around it: a full day from Phuket, Maya Bay through the official Loh Samah route, a swim in Pileh Lagoon, a snorkel site chosen on the day, and Khai Island with the National Park fees already inside the booking. It is also the lowest fare on this entire site.

The whole boat. $1,323 is the charter version: seven hours from Kamala, Phi Phi and the sand island to yourselves, Pileh Lagoon, Maya Bay, monkeys on the beach and lunch on Phi Phi Don. That figure is the boat, not the seat, so at six aboard it works out at $220.50 each.

If the fare decides it, book $35. A full day from Phuket at the lowest price on this site, 4.4 across 2,142 reviews, with Khai Island, Maya Bay through the official Loh Samah route, a swim in Pileh Lagoon, a buffet lunch and the National Park fees already inside the booking.

If you want the record behind it, book $37. Seven hours from Krabi, 3,881 reviews, the most reviewed listing we sell, and a day built around exactly what people come for: white sand, clear shallows, snorkelling at Loh Sama and the turquoise water at Maya Bay.

If you want room on deck, book $98 or $125. The first is a 40-guest speed catamaran sold to 28 people, nine hours, 366 reviews at 4.7, with Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon and the sand. The second is eight and a half hours from Phuket, 972 reviews at 4.7, ending on the pristine shores after a longtail run into Pileh Lagoon.

If you want the widest day, book $81. Ten hours on a premium speed catamaran, 1,045 reviews at 4.6, with Maithon Island, a buffet on Phi Phi Don, the Viking Cave snorkel, Monkey Beach and a lookout for wild dolphins alongside the sand.

If you want it to yourselves, book $1,323. Seven hours from Kamala with the boat, the skipper and the route yours alone: Phi Phi, the sand island, the azure water of Pileh Lagoon, the beach at Maya Bay and lunch on Phi Phi Don. That price is the whole boat, which at six aboard is $220.50 each.

One thing to plan for. The sand stop is where the day slows down, and it is usually the last hour on the water. Keep something dry for the ride home and put the sunscreen on before you leave the boat, not after.