Phi Phi island tour from Phuket: eight boats compared, from $35

Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands are separated by open water, so the boat is not a detail of the day — it is the day. Every Phi Phi island tour from Phuket on this site is built the same way: a pier departure in the morning, a crossing of the Andaman Sea, three to five stops around Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Ley, lunch, and the crossing back. What separates the eight listings is the boat, the number of people on it, which stops are named, and whether lunch and park fees sit inside the fare or beside it.

The pier, or your door. $35 is explicit about the choice: meet at the pier for the best price, or take the shared hotel pickup from selected Phuket areas. That single line is worth reading twice, because a pickup adds an hour or more to the front of the day. The same listing notes that it runs with Sea Angel, a direct operator with its own pier, boats and crew.

The crossing. On a speedboat it is fast and open to the air; on a speed catamaran it is slower to feel but steadier underfoot. $125 and $81 are the catamarans, and both sell themselves on comfort rather than speed. If you simply need to get across and are staying on the islands, $22 is the one-way speedboat transfer to Tonsai Pier or Laemtong Beach, and it is booked at 40 minutes.

The stops. Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon appear in almost every listing here. Around them the operators differ: $35 adds Khai Island, $81 adds Maithon Island and Monkey Beach, $160 adds Viking Cave and Koh Rang Yai, and $125 puts you into a traditional longtail boat to enter Pileh Lagoon itself. Those differences are the whole decision.

Lunch. Six of the eight name it. Most serve a buffet on Phi Phi Don; $160 takes its group to a pool club instead. It is a small thing that shapes two hours of the middle of the day.

Five numbers decide it: the fare, the hours, the size of the boat, what is included and how many people have rated it. Here is each of the eight read out plainly.

If you want the best day for the money, book $35. It is the lowest fare on the whole site and it is not a stripped-down product: Maya Bay through the official access route, Pileh Lagoon, a snorkel site chosen on the day, Khai Island, a buffet lunch and the National Park fees already inside the booking. 2,142 reviews at 4.4. For most people asking about a Phi Phi island tour from Phuket price, this is the honest starting point.

If you want the quietest morning, book $160. It leaves at sunrise in a small group, which is the whole point: the listing promises the islands in complete tranquility away from the crowds, then Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon, Viking Cave, Monkey Beach and Koh Rang Yai, with a buffet at the Soho Pool Club. At 4.9 across 443 reviews it is the best rated boat leaving Phuket, and it is what we would book for a single day on the islands.

If you want a bigger boat, book $125. A speed catamaran holds its line better than a speedboat, and this listing adds the detail people remember: a traditional longtail boat carries you into the emerald water of Pileh Lagoon, then snorkelling near Viking Cave, a buffet on Phi Phi Don and time on Bamboo Island. 972 reviews at 4.7.

If the crowd size is the thing, book $98. The listing is unusually specific: the boat holds 40 guests and is sold to 28, for added comfort and space. Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon and Bamboo Island, with snorkelling equipment and English-speaking guides. 366 reviews at 4.7.

If you want an island nobody else on the list visits, book $81. It is the most reviewed Phuket Phi Phi islands boat tour here at 1,045 reviews and 4.6, and it cruises around Maiton Island watching for wild dolphins, on top of Maya Bay, Viking Cave snorkelling, Monkey Beach and a buffet on Phi Phi Don. Ten hours, which is the longest shared day leaving Phuket.

If the boat should be yours, book $1,197. A private Phi Phi island tour from Phuket puts one group on one speedboat for eight hours, with snorkelling gear and beach time, and it holds 5.0 across its first reviews. $1,323 is the version that adds Bamboo Island and lunch on Phi Phi Don, and $972 is a charter for a maximum of eight guests with the route set with you rather than fixed in advance.

If you are already staying on the islands, book $22. It is a one-way speedboat crossing to Tonsai Pier or Laemtong Beach with optional hotel transfers, and at 40 minutes it is the fastest line between the two. It is not a tour and does not pretend to be one.