Phi Phi Islands with kids: how long the day is, how the boat rides and what to pick

Look at the eighteen listings on this site as a single line rather than a menu and they sort themselves instantly. At one end sits a forty-minute crossing. At the other sits a ten-hour day out of Phuket City. In between are four-hour halves, five-hour evenings, seven-hour standards and nine-hour early starts. Everything that matters about visiting the Phi Phi Islands with kids is contained in choosing your place on that line, and almost nothing about it depends on the fare.

A speedboat is a fast boat, and speed is what the operators sell: one listing talks about the thrill of the sea, another about the most time-saving way to reach the islands. That speed is a genuine advantage for a family, because it converts distance into minutes. The crossing from Phuket on $22 is forty minutes, and the listing says you arrive within an hour. Compare that with the same water taken slowly and you can see why the speedboat exists at all.

The flip side is that a fast boat is a lively boat. You feel the surface of the sea more than you would on something larger, and you feel it for the whole crossing rather than in patches. That is not a reason to avoid it — thousands of families do this every week, and the review counts on this site run into the thousands for a reason. It is a reason to prefer a shorter first outing, and to prefer the boats that advertise space: $160 describes travelling in comfort on a spacious speedboat, and $98 caps a forty-seat catamaran at twenty-eight guests for added comfort and space.

There is a second kind of length that people forget when they plan the Phi Phi Islands with kids, and it is the one that actually decides how the day goes: the length before the day begins. A nine-hour tour out of Krabi with an early start means everyone is awake in the dark. That is a superb trade for an adult who wants Maya Bay before the day boats, and a harder one for a family with a five-year-old. When you plan the Phi Phi Islands with kids, count the alarm clock as part of the tour.

If you are already on the islands. This is the easiest case by a distance, because the crossing has already happened. $44 is four hours and still contains the whole postcard: an hour at Maya Bay, the emerald water of Pileh Lagoon, a snorkel stop and the macaques at Monkey Bay. At 4.7 across 188 reviews it is the shortest complete trip on this site, and for a first outing with children it is the one we would put first. $37 is the seven-hour version of the same idea and carries 3,881 reviews, the most on the site.

If you are staying in Phuket. $35 is the listing built for a family day and the one we would name first for the Phi Phi Islands with kids from the mainland: Maya Bay through the official Loh Samah Bay access route, Pileh Lagoon, a snorkel stop when conditions allow, Khai Island, a buffet lunch and the National Park fees already inside the fare, with the choice between meeting at the pier and a shared pickup. It is the lowest full-day fare here and it holds 2,142 reviews. If space matters more than the fare, $98 caps its catamaran at twenty-eight guests and $160 runs a small group on a spacious boat with lunch at a pool club.

If you are staying in Krabi or Ao Nang. $46 is the seven-hour day from Ao Nang with a lunch buffet, sold as speedboat or catamaran and rated 4.7 across 1,848 reviews — the shortest mainland day here. The early departures, $63 and our overall top pick $79, are nine hours and are worth it for the emptiness of Maya Bay in the early light, but be honest about whether everyone in your party wants to be awake for the start.

And the fourth answer, for a family of four or more who would rather not fit into anyone else’s timetable: hire the boat. $972 is a private charter for a maximum of eight, fully customised, with no other guests, and $1,197 is a full private day out of Phuket with snorkelling gear included. Split across a family group the figure looks less alarming than it does on the listing page, and what it buys — leaving when you like, eating when you like, skipping a stop without asking anyone — is exactly what a day on the water with children needs.