Phi Phi private boat tour: three charters, and what the whole boat costs

Start with the arithmetic, because it is the thing most people get wrong. A Phi Phi islands private boat tour prices the boat. When a listing says $972, that is not $972 each. It is the whole speedboat, the skipper, the crew and the day, and whether you put two people on it or eight, the figure does not move.

So do the division. The $972 charter at six people is $162 a head. At the eight the listing allows, it is $121.50. The eight-hour $1,197 charter at six is $199.50 each. The $1,323 day at six is $220.50. Those are the real numbers behind a Phi Phi island private boat tour price, and they are the only ones worth quoting to the people you are travelling with.

What that figure buys is not extra scenery. The cliffs, Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon are the same limestone for everyone. It buys the two things a shared boat cannot sell at any price: the passenger list, which is only your party, and the timetable, which is yours. A private boat tour to Phi Phi island waits while you are still in the water and leaves a stop early when the anchorage fills.

It also buys the hour. Shared boats move as a fleet, and the fleet arrives when it arrives. On a charter, the skipper runs your order of stops, which in practice means reaching the famous places at the times the group boats are somewhere else. That is the whole argument for chartering, and it is worth more here than almost anywhere, because the sites are small and the fleet is large.

The charters describe their days in their own words, and the three are not identical. Here is what each one puts in the water.

The luxury charter. Seven hours, rated 5.0, and the most direct description of the three: a private speed boat charter, fully customised, no other guests, with a maximum of eight people aboard. It is sold as a Phi Phi island private speed boat tour shaped around whatever you want the day to be rather than a fixed route, which is why the listing lists almost no stops.

The full-day charter from Phuket. Eight hours, rated 5.0, departing the mainland. The operator promises the breathtaking sights of the islands, snorkelling and swimming in clear water with the gear included, and time on white sand. It is the longest day of the three, and the only private boat tour Phuket to Phi Phi on this page that runs a full eight hours.

The Bamboo charter. Seven hours from Kamala, and the fullest itinerary in writing: a speedboat run to the Phi Phi group and Bamboo Island, a swim in the azure Pileh Lagoon, the white sand of Maya Bay, monkeys on the beach, vibrant coral reefs and lunch on Phi Phi Don. If you want a koh Phi Phi private boat tour with the route already decided, this is the one that states it.

All three are guided and crewed, all three carry snorkelling gear, and all three come with free cancellation. The difference between them is length, the pier they leave from, and how much of the itinerary is written down before you board.

If you want the whole boat for the lowest figure, book $972. Seven hours, rated 5.0, a private speedboat with a maximum of eight aboard and, in the operator’s words, no other joined participants. At six people that is $162 each, at eight it is $121.50, and at those numbers a Phi Phi islands private tour stops being an extravagance and starts being a sensible way to divide a day.

If you want the longest day, book $1,197. Eight hours from mainland Phuket, rated 5.0, with snorkelling gear included and the whole Andaman day to spend. At six aboard it works out at $199.50 each. It is the only charter here that gives you eight hours, and hours are the thing you are actually buying.

If Bamboo Island has to be in it, book $1,323. Seven hours from Kamala with the route written down: Phi Phi and Bamboo Island, Pileh Lagoon, the sand at Maya Bay, monkeys on the beach, coral reefs and lunch on Phi Phi Don. At six that is $220.50 each for a Phi Phi island private boat tour with nothing left vague.

How to decide. Count your party first, then read the three figures again. A Phi Phi private boat tour is priced per boat and not per person, so the same listing reads completely differently for two people and for eight, and that one calculation settles the question faster than any comparison of itineraries.