Last month I visited Land of Smiles from Thailand. Obviously the most interesting part of a trip to Thailand was the Phi Phi Island trip. The island is in the province of Krabi in southern Thailand (the total number of provinces in Thailand is 7). There are some more small interesting islands in the vicinity of Phi Phi located on the Andaman Sea. Today’s post is to share the experience of traveling to Phi Phi and its surrounding islands.

There are mainly two places to go for a fee. From Phuket and from mainland Krabi. Most tourists go to Phuket, although my groupmates and I went to Krabi. In both cases, you must first fly from Bangkok to Phuket / Krabi by domestic air. Note that Bangkok has two airports. Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Muang Airport. If you go from Bangladesh to Bangladesh Biman or Thai Airways, you will land in Suvarnabhumi. And domestic budget airlines leave from Don Muang. The distance between the two airports is about 40 kilometers. So you have to plan with enough time on hand. There are also Phuket / Krabi planes from Suvarnabhumi, but they are a bit expensive.

If you want to go from Krabi to Phi Phi Island and come back day by day, you have three options.

Option-1:

Going and coming by ferry (big boat). The ferry leaves Krabi at 9:30 a.m. and arrives at Phi Phi Island at 11:30 p.m. Leaving Phi Phi at 3:30 pm and returning to Krabi at 5:30 pm. Rents range from 750 to 900 baht (bargaining opportunities). You can pick up round trip tickets separately.

Advantages:
The ferry goes very slow, so you can enjoy the view of the journey very well. You can also take pictures. Standing on the roof of the ferry, the journey should be quite enjoyable.

Disadvantages:
1. There are several more interesting spots around Phi Phi that you will miss. You will not get a chance to do activities like swimming, snorkeling etc. in the middle of the sea. And lunch is not included in this package. (Lunch included with ferry fare if staying in Phuket).

Option-2:

Travel on a large / medium speedboat with no tour group. That’s how we went. The rent was 1300 baht per person. Departs Krabi at 9:30 a.m., covers several spots and returns to Krabi again at 5:00 p.m.

Advantages:
1. In addition to Phi Phi Island it takes you to several more spots including Bamboo Island, Monkey Beach, Maya Bay, Viking Cave.
2. There are opportunities for swimming and snorkeling in the sea. They provide the necessary equipment such as life jackets, goggles, pipes. These two experiences are very interesting. Especially snorkeling under the sea water to see the coral, colorful fish will be quite nice to see.
3. Buffet lunch included with package (at Phi Phi Island). The quality of lunch is very good.

Disadvantages:
1. Each place will give you a set amount of time to spend. Even if you like a place very much, you can’t stay longer than the allotted time.
2. The speedboat moves very fast and shakes a lot. It is a little difficult to enjoy the view or take pictures while moving!

Option-3:
If you have 8/10 members or more in the group, you can reserve a small speedboat and leave. The rent will be around 11,000 / 12,000 baht.

Advantages:
You can spend as much time as you like wherever you want.

Disadvantages:
1. It will be difficult to know where to go if you don’t have a very good idea about traveling to Thailand.
2. Understandably, it will be difficult to communicate with the speedboat driver, as they understand very little English.
3. Lunch not included.

Finally, if you have enough time, I suggest you take a ferry to Phi Phi, go and stay at Phi Phi Island for at least one night, then back to Phi Phi again for a fee. Take a long-tiered wooden boat from Phi Phi in the afternoon or the next morning to visit the surrounding spots. You will also get opportunities to do swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking. And those who have enough time can choose option-2.

Another good suggestion for those who will be spending the night on Phi Phi Island might be to come back to Krabi if you become Phuket. And when it’s crabby, back to Phuket.

Just as Cox’s Bazar has St. Martin’s Ship Ticket Booths at street corners, so does Krabi. Choose your preferred package from any of them. If possible, check the price by visiting 3/4 booths. All the services are the same, but the price is a bit sideways! There are opportunities to make money. But you can be sure of one thing, whatever the price, the service will give what it says. He will not deal with you by lying or bargaining.

And I didn’t say anything about the beauty of Phi Phi. You will see it with your own eyes!

Warning:
1. The sun is much brighter in the open sea. If necessary, you can use sunglasses and sunscreen.
2. The whole country of Thailand is very clean, please don’t make it dirty.