Phi-Phi Island Day Trip?

[Penangfreak]

It has been 20 yrs. since my last visit to the islands. Wanna give it another try with a good friend. A fun day of snorkeling, swimming etc.

Could anybody make a recommendation as there are so many tour companies. Can also be a larger yacht, we are not in a hurry. THX. to everybody. PF.

[NomadJoe]

Getting into the monsoon season now. Be sure to check conditions before you go, the operator won't, or if they do, they will ignore it. You will only find out after it's too late. The only operator that might check and heed warnings is DiVinci's, as they have farang captains. http://www.davincicharters.com/ You will be in a totally different price bracket than the Thai speed boats though. But at least they won't sink or injure passengers jumping waves at high speed like the Thai speed boats often do.

Edited April 18, 2013 by NomadJoe

[stevehaigh]

i went a couple of months ago, what a dump. i was only there 4 hours, its was 3:30 too much

the only cool part was sailing past the south island on the way to the ton sai, looks nice but totally infested with tourists

last time i went was about 10 years ago, it had a quaint charm to it then i guess, although i was 10 years younger so maybe it was me!

[NomadJoe]

^ Yeah if OP is expecting the same experience as 20 years ago,he is in for a surprise. Between 10am and 4pm you can't even see "The Beach" through the speed boats and longtails.

[LivinginKata]

Just a nightmare during the tourist 'visitation' 10.00 - 15.30. Once they have all left after 16.00 then it's much nicer. We prefer to catch the 13.00 ferry and stay the night, go back on the afternoon ferry. Nice and relaxing evening and early morning.

[MisterMan]

http://www.lamoet.com

Swedish owned crusiing boat. Cozy and lots of space, toilets, indoor and outdoor lounging areas.. and leisurely .

Going to Phi Phi on Mondays weather permitting in the low season

[madmitch]

^ Yeah if OP is expecting the same experience as 20 years ago,he is in for a surprise. Between 10am and 4pm you can't even see "The Beach" through the speed boats and longtails.

Absolutely right. I did this tour for the first time in eight years a few weeks ago and it's so different now. Maya Bay has a tiny roped off area where you can swim: last time I went the whole bay was available for swimming. There were probably 50 speedboats taking up every piece of available shoreline space.

Khai Island where most tours finish is just a tourist trap now, selling overpriced ice creams and cocktails and the water where people snorkel there is dirty and not at all clear. Not surprising given the number of people there every day.

And if you don't believe the Chinese tourist numbers given out by the various tourist authorities, go on this trip and you'll see that there are plenty of Chinese around, well outnumbering any other nationality.

[NomadJoe]

^ Yeah if OP is expecting the same experience as 20 years ago,he is in for a surprise. Between 10am and 4pm you can't even see "The Beach" through the speed boats and longtails.

Absolutely right. I did this tour for the first time in eight years a few weeks ago and it's so different now. Maya Bay has a tiny roped off area where you can swim: last time I went the whole bay was available for swimming. There were probably 50 speedboats taking up every piece of available shoreline space.

Khai Island where most tours finish is just a tourist trap now, selling overpriced ice creams and cocktails and the water where people snorkel there is dirty and not at all clear. Not surprising given the number of people there every day.

And if you don't believe the Chinese tourist numbers given out by the various tourist authorities, go on this trip and you'll see that there are plenty of Chinese around, well outnumbering any other nationality.

We constantly have guests returning from these trips disappointed. I don't recommend them anymore. It would seem they have given up on providing a quality experience with nature and simply relying on the seemingly endless supply of unknowing package Chinese tourists that are impressed by anything that isn't an endless series of colorless concrete boxes like at their homes.

[Penangfreak]

Thank you everybody for taking the time. You saved us a big disappointment. We hit the beaches instead. Any tips for a beach suitable for some snorkeling? What a great thing Thaivisa.com and its members. THX.

[Jimi007]

^ Yeah if OP is expecting the same experience as 20 years ago,he is in for a surprise. Between 10am and 4pm you can't even see "The Beach" through the speed boats and longtails.

Absolutely right. I did this tour for the first time in eight years a few weeks ago and it's so different now. Maya Bay has a tiny roped off area where you can swim: last time I went the whole bay was available for swimming. There were probably 50 speedboats taking up every piece of available shoreline space.

Khai Island where most tours finish is just a tourist trap now, selling overpriced ice creams and cocktails and the water where people snorkel there is dirty and not at all clear. Not surprising given the number of people there every day.

And if you don't believe the Chinese tourist numbers given out by the various tourist authorities, go on this trip and you'll see that there are plenty of Chinese around, well outnumbering any other nationality.

We constantly have guests returning from these trips disappointed. I don't recommend them anymore. It would seem they have given up on providing a quality experience with nature and simply relying on the seemingly endless supply of unknowing package Chinese tourists that are impressed by anything that isn't an endless series of colorless concrete boxes like at their homes.

I see all the Chinese tour buses lined up on Viset near the small Tesco just before Sea Gypsy all the time. All of the Rawai speed boat cartel are hooked up with the center there on the same side of the road. Another wonderful scam I suspect...

[Jimi007]

Thank you everybody for taking the time. You saved us a big disappointment. We hit the beaches instead. Any tips for a beach suitable for some snorkeling? What a great thing Thaivisa.com and its members. THX.

As you may have read, there were just over 400 people rescued up in the Similan Islands by the Thai Navy after a storm that caught over 40 incompetent boat "captains" off guard. There is still a bit of decent coral at the south end of Kata. Never tried the north end. And I haven't been out recently, as the last last time I went for a swimming workout, I smacked a Russian in the head as I was swimming offshore and parallel to the beach in Nai Harn! He decided he would just swim straight out to sea! Now that there is a swell and rips, I'l probably go out body surfing! But it would suck for snorkeling and trying to look at coral and fish. The waves stir up the sand and you really can't see much. If you get a calm day, try a long tail trip to coral island on the lee side of the island. Take a long tail from Rawai Beach as it would be the shortest trip.

[patongphil]

Phi Phi has been a dump for a number of years now. All hoped things would change for the better post tsunami but alas not.

[Eesat]

The worst part about Phi Phi for me is the attitudes of the hoteliers to paying tourists,it's an absolute disgrace.The Phi Phi Hotel's staff are famously rude and other places their greeting is to read you 20 rules that you can't do or will be fined for upon arrival!
It's just like being back at school for not particularly good hotels charging over USD $100/night!

[stevehaigh]

Thank you everybody for taking the time. You saved us a big disappointment. We hit the beaches instead. Any tips for a beach suitable for some snorkeling? What a great thing Thaivisa.com and its members. THX.

ya nui has the best and possibly only snorkeling on phuket i think

i heard that phi phi has pretty much run out of water and now it has to be boat tanker-ed in from phuket. does anyone know about this?