Of all the trips we run, the Phang Nga and Krabi day trip is the one that’s hardest to describe before you do it. The Phi Phi day trip is easier to explain — everyone’s seen photos of Maya Bay, they know what the Phi Phi Islands look like, they have a rough idea of what a day there involves. Phang Nga and Krabi is different. It’s a landscape that photographs oddly — the scale doesn’t come across, the stillness of the lagoons can’t be heard, the particular quality of being inside a hong can’t be transmitted through an image.
So let me just walk you through the day. Where we go, what you see, what you do, and — honestly — what tends to surprise people.
Hotel pickups from across Phuket, then the drive north to the pier. We depart early — the timing is dictated partly by tidal conditions in the sea caves, which need to be at the right state for the hong entrances to be accessible. Your guide will have checked the tides the evening before and the route will be planned around them.
The crossing into Phang Nga Bay doesn’t take long. The bay is sheltered from the open sea and even on days when the outer Andaman is showing some swell, the conditions inside the bay are typically calm.
There are many beaches in this part of the bay, we will choose beaches that are quiet and beautiful.
We visit the big hong at Hong Island. Vertical limestone walls, a hundred metres of rock on all sides, a rough oval of sky directly above. Ferns hanging from cracks in the rock. A kingfisher somewhere in the vegetation. The water dark and absolutely still. And nothing, for a moment, from your fellow guests — just people looking at something they weren’t quite prepared for.
“Hong” means room in Thai. Koh Hong — Hong Island — is named for the extraordinary network of enclosed lagoons inside it. Located in Krabi province’s coastal waters, it’s slightly further from Phuket than the Phang Nga Bay hong but significantly less visited than the Phang Nga Bay circuit.
The mangroves here are more extensive than in the Phang Nga Bay hongs, and the wildlife reflects it — different bird species, more monitor lizards visible on the mangrove roots, and on lucky days, crab-eating macaques picking through the shoreline vegetation. The light inside the Koh Hong lagoon in the late morning falls at a different angle than the Phang Nga Bay hong, which makes it feel distinctly different even if you’ve done the other trip.
The snorkelling in the bay outside Koh Hong is also excellent — varied reef, good fish populations, and because it’s slightly off the main tourist circuit, less impacted than the busier spots around Phi Phi. The water in this part of the bay is not always clear however.
A delicious Thai lunch is cooked and served aboard. Rice dishes, curries, vegetables, fish, vegetables. If you have special dietary requirements, tell us when you book and they’ll be accommodated.
Afternoon: more exploration, the return crossing
The afternoon routing varies depending on how the morning went and what the conditions allow. On good days, we might visit a beach that rarely sees tour boats, or spend more time snorkelling in particularly clear water. We’re not on a fixed schedule in the way a big ferry tour is — if there’s something worth spending more time at, we spend more time there.
The return crossing in the late afternoon is usually one of the more peaceful moments of the day. The light is getting lower, people are tired in a good way, and the bay has a quality in the late afternoon that’s different from any other time — stiller, the colours deeper, the islands going dark against a paler sky.
This trip works particularly well for people who’ve already seen Phi Phi (or who’ve decided the beach-and-snorkel format isn’t their priority) and want something more exploratory. It’s also a good choice for couples — the hong experience has an intimacy to it that beach trips don’t, and the day has a different quality of adventure.
For families, it depends on the age of the children. The canoeing is genuinely accessible for children of all ages, and the wildlife in the mangroves and sea caves tends to be more compelling to children than a coral reef. It’s a different day to Phi Phi but not a lesser one for the right group.
For anyone trying to choose between this trip and the Phi Phi day trip: they’re genuinely different experiences and ideally you’d do both. If you have to choose, it comes down to whether you’re primarily drawn by beach and snorkelling (Phi Phi) or landscape and exploration (Phang Nga and Krabi). Both are extraordinary. I’m biased, but I’d take most people to Phang Nga Bay.
For more on what makes the sea canoeing experience in Phang Nga Bay so distinctive, our guide to sea kayaking and canoeing in Phuket goes into the full detail.
And if you’re weighing up Phuket against basing yourself in Krabi to access the same landscape, our Phuket vs Krabi comparison is worth reading first — the Phang Nga and Krabi trip from Phuket is, in many ways, the answer to that question.
— Captain Mark
Exceptional, uncrowded island day trips from Phuket. Family-owned and operated since 2004.
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