4 Islands Day Tour by Speed Boat (from Ao Nang, Krabi)

Posted By : Eric_T
Good experience. Poda Island is beautiful. We felt that the Hong Islands tour was better scenery- and beaches-wise than this one though.
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Posted On : 2024-05-25 00:53:41

Posted By : bhanu c
The best tour ever all staff are cooperative
They even have both option veg and no veg in food
Picup and drop service was also good
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Posted On : 2024-05-04 06:42:29

Posted By : Montse N
There are too many people on the islands. But they are charming. and the beautiful landscapes. The employees were very attentive in everything and took photos of us with our cell phones.
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Posted On : 2024-04-25 02:19:55

Posted By : Gustavo E
It was an excellent experience! The beaches, the water color, snorkeling and enjoying the places. In Phoda we stopped for longer and they gave us a very tasty lunch.
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Posted On : 2024-01-12 22:59:06

Posted By : Inspire27313845387
Really well organized. The stays on the islands were absolutely sufficient. There was something for everyone. The food was also very tasty.
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Posted On : 2023-12-07 18:20:01

Posted By : M6495QOandyw
I don't normally write reviews here, but this trip was SO BAD, I felt I must warn fellow travellers.
I have a lot of experience travelling around Thailand. I used to live in Bangkok about 20 years ago and visited pretty much everywhere there is to go. I also have a friend who has a house near Krabi, so have been back to this area numerous times for holidays.

I booked this trip because I'm a keen and experienced scuba diver. I had done a dive the day before and had one booked the day after, so went to one of the many booths along the main strip and asked for a day's snorkelling. I was severely mis-sold.

Pickup from the hotel was at 0730 and an air-conditioned mini-bus arrived on time. It pretty much went downhill from there. Warning signs immediately started to form in the back of my mind when I checked that this was the bus for the snorkelling trip.

"Four island trip", came the reply.

"Well", I thought, "The girl at the booth did say we were visiting four islands", so in I got.

We were taken to the nearby national nature reserve to a meeting point and told that our speedboat was number 7. Then we were taken to said boat and told to get in. This is where I had my first serious doubts. It was full. Fair enough, but I was going to be on stuck on this boat for the next 8 hours on a bench seat next to a complete stranger with skin on skin contact getting sweatier and sweatier. I should have refused to get on.

But off we went. Because I was last to get in, I was right next to the twin 250cc outboard motors which made a hell of a racket, and I spent the next hour, yes HOUR with my fingers in my ears in an attempt to avoid tinnitus. During this time, I found out later that the Thai guide had explained the schedule for the day in broken English.

Island 1: Nature trail Maya Beach
The boat eventually approached the first of the islands. I had found out that this was a short visit with no swimming. As I saw the dozen or so boats flighting for mooring space on the floating pier I wondered exactly how many people were here. I was about to find out.
The island itself is absolutely beautiful. I could see crocodile fish swimming in the crystal clear water as I walked to solid ground. However, to say it was packed is more than an understatement. There are boardwalks that take you on a short, circular route to the beach and back and it was a constant stream of tourists. Noisy and irritating. Far too many seemed unable to go to this lovely place without lighting up a cigarette. When I got to the white, sandy beach I was met with the absurd vision of hundreds of people getting their selfies to put online. If they went too far into the sea, they were admonished by whistle-blowing Thais and told to get out of the water. All this while the plastic bags gently tickled ones ankles.
"BOAT SEVEN! BOAT SEVEN! WE MOVE NOW". We were ushered back to the boat.

Island 2: Pileh Bay for swimming.
I had done an island tour 20 years ago when my family came to visit. It was lovely. We had a long tail boat to ourselves which took us to amazing bays where we could jump in and see the abundant aquatic life. This time it was very different. Speedboats were crammed around the horseshoe-shaped bay.
"OK! 25 MINUTES SWIMMING, THEN WE GO!", Shouted our guide. as our boat squeaked and squeezed against the others. 'Swimming' turned out to be stepping off the back of the boat and bobbing about like a cork as there was no possibility of completing a stroke without bumping into someone. I declined the opportunity.
"Do you not like to swim?", asked a nice Muslim lady sitting across from me.
"Not like this. This is absolute madness" I replied and got sympathetic smiles from other disillusioned passengers.
"BOAT SEVEN! BOAT SEVEN! GET IN!"
"WE GO TO MONKEY ISLAND, NO STOP, BUT TAKE PHOTO OF MONKEYS"

On our way to the next island we went into a bay filled with exhaust fumes as the speedboats jockeyed for position so that the tourists could take pictures of the one bemused monkey sitting on a rock.

Island 3: Hin Pae for snorkelling.

"45 MINUTES SNORKELLING!!!"

(Please stop shouting)

This was the one that really upset me. I was the only one with my own gear so our guide noisily handed out the masks and snorkels to the others. The problem was that there were 10 boats filled with at least 20 tourists moored near a coral reef. That's 200 people. Many of which had obviously never been snorkelling before. Snorkelling is easy, but you must keep your face in the water. If you look up, your feet come down and you're standing on the coral. This kills it. I finally lost my temper so got back on the boat and pointed out to our guide what was happening. Once again the shouting started.

Lunch: Phi Phi Don.

When I lived in Thailand I loved Koh Phi Phi. It was sympathetically developed with a small hotel, bamboo huts and a few places to buy authentic Thai food. There was one boat every few days bringing and taking away tourists, and a dozen longtails were moored along the beach.
This was not the island I remembered.
Phi Phi has about a square mile of habitable space and every bit is now built on. Burger King and McDonalds now greet visitors as they approach from the dock. Second rate art shops compete with cannabis vendors and tat for space. I counted about 175 boats in the bay.

"WE EAT LUNCH NOW 45 MINUTES. YOU SIT THERE!!!"

I'm vegetarian, so had made sure that there was food available that I could eat. After a few slices of watermelon I went along the buffet, expecting maybe some pad Thai, or even just stir fried veg and rice. No. What was on offer was spaghetti with tomato sauce with a consistency of baby diarrhoea. I reluctantly put some on my plate and sat down to taste. Cold and very sweet. After spitting it out, I went to find the place where I would experience the highlight of my day:

I had a wee. The toilets were very clean.

"BOAT SEVEN! WE GO NOW!!!"

ISLAND 4: Bamboo island.

"YOU GO ON BEACH, RELAX 30 MINUTES!!!"

I asked if I could stay on the boat as sitting in the blazing sun on red hot sand didn't appeal. A nice Canadian man had the same idea, so we had a bit of a chat and ate watermelon. After 30 minutes and more shouting we were FINALLY on our way home. I got back to my hotel at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

The thing that I noticed was that the majority of the people seemed to have a perfectly good time. I really couldn't understand this. It seems to me that Phi Phi and the surrounding areas have been turned into a theme park, and a very destructive theme park at that. It was an awful experience. The backpackers have gone, replaced by people who queue. And if you have to queue for something, it isn't worth doing.
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Posted On : 2023-10-13 09:10:18

Posted By : 1969Al
Very serious, pick up at the hotel at the established time, the organization of the tour is perfect, it shows that they have been doing it for many years... in our case the only one but it was bad weather (rain) the guide that we had "MAX" was nice and attentive to any questions etc. a 10.
The excursion is very good, I would say that it is essential if you are on the Krabi coast.
6 hours of enjoyment...I would definitely hire them again...
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Posted On : 2023-09-05 12:29:06

Posted By : rudya540
Really enjoyed this tour, the islands we visited are beautiful. The tour guides are very friendly and give you enough time to enjoy each island.
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Posted On : 2023-03-30 20:24:06

Posted By : Laurel_P
Viator messaged us while waiting for our pick up, that it will be late. Got to the check in and ALL the breakfast items were gone! When I inquired for more i was told “sorry no more”. Thank goodness we ate breakfast before we came. Crew was AMAZING!! Snorkelling not great because the spot intended to go too was crowded so the captain choose another spot. That spot was really rough, waves and too many boats rushing by. Spent time on some islands. Very busy and lots of tourist. Our boat passengers were frustrated that only 2 people could sit up front. Left the rest packing in not able to see out of the speed boat. Lunch on the island was ok. No music or beer allowed. Day was fun because of crew and its a beautiful country.
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Posted On : 2023-02-10 20:38:56

Posted By : Emilybier
This tour was great. 4 hours, picked up from and dropped back at hotel. Great guide, nice boat, good tour guide, good food, well organised, and some beautiful views and snorkelling. I would especially recommend snorkelling just off the beach at Poda Island when you stop for lunch around the corner from where you eat - it was amazing! Would recommend.
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Posted On : 2023-01-17 09:54:31