Phuket, Krabi & Phi Phi Itinerary
 

Hello,

First of all, thank you to so many of you who have given such great input to us traveling lovers.

I need some help in finding out which itinerary makes most sense. I’ve changed the original itinerary based on some of the postings but am still not too sure now for Phuket & Krabi.

I was thinking of the following:

4/11/08: Arrive in Bangkok from Ho Chi Minh City (where we are staying for the 1st 6 days) – Mid-day arrival

4/11-4/13: Stay in Bangkok 3 nights.

4/14 – 4/15: Leave for Phuket via air and stay in Phuket 2 nights.

4/16 – 4/17: Leave for Krabi via ? and stay in Krabi 2 nights.

4/18: Leave for Phi Phi; stay the night in Phi Phi

4/19 – 4/20: Leave Phi Phi and arrive in Phuket. Stay in Phuket 2 nights

4/21: Leave Phuket back to Los Angeles via Hong Kong.

So far, I have booked the ticket from Ho Chi Minh City to Phuket and am still trying to figure out transportation to Krabi and Phi Phi island.

Please advise what is best in regards to visiting Krabi and Phi Phi with arrival in Phuket by air.

Thanks so much for all of your help.

Seeing you are coming from a large city, I would tend to go to Bangkok last. This will resolve the problem of lugging all your Bangkok shopping all over southern Thailand.
I would also not go to Phuket twice. You can fly direct from Ho Chi Mihn to Phuket, take the ferry to Phi PHi and then ferry to Krabi and then fly out of Krabi to Bangkok. This will cut out a travelling day and give you more time to relax. If you are already committed to Bangkok first, you can fly to Krabi first and do the Phi Phi-Phuket leg in reverse. Which ever way you do it, try to minimise your travelling days as a 2 hour trip takes up most of your day with packing and unpacking and check-ins and check-outs etc.

good advice....

I just returned from Thailand last night and will be posting a full report as soon as I wake up!
We took the Bangkok Air flight to Krabi which was great. We were there 3 nights and then moved on to Phi Phi via the ferry). As stated below it is really not worth the time to travel to Phi Phi for just one night when you can easily take a day trip from your hotel in Krabi. We took the 9:00 am ferry from Krabi for Phi Phi which meant catching the 8:00 am shuttle from our hotel. Arrived at Tonsai Bay around 11:30 am and got to Holiday Inn around 12:30 (half a day already spent travelling). We were there 3 nights and since we needed to catch a 12:45 flight out of Phuket we hired a private boat to take us there rather than the ferry (about 2 hours door to door). Bottom line you can get between Phuket/Krabi/Phi Phi either by private boat or ferry, just depends how much time you really want to spend travelling. Depending on what time your flight back to LA is from Phuket you could just travel there the morning of.

Thank you so much for the quick replies.

I will check with my travel agent on the itinerary options you have all kindly provided.

laurenkarl: I look forward to your full report.

Thanks!

Hello laurenkarl,

Maybe your report might have the answer but I was wondering how much does the private boat cost you and how much faster was the trip?

Originally, we did not think to visit Bangkok but since it was our connection flight to Phuket, we thought why not. After reading a few of the postings, I then decided to extend our stay in Bangkok. So this is how Bangkok came into play. Other than that, we were more curious about Phuket, and then Phi Phi. I added Krabi because of some pictures I had seen (I think of Poda Island).

I’m in total agreement with shanek about lugging around the Bangkok shopping. Good point. It makes total sense as I remember our last trip to Greece and not wanting to buy gifts until the end, since we did not want to drag them around to our many destinations.

So I see a few options:

(1) Right now, my trip to Vietnam is connecting through Hong Kong into Ho Chi Minh City. On our way back, we are leaving from Phuket and connecting back via HK to go back to LAX, If the private boat between Krabi & Phuket is quick and not too expensive, than maybe I can keep the original itinerary.

(2) Rebook from HCM to Krabi, (ferry to Phi Phi), (ferry to Phuket) and then Phuket back to Bankgok and possibly Bankgok straight back to LA?

(3) Rebook from HCM to Phuket, (ferry to Phi Phi), (ferry to Krabi) and then Krabi back to Bankgok and possibly Bankgok straight back to LA?

Some options to think about, all depending on what the travel agent gets back to me with… Again thank you so much for all of your input! I’m incorporating them into our tentative itinerary…

Thanks!

laurenkarl - If you don't mind, would you please advise how much you had to pay for the private boat. We will be doing a Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi trip next year and am still in the process of working out the transfer details. Thanks.

If you do a search, you'll find a poster, Leigh, who has posted the prices for the private boat transfer to PhiPhi a number of times.

I did a search and the posts I saw by Leigh just said that the private boats were much more expensive without quoting a price. I just received an email from the Holiday Inn that quotes 12,500 Baht per boat. If this is about right, we would not be in that much of a hurry and can just take the regular ferry.

That is correct, we payed 12,500 baht for the private boat from Phi Phi to Phuktet. Did not want to do it but due to our flight time in Phuket did not have a choice (ferry would not work). There is a village directly next to the Holiday Inn that we probably could have gotten a boat for 10,000 baht but since we could charge the boat to our rooms through Holiday Inn (we were running low on baht at the time) and it included a transfer to the airport we went with them. We were four girls travelling with numerous bags so we were just looking for the easiest method possible. With all that said, the boat ride was HORRIBLE! I really don't know if the captain was trying to mess with us but he flew across the ocean and we literally felt like we were holding on for our lives! We are all very fit and do not get sea sick but getting slammed up and down for a solid hour will take it's toll on anyone! We even got stopped by Phuket marine police when we pulled into the port (we thought for speeding) but ultimately I think it was just to verify the captain had the appropriate documentation. Our elbows were all bruised from hitting the railings and our teeth felt rattled! I don't blame the Holiday Inn but I don't understand how anyone travelling with children or someone elderly could have endured this trip!

Hi laurenkarl,

Wow, that sure does not make me want to take the private boat then.. Maybe I should opt for the ferry instead...

Thanks!

Thank you laurenkarl for confirming the price and for describing the private boat experience. Now I know we will be taking the ferry.

Yes, the current fee for speedboat transfer is 12500 baht. This includes airport transfer as well. Phuket airport to Holiday Inn....less than 1.5 hours. Using the ferry, and assuming ideal connections, the same journey takes at least four hours, but because of the ferry timetable, it's usually much more.
We are regular visitors here and always use the speedboat transfer and to date have not had an uncomfortable trip, though of course, it can be a little bumpy. Always sit at the back of the boat for the most comfortable ride. Personally, 45mins on a bumpy speedboat is much preferable to several hours on a ferry.
In any case, we just can't wait to return....roll on February!!!

Oh, and just so you are aware.....the ferrys are usually extremely overcrowded, mainly with unwashed, smelly, self-centered, inconsiderate backpackers, who often make the trip quite quite an ordeal! Don't mean to put a downer on it....but that's how it is.

We recently caught the Ferry (Ao Nang Princess) from Ao Nang-Phi Phi-Krabi and found the trip to be just fine. It only took just over 1.5 hours and we travel with kids and didn't find it overcrowded with smelly backpackers or to be too much of an ordeal. WE packed reasonably light for our trip to Phi phi and organised to leave the bulk of our luggage at a hotel in Ao Nang (where were staying on our return). It would have been a bit more harrowing if we were carrying 4 suitcases, but at 390 Baht per person compared to 12500 baht, I can put up with it. The ferry has a downstairs compartment with heaps of seating which was only half full as most of the young travellers wanted to be up on deck in the sunshine.
The speedboat transfer would only be viable if you were travelling in a large group. If if is just the 2 of you and your budget was unlimited, it would make more sense to look at the sea-plane transfer.

Hello,

Couple of questions:

(1)how many people fit in the speedboat?

(2)is there a ferry going from Krabi to Phuket or what are other methods of transportation, how long do they take and how much?

(3)My travel agency is charging me $ 1,550 to do the following travels:
LAX to SGN
SGN to Phuket
Krabi to Bangkok
Bangkok back to LAX
Is that a reasonable price?

Thanks.

The speedboats that they use can carry approx 20 people. You can book day trips on these boats rather than charter one for yourself, which will reduce the cost. If you were travelling directly from Phuket to Krabi/Ao nang and by-passing Phi-Phi, the most time effecient form of transport would be by road. I havn't priced this trip recently, but I would expect it to cost around 2000-2500 baht and take under 3 hours depending on which part of Phuket you were coming from.
Your airfare deal sounds reasonable but have a look at the price of internal Air Asia flights on their web site and ask how much the long haul sector will cost on its own. We have booked flights with Air Asia and prepaid with no problems. The only condideration would be that once booked,it will cost you to make any changes.

In my experience, the speedboats used for transfer to Phi Phi will take a maximun of eight people.The larger ones are normally used for group day-trips.
Shanek describes the ferry trip from Krabi, which of course, is much closer to Phi Phi than Phuket and so a much shorter journey.
From Phuket the journey to Krabi can be undertaken by road. Take Route 402 to Route 4 and pass Tambon Koto Kloy of Takua Tung District in Phang Nga; Tap Puhd District, Phang Nga; and enter Ao Luk District of Krabi. A number of buses run this route from Phuket daily, taking around 3-4 hours, or alternatively, taxi's or air conditioned mini-vans can easily be arranged, and are not very expensive.
There are no direct regular ferries from Phuket to Krabi. They all go via Phi Phi.
REMEMBER....the last ferry leaves Phuket at around 1.30 each day so you need to be on a flight which arrives no later than 11.30, otherwise you will need to spend the night at Phuket before travelling on. This is another benefit of speedboat transfer....not stuck to a timetable!

There is actually only about 4km difference between the Krabi-Phi Phi and Phuket-Phi-PHI trips. The difference is that there are a lot of different boats that travel the Phuket route, some very slow. The faster boats will still complete the journey in well under 2 hours.
Have a look on www.phi-phi.com. This site will give you all the ferry times and prices.
The prices are a little outdated but the timetable is still current

The full link that I was meant to post is
www.phi-phi.com/travel/ferry-schedule.htm