Day Trips From Phuket

The Best Half-Day Trips From Phuket

Out after breakfast and back by mid-afternoon, or the reverse. Ranked from the one I'd do first.

1. 1. The Khai Islands, Off Phuket's east coast

   Best half day

   Three small islands in the water east of Phuket, and the closest beach trip there is. Khai Nok, the busiest and the prettiest, is a dome of rock and trees ringed by white sand and very clear, very shallow water. Khai Nai and Khai Nui make up the set, and the half-day tours usually stop at all three.

   There's nowhere to stay, but Khai Nok has simple restaurants, beach chairs for about ฿150 and pay toilets, and the local council charges a small landing fee per foreign visitor that most tours include. Feeding the fish is banned and enforced, with fines that have reached ฿100,000, so leave the bread on the boat. The morning boats arrive before the waves of late-morning tours, which is when I'd go.

   Getting there

   About 15 minutes by speedboat from Chalong, Ao Po or Royal Phuket Marina. Morning tours sail about 09:30 and are back at the pier around 13:00, and afternoon tours run about 13:30 to 17:00. Many Phi Phi tours also stop here on the way back.

   When to go

   A morning between November and April.

   

   Koh Khai Nok

   4.5(1,326)

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2. 2. The Big Buddha and Wat Chalong, Chalong, in the south

   Best on land

   Forty-five meters of white Burmese marble on the ridge above Chalong, visible from half the island and open again since 3 March 2026 after the landslide closure. It's free, open roughly 06:30 to 18:30, and the dress check turns away sleeveless tops even under a scarf. The platform loses its shade by about 11:00.

   Wat Chalong below it is Phuket's most important temple, free, open 07:00 to 17:00 and busy with Thai pilgrims and firecrackers. Both lend sarongs at the gate, and the two together fill a morning.

   Getting there

   A Grab from the west-coast beaches, or a scooter. The road up to the Buddha is steep.

   When to go

   Early morning, before the heat and the coaches.

   

   The Big Buddha, Phuket

   4.6(39,141)Daily 06:00–18:30

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3. 3. Phuket Old Town, Phuket Town, on the east side

   Best for a Sunday

   Six blocks of pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses built on tin money. Thalang Road is the spine and Soi Romanee the lane on every photograph. Chinpracha House, the one tin-baron mansion open to visitors, is ฿150 and open 08:00 to 16:00, and the Thai Hua Museum, the island's first Chinese school, is ฿200 and closed on Mondays.

   Lunch at One Chun, a Michelin Bib Gourmand, costs about ฿150–350 for the Phuket-Chinese dishes the beaches don't serve. On Sundays, Thalang Road closes from 16:00 to 22:00 for the Lard Yai walking street, the best evening on the island, so I'd do the Old Town as a Sunday afternoon into the night.

   Getting there

   A Grab or a scooter from the beaches. Rassada Pier is 3.5 km away, so it also fits after a Phi Phi day.

   When to go

   Sunday afternoon and evening, or any weekday morning.

4. 4. Coral Island (Koh Hey), 6.5 km off the south coast

   Best with young children

   The closest island to the south coast, with two beaches. Long Beach has the restaurants, the banana boats, the parasailing and the kayaks. Banana Beach is the quieter one. The snorkeling is decent around the rocky ends of both and nothing like the Similans or Racha, and that's fine, because the water is calm and shallow and the crossing is short.

   Day trips cost from about ฿1,700 for Long Beach and ฿2,200 for Banana Beach, with hotel transfers, the speedboat, snorkel gear and lunch. Card payments are patchy on the island, so bring cash for the extras.

   Getting there

   About 15 minutes by speedboat from Chalong Pier or Rawai. On your own, a longtail from Rawai beach costs about ฿1,500–2,000 per boat, return.

   When to go

   Any time of year. The crossing is sheltered even in the monsoon, and the water is clearest from November to April.

   

   Coral Island

   4.3(3,243)Open 24 hours daily

   DirectionsSave

5. 5. Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, Paklok, in the northeast

   Best with elephants

   The island's original sanctuary and a sister project to Chiang Mai's Elephant Nature Park, and the one World Animal Protection lists as elephant-friendly. It's observation only. You walk the canopy walkway, then follow a guide into the forest to find the herd, and nobody feeds or bathes the elephants.

   The half-day program costs from ฿3,000 and takes about three and a half hours, and the 90-minute canopy walkway tour is from ฿1,900. Other sanctuaries on the island build the visit around feeding and a mud bath, which World Animal Protection advises against, so decide which kind of visit you want before you book.

   Getting there

   Book on the sanctuary's own website, because several businesses use similar names.

   When to go

   Any month.

   

   Phuket Elephant Sanctuary

   4.8(3,207)Daily 09:00–17:00

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The Best Full-Day Trips From Phuket

These take the whole day, with a pickup between 05:30 and 08:00 and back around dark. Ranked for a first visit.

1. 1. Phi Phi and Maya Bay, Koh Phi Phi, about 40 km southeast by sea

   Best overall

   A standard speedboat tour runs to Pileh Lagoon, jade water inside sixty-meter cliffs, then Maya Bay, Monkey Beach, a snorkel stop and lunch on Phi Phi Don, and many stop at the Khai islands on the way home. It's about an hour each way from Rassada, and the whole day takes 8 to 11 hours from hotel to hotel.

   Maya Bay runs on strict rules now. Boats drop you at the Loh Samah pier on the back of the island and you walk about 300 m on a boardwalk to the sand. Visits come in one-hour rounds of up to 375 people, you can wade to your knees but not swim, and the park fines swimmers ฿5,000. It closes every year from 1 August to 30 September, when tours still run but view the bay from the water. Book the earliest departure you can find, because the day boats reach Maya between about 09:30 and 11:00 and Pileh fills with the Krabi fleet by 10:30.

   Getting there

   Hotel pickup around 07:00 for the boats from Rassada Pier. Standard speedboat tours start from about ฿2,400, most cost ฿2,500–3,000, and the ฿400 park fee is sometimes extra.

   When to go

   October to July, on the earliest boat. Maya Bay closes 1 August to 30 September.

   Hotels in Phi Phi Islands

2. 2. Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island, North of Phuket, between Phuket and Krabi

   Best in any weather

   A different sea, flat, green and sheltered, with dozens of limestone islands rising straight out of it. The best hour is in a sea canoe, when a guide paddles you through low tunnels in the rock at Koh Panak and Koh Hong into hongs, hidden lagoons open to the sky. Lunch is at Koh Panyee, a Muslim fishing village on stilts, and the photo stop is James Bond Island, where boats land on Khao Phing Kan and Ko Tapu, the spire from the 1974 film, stands just offshore, off-limits to boats since 1998.

   Group tours cost about ฿1,400–2,800 depending on the boat, plus the ฿300 park fee when it isn't included. The longtail is the slower and better way to see the bay, and the speedboat adds stops. John Gray's Hong by Starlight is the one I'd book. It reaches the lagoons at 16:00, after the day boats leave, serves dinner on board and finishes with a night paddle among the bioluminescent plankton, for ฿3,950 with the park fee included.

   Getting there

   Hotel pickup for the boats from Ao Po, Royal Phuket Marina or Boat Lagoon on the east coast, about 45 minutes from Patong. On your own, the bus to Phang Nga town takes 1.5 to 2 hours for ฿80–100, and longtails at Tha Dan pier, 5 km south, take small groups around the bay for a price you agree on the spot.

   When to go

   All year. It's the boat day to keep for a rough week, and it's busiest from 10:00 to 14:00.

   

   James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan)

   4.6(845)

   DirectionsSave

3. 3. The Similan Islands, About 70 km off the coast, via Thap Lamu

   Best snorkeling, in season

   Granite boulders, white-sand coves and the clearest water in Thailand, in a national park open only from 15 October to 15 May. Most day trips land at Donald Duck Bay on Koh Similan, with the short scramble up to Sail Rock, stop for lunch at Koh Miang and snorkel off Koh Payu and Koh Ba Ngu. Boats may land from 08:00 and must leave by 16:00, and numbers are capped at 3,850 a day.

   Foreign adults pay ฿500 and children ฿250. Koh Tachai has been closed to landings since 2016, so I'd be suspicious of any tour that promises its beach. From Phuket it's the same boat as from Khao Lak with about two hours of road at each end, 10 to 13 hours door to door. If the Similans are the reason for your trip, a night or two in Khao Lak makes it a relaxed day instead of a 05:30 start.

   Getting there

   Hotel pickup from about 05:30 for the speedboats and catamarans from Thap Lamu pier, 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 to the islands. Tours from Phuket start around $74 on GetYourGuide, and operators' catamarans run from about ฿3,800 with the park fee.

   When to go

   December to March for the calmest water. The park is closed from 16 May to 14 October.

   

   Mu Ko Similan National Park

   4.7(4,682)Mon Open 24 hours

   DirectionsSave
   Hotels in Khao Lak

4. 4. Racha Yai, 12 km south of Phuket

   Best beach day

   The clear-water island most guides rank behind only Phi Phi, with less of the crowd. From November to April boats land at Patok Bay, white sand with an easy entry and reef starting in the shallows, and visibility runs 15 to 25 m in season. Siam Bay on the north coast has the widest sand and fewer day boats.

   Full-day tours from about ฿1,200 include hotel pickup, the speedboat, snorkel gear and lunch, and some add Coral Island on the way back. From May to October the west side can be too rough, so boats use Ter Bay on the east coast, which is a poor swim. The Racha, a resort on Patok Bay, makes it a night if you want one.

   Getting there

   30 to 40 minutes by speedboat from Chalong Pier, or 60 to 90 minutes on the big tour and dive boats. Pickups are around 08:00, and you're back at Chalong about 16:00. There's no public ferry.

   When to go

   November to April, when the boats can use Patok Bay.

   

   Ko Racha Yai

   4.6(513)

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5. 5. Koh Yao Noi, In the middle of Phang Nga Bay

   Best without a tour

   A quiet island of Muslim fishing and farming families in the middle of Phang Nga Bay, with no bar streets and no jet skis, and the one trip on this list you can do entirely on public boats. The main beaches line the east coast and look across at the limestone towers off Krabi. A scooter costs about ฿250–350 a day, and the island's one main road loops it in about an hour.

   From Manoh pier a longtail crosses to Chong Lard on Koh Yao Yai in about 10 minutes, for the Laem Haad sandbar. Check a tide table before you plan a swim, because Pasai, Klong Jark and Tha Khao all go shallow at low tide.

   Getting there

   Speedboats leave Bang Rong pier, 16 km from the airport and about 31 km from Patong, from 08:40 to 17:00 and cross in 30 to 40 minutes for ฿400. The last speedboat back leaves at about 16:00. A van-and-boat ticket with hotel pickup is from about ฿900.

   When to go

   Any month, and the best day on the water when the Similans are closed.

   Hotels in Phuket

6. 6. Railay and the Krabi islands, Krabi, across Phang Nga Bay

   Only on a tour

   Krabi is under 50 km across the bay but about 170 km by road, and the public boats don't fit a day. In low season the first speedboats reach Ao Nang around noon and the last ones back leave around 14:00, which leaves two hours on the ground, and by road it's three hours each way.

   The way to do it is a tour. They cross from Rassada by ferry, about an hour and a half to Ao Nang, then take a speedboat to Tup Island's sandbar, Chicken Island and Koh Poda, and the park fee for those islands is usually not included. If Railay's cliffs are what you want, I'd give it a night instead.

   Getting there

   A tour with hotel pickup around 07:00 to 08:00 and the ferry from Rassada. The Phuket to Krabi guide has the boats if you're staying.

   When to go

   November to April, the calm season.

   

   Railay West Beach

   4.5(7,719)Open 24 hours daily

   DirectionsSave
   Hotels in Krabi

7. 7. Khao Sok and Cheow Lan Lake, Surat Thani, about 145 km north of the airport

   Only if you can't stay

   Rainforest and a reservoir of limestone islands, and possible in a day only as a long tour. They collect you between 05:00 and 06:00, reach Cheow Lan Lake around 09:30 for a longtail ride across the water, a swim and lunch, and get you back around 19:00, about 13 hours in all, from about ฿3,000 with the fees.

   That's roughly five hours of driving for a few hours on the lake, without the trails, the river or the dawn mist. Two nights, one in the village and one in a raft house on the lake, is the trip I'd plan instead.

   Getting there

   A day tour with pickup. By car it's two and a half to three hours each way, and the lake fee is ฿300 with ฿200 more for the park headquarters if you visit both.

   When to go

   December to April, the driest months.

   Hotels in Khao Lak

Every Day Trip From Phuket, Compared

Fees are for foreign adults, with children at about half. Tour prices include hotel pickup and usually lunch, and whether they include the park fee varies, so check each one. Book through your hotel or the operator rather than a street tout, and carry the park fees in cash.