Koh Racha Yai (Racha Island) Guide

Every boat to Racha Yai leaves from Chalong Pier on Phuket's south coast, and most tours collect you from your hotel first. Speedboats take 30 to 40 minutes, and the big tour and dive boats take 60 to 90. Coral Island, the other day trip from Chalong, is about 15 minutes out, so Racha is roughly twice as far.

There's no public ferry, which leaves three ways to go. A day tour is the cheapest and the one most people book. A private boat lets you set the time, and a private longtail from Chalong runs from about ฿7,310 for six hours with hotel pickup on one booking platform, while a private speedboat costs far more. Sunrise Divers' private speedboat for divers starts at ฿35,000 for the day. The third way is your resort's boat, if you're staying the night. The Racha runs its own speedboats from its lounge near Chalong for guests, and Racha Island Resort lists a scheduled guest boat leaving Chalong at 09:30 and coming back at 14:00, booked by email when you reserve the room.

If you want the beach at its best, book the earliest departure you can find. One operator's sunrise speedboat leaves Chalong around 06:00 and reach Patok Bay hours before the standard tours, which arrive about 10:00 and overlap with everyone else until mid-afternoon. It means a 04:00 to 05:00 pickup and costs about ฿600 more, and I think that's the best money you can spend on this trip.

If you'd rather sleep in, the standard speedboat day is fine, with snorkeling at Patok, Siam or Lah Bay, lunch on the island, a short walk to a viewpoint and the boat back around 15:00. A Racha and Coral Island combo adds a second beach but takes time off Racha, so I'd only pick it for children who want Coral Island's banana boats. If you get seasick or you're traveling with small children, a big boat is slower but steadier, and the Racha Noi snorkeling days on the dive boats give you three stops instead of one.

Racha's reefs start in the shallows, so you can swim to them from the beach, and in season the visibility is often 15 to 25 m. Expect reef fish, hard coral, urchins and starfish, and the occasional turtle. Every tour includes a mask, snorkel and life jacket, and most include fins, though they're worth checking for fit.

Yes, you can stay on Racha, and it's how I'd see it if I had the time. The day boats leave around 16:00, the bay goes quiet, and you get the sunset and the next morning's water before the first tours arrive. There are four places, all on Racha Yai, and each arranges its own boat from Chalong.

Day tours include lunch on the island, at a beach restaurant such as Coco Bar Seaview on one operator's program, so most people never buy a meal here. If you're on a private boat, the resort restaurants are the choice, from Bungalow Raya's seafood to The Racha's restaurants, and the small bars at Ter Bay serve drinks and snacks in the rainy season. Tour operators tell you to bring cash in baht for drinks and extras, and I would.

I'd skip Racha as a beach day from May to October. The tours still run, but they land on the rocky east coast, and that isn't the island in the photos. Phang Nga Bay is the boat day that holds up in the rainy season. I'd also skip the cheapest Racha and Coral combo if Racha is the reason you're going, because the second island cuts your time at the better one. And I wouldn't book Racha Noi for the beach. It has almost none, and the tours there are for snorkeling and diving.

Yes, from November to April, if clear water and an easy beach day matter more to you than famous sights. It's the clearest water you can reach from Phuket in under an hour, the snorkeling starts at the beach, and the tours cost about half a Phi Phi day with no park fee on top. Phi Phi has the limestone cliffs and Maya Bay, but it's a longer, busier day. Racha is simpler and calmer, and with an early boat or a night on the island, you get Patok Bay with hardly anyone on it.