Phuket to Krabi

Speedboats are the everyday way across, and they run in low season too. On a mid-October weekday, Koh Yao Sun Smile left Bang Rong at 09:30 (Nopparat Thara 11:40, East Railay 12:00, after a call at Koh Yao), Bundhaya left Rassada at 11:00 (Nopparat Thara 12:00, Railay 12:30), Andaman Wave Master left Rassada at 12:00 (it sails daily; Nopparat Thara 13:15), and Green Planet left Laem Hin at 13:00 and Bang Rong at 15:00 (Nopparat Thara 14:30 and 16:20). Fares run ฿880–1,100, and the crossing takes from an hour on Bundhaya to just over two on the boat that stops at Koh Yao. Bundhaya adds a daily 13:30 from Rassada from 15 October, Andaman Wave Master adds an 08:30 in late October, and Bundhaya adds a 09:00 by mid-November.

Pick the pier before the boat. Rassada is the main ferry port on the east coast just outside Phuket Town, 40–45 minutes from Patong. Bang Rong is up the northeast coast, the closest pier to the airport and the northern beaches. Laem Hin is a small pier near Phuket Town. In Krabi, the boats land at Nopparat Thara pier at the west end of Ao Nang, not in the middle of the beach, so budget a ฿200 tuk-tuk or a long walk to a central hotel. Railay passengers get off at East Railay. Speedboats are wet in any swell, so put your bag in a dry bag.

Some 08:30 departures from Rassada reach Ao Nang in the afternoon, not mid-morning. Those go by way of Koh Phi Phi with a change of boat, fine if you want to see Phi Phi on the way and slow if you don't, so check the arrival time before you book.

The Ao Nang Princess is the big ferry on this route, slower than the speedboats and much steadier in a swell. Its own timetable splits the year in two. From 20 May to 14 November it sails from Rassada at 10:30 on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays only, reaching Railay about 12:15 and Nopparat Thara pier in Ao Nang about 12:30. From 15 November to 19 May the same 10:30 runs on those days and a daily 13:30 is added, reaching Ao Nang about 15:15 with a call at Railay. If your date falls on a non-ferry day in low season, the speedboats cover the crossing every day.

The operator charges ฿900 for adults and ฿600 for children aged 3–11, and includes a free hotel pickup in Patong, Kata, Karon, Phuket Town, Siray and Chalong (฿100 a head from Kamala, Surin, Bang Tao, Laguna, Nai Harn and Rawai, and no pickups from the airport or the far north). 12Go sells the same seat for ฿850. At Rassada you check in at counter 7, and bags over 20 kg cost ฿100 each. Some 'Phuket to Krabi ferry' tickets are really the Phi Phi boat with a connection, so if the departure is 08:30 and the arrival mid-afternoon, that's what you're looking at.

Plenty of people land at Phuket and go straight to Krabi. Shared vans leave from the airport itself for Ao Nang and Krabi Town hotels at 08:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 17:00 for about ฿750, roughly three hours with the drop-offs. Cheaper, but more effort, Minibus 1996 stops at the Phuket Airport intersection on the main road (a short taxi from the terminal, not the terminal itself) seven times a day between 08:50 and 17:20 on its way to Krabi Bus Terminal, about 2.5 hours for ฿385.

A private car is about 2.5 hours and ฿2,500–3,800 from the airport to Ao Nang, 156 km, and it's the only real option if you land in the evening, since the last shared van leaves at 17:00. If your flight gets in late at night, a car still works, but a night at an airport hotel and a morning speedboat from Bang Rong, the nearest pier, is the calmer plan.

Not well. The first low-season speedboats reach Ao Nang around noon, and the last speedboats back to Phuket leave Ao Nang around 14:00 (the Ao Nang Princess at 15:00 on its sailing days), which leaves two hours on the ground. By road it's three hours each way. If Krabi's cliffs and islands are the point, stay at least a night in Ao Nang or Railay; if you only want a look, an organized boat tour from Phuket to Phi Phi or Phang Nga Bay shows you the same limestone without the transfer.

The speedboats run the same crossing west from Nopparat Thara and East Railay in the morning and early afternoon, and the minivans leave Krabi Bus Terminal every 40–60 minutes. The Ao Nang Princess's low-season sailing back is at 15:00, also on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Krabi to Phuket guide has the full schedule from the Krabi side, including how to reach Phuket airport for a flight.