There are three ways to get from Phuket to the Phi Phi Islands, and all of them are by boat — there's no airport and no bridge. A speedboat covers the crossing in about 1 hour 10 minutes from Boat Lagoon Marina. The public ferry from Rassada Pier takes roughly 2 hours to Tonsai Pier (a little less on the newer high-speed boats), with tickets typically around ฿450–800 one way depending on operator and season. Or you can take a private charter and set your own schedule entirely. Which one is right depends on whether Phi Phi is your day trip or your destination.
We've been running this crossing from Phuket since 2005, so below is the honest version of each option — real journey times, what the boats are actually like mid-channel, and the one mistake most first-time visitors make (arriving at Maya Bay at the same time as everyone else).
The three options at a glance
| Option | Journey time | Typical cost | Departs from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speedboat day tour | ~1hr 10min each way | ฿5,310 all-inclusive, join-in | Boat Lagoon Marina | Seeing Phi Phi's highlights in one day |
| Public ferry | ~2hrs to Tonsai Pier | ~฿450–800 one way | Rassada Pier, Phuket Town | Staying overnight on Phi Phi Don |
| Private charter | ~1hr 10min, your schedule | From ฿40,700 (2–4 persons) | Boat Lagoon Marina | Families & groups who want the day their way |
Option 1 — Speedboat day tour (the fastest way there)
If Phi Phi is a day trip, the speedboat is the only option that gets you there and back with the full day in between. Our Phi Phi Sunrise Tour departs Boat Lagoon Marina at 6:00 AM — you catch the sunrise at sea during the crossing and arrive at Maya Bay before the day-tripper fleet, which typically lands mid-morning. The tour runs about 8 hours across seven stops, with a maximum of 18 adults aboard, and the ฿5,310 price is all-inclusive — hotel pickup from the main Phuket tourist coast, national park fees, breakfast, lunch and snorkelling gear. Nothing added at checkout.
The early start is the whole strategy. Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon and Monkey Beach transform completely once the mid-morning boats arrive; an hour's head start is the difference between a quiet bay and a queue. Not sure which departure suits you? Compare all our Phi Phi island tours from Phuket side by side.
Option 2 — Public ferry (the budget option)
The ferry from Rassada Pier near Phuket Town is the cheapest crossing and the right choice if you're staying overnight on Phi Phi Don, especially with luggage. Boats run daily year-round to Tonsai Pier (some services continue to the quieter Laemtong Pier in the northeast), taking around 2 hours, with morning and early-afternoon departures. Book a day or two ahead in high season — December to April sailings fill up — and expect a livelier, more crowded ride than the brochure photos suggest.
What the ferry doesn't do is show you the islands. It's a port-to-port service: no Maya Bay, no lagoon stops, no snorkelling. Many overnight visitors take the ferry across with their bags, then join a boat tour from Phi Phi itself — or do the day trip from Phuket first and come back later to stay.
Option 3 — Private charter (your boat, your schedule)
A private speedboat charter to Phi Phi is the same fast crossing with the itinerary handed to you — linger at the stops you love, skip the ones you don't, and set the pace for kids or grandparents. Charters start from ฿40,700 for 2–4 persons for the full 8-hour day, all-inclusive, with pickup from around 5 AM so you still beat the crowds to Maya Bay. Up to 18 adults per boat. If you're weighing up more than just Phi Phi, our private charter range covers Phang Nga Bay, Krabi and Coral Island too.
I've been on the water my whole life — from waterskiing and houseboats as a kid to operating luxury charter boats across the Andaman — and I've made this Phuket–Phi Phi crossing more times than I can count. Simba has run it daily since 2005 with local Thai captains who read this channel in every season, and we plan the day around the sea, not the other way round. That's also why we're honest about the middle of the crossing: it's open water, and on a southwest-monsoon afternoon it can get lumpy. Morning crossings are almost always the calmest — one more reason we leave early.
Can you fly, or go via Krabi?
There's no airport on Phi Phi. The nearest are Phuket (HKT) and Krabi (KBV) — from Krabi town the ferry is shorter, about 90 minutes. If you're mid-Thailand-itinerary, combined bus-and-ferry "joint tickets" from either airport are sold widely and are usually the easiest way to string the legs together. Coming from Phuket, though, the boat is the journey — there's nothing to connect.
Getting around once you're there
Phi Phi Don has no roads and no cars. You walk, you kayak, or you take a longtail boat between beaches — which is part of the charm. Maya Bay and Phi Phi Leh are only reachable by boat, which is why day tours cover more of the archipelago in eight hours than most overnight visitors see in two days. For a full stop-by-stop rundown, see our guide to planning a Phi Phi island-hopping day.
When to make the crossing
One seasonal note: Maya Bay itself closes every year from 1 August to 30 September for ecosystem recovery (reopening 1 October). Phi Phi tours run as normal through those weeks — our Sunrise Tour substitutes Bamboo Island as the first stop, and Pileh Lagoon, the reefs and the rest of the day are unaffected. Check our Maya Bay status guide for current rules.
November to April is the dry season — calm seas, clear water, and the reason it's also high season. May to October (the southwest monsoon) still has plenty of good crossing days, but weather calls happen; if we cancel a tour for weather, your deposit is refunded in full. Ferries keep running most of the year with a reduced monsoon timetable. More detail in our guide to the best time to visit Phi Phi from Phuket, and you can dig deeper into the islands themselves on our Phi Phi Islands destination guide.
