Boat Tours - Phuket

John Gray’s crew cares about you and nature; they speak a decent to exciting English and will tell you a lot about what you are about to see and discover. Boats never get crowded, and food on board is excellent. You’ll be asked to respect Nature around you as much as they do, which means no touching, no loud talking and of course no smoking while you are exploring the famous ‘Hongs’ (enclosed lagoons, usually only accessible through a narrow tunnel when tides permit). They also try to avoid crowded places: a Hong with a hundred canoes in it is not exactly a grand vision of nature at its best. On the way, you will be amazed to see the size and the amount of these fantastic limestone formations rising straight up from the sea and covered with dense vegetation. While moving from one island to another, the crew will throw some chicken bits in the air, and dozens ‘Bramany Kites’ (some Sea Eagles) will flock and dive behind the boat. https://www.phuket101.net/kayaking-in-phang-nga-bay/

The Phi Phi islands are some of the loveliest in Southeast Asia. Just a 45-minute speedboat trip or a 90-minute ferryboat ride from either Phuket or Krabi, these picture postcard islands offer the ultimate tropical getaway. Featuring classic tropical beaches, stunning rock formations and vivid turquoise waters teeming with colourful marine life, it is paradise perfected. Phi Phi is a group of six islands. The two main islands are Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh. The larger and inhabited Phi Phi Don attracts hundreds of visitors to stay on its lovely shores while the smaller uninhabited Phi Phi Leh hosts stunningly beautiful bays and beaches, including the world-famous Maya Bay, which was the set where The Beach (with Leonardo Dicaprio) was filmed. http://www.phiphi.phuket.com/

The Similan Islands form a fabulous archipelago in the Andaman Sea, just 120 km north-west of Phuket island. These small islands are so strikingly beautiful; you don’t even need to be an excellent photographer to come back with amazing photos. Most people go there on a day trip tour, but the best way to enjoy the Similan islands is to stay for two days. It’s a little far from Phuket and can be tiring to get there on a speedboat. This way, you’ll have some fabulous beaches almost for yourself in the morning and the evening, and having the beaches for yourself is absolutely priceless. The archipelago consists of 9 islands, but you will only have time to visit 2 or 3. The first is very well known for its iconic landmark made of giant boulders perched at the top of a hill overlooking the incredibly clear water of the bay below. You’ll arrive in the morning and will have just a bit of time to explore it and even climb on top of it, maybe one hour, but do it if you can, the view from up there is worth it! Climbing to the boulders isn’t too hard since steps and ladders have been installed all the way to the top. This will give you a beautiful bird view of the entire bay. The shadow of the boats floating above white sand will give you an idea of how clear the water is. https://www.phuket101.net/similan-islands/

Koh Panyi (Koh Panyee) is a surprising village almost entirely built on stilts in Phang Nga Bay near the famous James Bond Island. Koh Panyi is a very unusual and exciting site to discover, but it can be hectic, especially at lunchtime because of the many seafood restaurants welcoming all the visitors. The trick is to get there early and be the only visitor in the village! If you want to have Koh Panyi almost for yourself, rent a car and drive early to the Surakul pier in Phang Nga, then rent a longtail boat which will take you there within 20 minutes. It’s not cheap, maybe 1,500 baht, but it is worth it if you want to have a lot of time in front of you to take photos of Koh Panyi with no tourists on them, and most importantly, have a different vision of this very unusual place. Even the boat ride itself is fascinating, gliding through the mangrove and between colossal limestone rocks. Circling the village gives you an excellent idea of its size and shape. You will then disembark at the main piers, where a dozen seafood restaurants get ready for their busy lunchtime. https://www.phuket101.net/koh-panyee/