Krabi: Phi Phi Islands Sunrise+Nursery Blacktip Reef Sharks

About This Experience

Pickup for this Krabi Sunset Tours day is between 06:00 and 06:45, so in November the sun comes up (about 06:15) around the time you reach Nopparat Thara pier. Maya Bay itself does not open at dawn. The beach opens at roughly 7 am, and the early start gets you there early in the day, ahead of the late-morning boats, with about an hour on the sand.

Before Phi Phi there is a 40-minute stop at Tup Island, where a sandbar links it to Chicken Island at low tide. After Maya Bay come Pileh Lagoon, a 45-minute snorkel off Ko Phi Phi Le at what the operator calls a blacktip reef shark nursery, a pass by Viking Cave and a photo stop at Monkey Beach, which depends on the tide. Lunch is a Thai buffet at Arida Restaurant on Phi Phi Don, with halal food and other diets on request, then half an hour of free time and an hour on Bamboo Island. You pass Chicken Island on the way home and are back at your hotel after about 9.5 hours.

The tour has 4.9 stars from 52 reviews, with no reviews under four stars when we checked. Reviewers mention a modern, fast boat, drinks and snacks all day, and guides who are good at spotting young sharks; the sharks are wild, so a sighting is likely but not promised. One four-star review is fair warning that you still meet crowds at the busy stops even with an early start, and with only 30 minutes for lunch, the day keeps moving.

There is no pickup from Railay or Tonsai Beach, and if your hotel is up a hill you walk down to a hotel on the main road. The national park fee (400 THB per adult, 200 THB per child) is extra and paid in cash. A mask is supplied but fins are not. Luggage, large bags, strollers, plastic bottles and drones are not allowed on board, and swimming at Maya Bay is not permitted.

Highlights

• About an hour at Maya Bay, early in its opening hours
• A 45-minute snorkel off Phi Phi Le at a blacktip reef shark nursery
• Swim in Pileh Lagoon
• Walk the Tup Island sandbar on the way out
• An hour on Bamboo Island in the afternoon
• Chicken Island's rock formation on the ride home

What's Included

• ✓ Hotel round-trip transfer (Ao Nang, Krabi Town, Ao Nam Mao, Klong Muang, Tubkaek)
• ✓ English-speaking guide
• ✓ Thai buffet lunch at Arida Restaurant, halal, with vegetarian and other diets on request
• ✓ Drinking water, soft drinks, coffee, tea, snacks and seasonal fruit
• ✓ Snorkeling mask and life jacket
• ✓ Basic accident insurance

Not Included

• National park fee: 400 THB per adult, 200 THB per child, paid in cash on the day
• Fins
• Pickup from Railay Beach and Tonsai Beach
• Pickup from hotels on Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi or in Phuket

What to Bring

• Cash for the national park fee
• Sunscreen without oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-MBC or butylparaben
• Swimwear and water shoes
• Towel and a change of clothes
• A waterproof bag for your phone and camera
• Sun hat and sunglasses

Good to Know & Caveats

• Maya Bay closes every year from 1 August to 30 September.
• At Maya Bay there is no swimming, no single-use plastic and no drones without permission.
• Monkey Beach can only be reached at low tide, so it may be skipped.
• Jellyfish can be present in some seasons; long swimwear and water shoes reduce the risk.
• If your hotel is on a hill, wait at a nearby hotel on the main road.
• Luggage, large bags and strollers are not allowed on board.
• The operator recommends wearing a life jacket for the whole boat ride and while snorkeling.

Meeting Point

Hotel pickup between 06:00 and 06:45 in Ao Nang, Krabi Town, Ao Nam Mao, Klong Muang or Tubkaek, then the speedboat leaves from Nopparat Thara pier.