Four Pearls or Separate Phi Phi and James Bond Day Trips from Phuket?

What Four Pearls covers in two days

Day one is Phang Nga Bay and Krabi. Pickup is at 06:50, the boat leaves at 08:50, and you're at Panak island by 09:30. At 10:10 you land on James Bond island, with the view of Ta Pu rock and the little market, then canoe through the mangroves and caves at Talu island at 11:00 and have lunch in Panyi village. The afternoon is Krabi: the royal residence seen from the water, Phra Nang beach at Railay with the Princess Cave and beach time from 13:50, then the Twin islands and Chicken island and a snorkel over the reef. You check in on Phi Phi Don at 16:50.

Day two is Phi Phi. Breakfast is at 07:30 and check-out at 08:30, and the boat is in Maya Bay at 09:00. Pileh Lagoon follows at 10:00, then the Viking Cave, Monkey Beach and a snorkel off Phi Phi Don, lunch, and Bamboo island at 13:50. You're back at the pier at 16:30, and the transfer takes you to your hotel.

What the two separate days cover

The James Bond island day is slower and goes deeper into the bay. About an hour and a half on the road to Phang Nga, then a longtail between the cliffs, and a full hour on James Bond island from 11:30. From 12:30 to 14:00 a local boatman paddles your kayak through sea caves and hidden lagoons. Seafood lunch is at a restaurant on stilts, and at 15:00 you visit the floating village of Koh Panyi before the drive home.

The Phi Phi, Maya Bay and Khai day is the island day. Pickup is at 07:30, the speedboat leaves at 09:15 and stops first at Khai island for a swim and a snorkel off the white sand. Then Monkey Beach, a buffet lunch on Phi Phi Don with vegetarian dishes, the Viking Cave and Pileh Lagoon, and Maya Bay at 15:15, where swimming happens from the water beside the bay under park rules.

Where the time goes

Four Pearls packs a lot into two days, so each stop is shorter. You land on James Bond island at 10:10 and are canoeing at Talu by 11:00. On the separate day you have the island from 11:30 to 12:30 and the kayaks for an hour and a half after that.

Some places are on one option only. Railay, Phra Nang beach and the Princess Cave are on Four Pearls and on neither day trip, and our Four Pearls card makes the point that you'd otherwise need a separate trip from Phuket to see Railay. Bamboo island is on Four Pearls too. Khai island is on the Phi Phi day trip only.

Maya Bay comes at opposite ends of the day: 09:00 on Four Pearls, after the night on the island, and 15:15 on the Khai day. If the morning matters to you, does the Phi Phi overnight tour visit Maya Bay in the morning compares the overnight trips.

The night on Phi Phi Don

This is really what the Four Pearls ticket buys. The hotel room on Phi Phi Don is included; as a rule the room is a standard one, an upgrade is possible for an extra charge, and the hotel hands out rooms at its own reception. At 17:20 there's a viewpoint over the island, with its ticket paid on the spot. Dinner at the hotel is at 19:50, a fire show by Thai champions with a cocktail on the beach at 20:50, a Thai boxing bar at 22:50 for anyone brave enough, and beach parties after 23:20.

Two day trips mean two mornings from your own hotel and two evenings back on Phuket. The James Bond island day has you on the road home from 16:30 to 18:00; the Phi Phi day heads back at 16:15. If you have small children, a flight soon after, or you simply like your own bed, that's an easy trade. On Four Pearls the crossing home is on day two, so keep a free day before any flight.

Which is better value?

The price table on this page lists Four Pearls and both day trips in baht, so you can add up the two separate tickets for your group and put them next to Four Pearls. Remember what each ticket carries. Four Pearls includes the hotel night, two lunches, a dinner and a breakfast, plus soft drinks, fruit, masks and snorkels on the boat. The day trips include lunch each day, seafood over the bay on one and a buffet on Phi Phi Don on the other, and you sleep in the hotel you've already paid for.

Here's how I'd put it. Four Pearls is the better buy if Railay is on your list or you want an evening on Phi Phi Don anyway. If neither matters, two separate days give you more time at the places themselves and a gentler pace, with a rest day in between if you like.

Which to book

Short of days, or keen on Railay? Four Pearls. Want the kayaks and the stilt village done properly, plus Khai island? The two day trips. And if Hong island and Lao Lading appeal more than Railay, look at Five Pearls instead, compared on Five Pearls or Four Pearls. The one-day Krabi boat and Four pearls go to different islands; Krabi four islands or Hong island lists which.

• →Railay and a night on Phi Phi Don, short on days — Four pearls of the Andaman Sea
• →Longer at James Bond island, kayaks in the sea caves — James Bond island and Phang Nga Bay
• →Khai island and Maya Bay, back at your own hotel — Phi Phi, Maya Bay and Khai island
• →Hong island and Lao Lading instead of Railay — Five pearls of the Andaman Sea

Booking and what to bring

Send the tour, the date, your hotel and everyone's ages in the chat. Our tours leave from different piers, so the pier and the meeting time come in your booking confirmation, and any transfer surcharge for your area is named in the chat before you pay. If the authorities close the sea, the trip moves to another date or the payment comes back. Coming in November? Phuket tours in November says which boats are running by then and which to book first.

For Four Pearls pack one bag for the night: toiletries, a change of clothes for two days, swimwear, sunscreen, a hat, a camera and some cash for extras. For the day trips, wear swimwear under your clothes and bring a towel.

Questions people ask