Phuket Tours in November: Similans, Phi Phi, Racha and Phang Nga

Are the Similan islands open in November?

Yes, all month. The park shuts for the monsoon from 16 May to 14 October and opens again on the 15th, which makes November its first full month of the season. We run the Similan trips from that date until the park closes in mid-May, as long as the weather allows.

There are two ways to go. The early departure picks you up between 04:00 and 05:00 and is off the pier at six. By about eight you're on Miang island (no. 4), and at that hour the beach is usually yours. Dinner is back at the pier, around half past four. The classic day leaves from Tablamu pier: snorkelling off islands 9 and 7, the walk up to Sail Rock on island 8, a buffet lunch on board. You're back between 15:30 and 18:00. Staying in Khao Lak rather than Phuket? Both trips collect there too.

How wet is November compared with October?

On paper, a lot drier. The World Meteorological Organization's 30-year climate normals for Phuket put November at about 178 mm of rain, on 13 days with a millimetre or more. October gets 336 mm over 19 days. The wind changes too: over the month it swings round to the north-east.

That's an average, not your forecast. The call on whether boats go out is made that morning by the authorities and the captain, and it applies to every operator. If they say no, your trip moves to another date or you get the payment back. So we'd follow your first sea day with a free one. Coming a few weeks earlier? Read Phuket tours in October.

Phi Phi in November: at sunrise or the classic day?

Go at sunrise if Maya Bay is the point. Phi Phi at sunrise collects you between four and half four, hands out breakfast boxes at the pier, and you see the sun come up from the boat. At seven you get an hour in Maya Bay, before the day boats turn up. Then Pileh Lagoon, snorkelling, lunch on Phi Phi Don and Bamboo island. Back at the pier at 15:30.

If four in the morning sounds grim, take Phi Phi, Maya Bay and Khai: pickup at 07:30, back at Chalong around 16:15. Whether you can step onto the sand in Maya Bay depends on park rules that change through the year, and is Maya Bay open explains them. Fewer boats do the sunrise run, so it sells out first. Give it a few days' notice, and about a week once high season gets going.

Racha and Coral: speedboat or sunrise?

Racha and Coral by speedboat is the easy snorkelling day. Pickup is between 08:00 and 08:30, the crossing to Patok Bay on Racha Yai takes about forty minutes, lunch is on Coral island, and the afternoon goes on the beach and water sports before the hotels at about 17:30. Parasailing, the banana boat and jet skis are extra, so bring cash if you want any of them.

Racha and Coral at sunrise collects you between 04:30 and 05:00 and is back at the pier at 15:30, so the evening is yours. For a half day with no early start, Coral island from Rawai meets at Rawai pier at 08:30 and is back there at 14:00.

Phang Nga Bay and Cheow Lan lake

James Bond island is a drive to Phang Nga and then a longtail between limestone islands: the famous rock, a kayak through the sea caves, seafood lunch at a restaurant on stilts and the floating village of Koh Panyi. The longtails stay on sheltered water inside the bay, which makes it the sea day to keep for a windy spell. The drive back ends around 18:00.

Cheow Lan lake is mostly a road day with a boat on fresh water. You watch the sunrise from the Samet Nangshe viewpoint, drive north through the jungle to the lake, cross it by longtail between the cliffs, eat at a floating restaurant, swim and take a short rainforest walk before Bang Tong temple. Pickup is at 06:00 and the drive home starts at 17:00.

Long days, sunsets and two-day trips

Eleven islands in one day strings Phang Nga, Hong and Phi Phi into twelve hours or more and drops you at the hotel around 20:00. Phi Phi and Racha by catamaran ends with a sunset stop at Maiton and is back at the pier at 19:00. For a slower pace, Phi Phi over two days adds a hotel night on Phi Phi Don, and Five pearls covers three regions with a fire show on the beach and glowing plankton at night for anyone who wants to swim.

Two more ideas for the week. Krabi tropical paradise is the four-islands boat day in Krabi, with a 09:00 pier call. Sea fishing from sunrise leaves the pier early and is back at 15:00 with photos of the catch. And Secrets of Krabi, the day of the Emerald and Blue lakes, a hot waterfall and the Tiger Cave temple, has no boats in it at all, so it still runs if the sea is closed. Which Krabi boat to take, Hong or Railay, is on Krabi four islands or Hong island.

How to plan a November week

Book in this order: the Similans and the sunrise boats first, then the two-day trips, then Phi Phi or James Bond island, and the near islands and land days last, because those are the easiest to add once you are here. Put the sea day that matters most early in the stay and leave the next day free. The Similans open in mid-October; whether to start from Phuket or Khao Lak is on Similan Islands from Phuket or Khao Lak.

Loy Krathong, when people float small krathong rafts on the water at night, falls on the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month, usually in November; the date moves every year, and none of our trips is built around it.

Send the tour, the date, your hotel and everyone's ages; we confirm the programme and the total, and payment is agreed in the chat after the booking is confirmed. Children aged 4 to 9 pay the child price, and from ten the adult price applies. For the Similan boats, the Similan islands tour price for a family sets out the child and toddler rules. Booking several November days at once? How booking works explains the confirmation and the pickup message for each.

Questions people ask