Day Trips from Krabi: The Best Excursions

Getting out of Krabi

Krabi’s location at the edge of Phang Nga Bay gives it excellent access to islands in multiple directions - Phi Phi to the south, the Hong Islands and Phang Nga Bay to the north, and the Trang island chain to the west. Combine this with limestone canyon temples and a national park with flooded lake treks, and the surrounding region competes easily with the town itself. For everything in and around Krabi’s base, see our Krabi guide.

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Phi Phi Islands

45km south | 45 min speedboat, 2 hours ferry | Full day

Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley are Krabi’s most visited day trip destination. Phi Phi Ley holds Maya Bay - closed for rehabilitation from 2018 to 2022, now reopened with swim-only access (no boats anchoring inside). The bay is smaller than photos suggest but the cliffs are genuinely dramatic. Pileh Lagoon on the same island has some of the clearest green water in Thailand.

Phi Phi Don itself has a busy village, a viewpoint 20 minutes above town with a classic twin-bay vista, and Monkey Beach for the macaques that the boats pull alongside.

Getting there and costs: Ferry from Klong Jilag Pier (Krabi Town): ฿500–600 one way, roughly 2 hours, runs twice daily. Speedboat from Ao Nang: 45 minutes, ฿1,500–2,000 for a full-day tour including snorkelling gear, guide, and lunch on the island. Longtail boat charters from Ao Nang are slower (2 hours) but cheaper for small groups: ฿3,000–4,500 for the boat.

The ferry is fine if you want unstructured time on Phi Phi Don; the speedboat tour is better if snorkelling Phi Phi Ley is the priority.

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Hong Islands (Koh Hong)

35km northwest | 1 hour by longtail | Full day

Koh Hong in Phang Nga Bay is among the most visually striking islands in southern Thailand - a hollow limestone mountain with an interior lagoon (hong) that fills and drains with the tide. Snorkelling around the outer reef is good, the beach is rarely crowded compared to Phi Phi, and the lagoon itself has an atmosphere that feels genuinely remote.

There are three nearby islands worth combining in a single trip: Koh Hong itself, Koh Pak Ka (a smaller hong), and Lading Island, which has a fine white beach.

Getting there and costs: Longtail boat from Ao Nang Beach: ฿1,000–1,400 per person for a shared tour (3–4 hours), ฿3,500–5,000 for a private longtail. Speedboat tours from Ao Nang cover more ground and typically include four islands: ฿1,200–1,800 per person for a full day. Operators such as Family Tour Andaman and Krabi Yama Tour run regularly.

Note: the Hong Islands in this context are in Phang Nga province north of Ao Nang - not to be confused with Koh Hong Krabi (near Railay), which is a separate island.

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Four Islands Tour

20–40km west | Longtail or speedboat | Full day

The classic Krabi “four islands” tour visits Koh Ngai, Koh Chueak, Koh Muk, and Koh Kradan in the Trang province island chain. Koh Ngai (Ko Hai) has an excellent beach with soft sand; Koh Chueak and Koh Waen offer snorkelling with strong coral; Koh Muk holds Emerald Cave (see below); Koh Kradan has one of the best stretches of sand in southern Thailand.

The exact islands included vary by operator. Some tours substitute one of the above for Koh Libong, which has a dugong population.

Getting there and costs: Longtail boat tours depart from Ao Nang Beach: ฿900–1,200 per person including snorkelling equipment and lunch. Speedboat tours: ฿1,500–2,000, covering more distance. Private longtail: ฿4,500–6,000 for the boat. A minibus from Krabi to Pak Meng Pier (Trang) takes about 1.5 hours; from there, longtails run to individual islands.

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Emerald Cave (Tham Morakot)

120km southwest by road | 1.5–2 hours | Full day

Emerald Cave is on Koh Muk (Ko Mook) in Trang province and is among the most unusual natural formations in Thailand. The cave entrance is barely a metre above water at high tide; you wade or swim for 80m through total darkness, emerging into a sunlit inland beach with walls of limestone on all sides. The experience of arriving in the hidden beach is worth the trip.

Timing matters: visit at mid-tide for comfortable swimming. Too high and the cave floods; too low and you’re crawling over rocks. Most tours time their arrival accordingly.

Getting there and costs: The cave is usually included in four-islands tours from Krabi (see above). To visit independently: minibus Krabi–Pak Meng or Kantang Pier (฿200–300, 1.5 hours), then longtail to Koh Muk (฿100–150, 20 minutes). Entry by longtail to the cave mouth: ฿100 guide/entry fee. Visits work only in daylight and depend on tide conditions.

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Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea)

8km from Krabi Town | 20 minutes | Half day

Wat Tham Suea is the most accessible day trip from Krabi Town - a forest temple built into limestone cliffs with an extraordinary summit viewpoint. The main cave temple at the base has a 3m-tall Buddha and resident monks. A second track leads up 1,237 steps (roughly 40–50 minutes of climbing) to a small chedi at the top with panoramic views across Krabi’s rice paddy flatland to Ao Nang and the offshore islands.

The steps are steep and exposed in the afternoon heat - an early morning start makes a real difference.

Getting there and costs: Taxi or tuk-tuk from Ao Nang: ฿150–200 one way. Tuk-tuk from Krabi Town: ฿80–100. Grab operates in Krabi Town. There’s no songthaew service directly to the temple.

Entry: Free. Small donation box at the base.

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Khao Phanom Bencha National Park

20km north | 30 minutes | Half day

The forested mountain of Khao Phanom Bencha rises 1,351m and the national park surrounding it receives far fewer visitors than the island destinations. The main attraction is the waterfall trail: Huay To Waterfall (an easy 10-minute walk, entry ฿200 foreigners) and Huay Sadeh Waterfall (30 minutes further up the trail, more secluded, good swimming pool).

The park also has a hornbill population and is one of the more reliable places in southern Thailand to see them in the dry season.

Getting there: Private taxi from Ao Nang or Krabi Town: ฿300–400 one way. Renting a scooter or car and driving yourself is the most practical option - there’s no public transport to the park entrance.

Entry: ฿200 foreigners, ฿40 Thais (as of 2026).

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Khao Sok National Park

165km north | 2.5 hours | Full day

Khao Sok is the largest remnant of lowland rainforest in southern Thailand - older than the Amazon by some estimates, home to rafflesia flowers, wild elephants, and gibbons. The highlight is Cheow Lan Lake, a drowned valley with limestone karsts rising from reservoir water. Boat trips on the lake at dawn give the scenery a genuinely primeval quality.

As a day trip from Krabi, the timing is tight. Organised tours depart around 6–7am, include a jungle walk, a raft-house boat trip on the lake, and return by 7–8pm: ฿2,500–4,000 per person. An overnight at one of the lake’s floating raft houses is far preferable if the schedule allows.

Getting there: The easiest option is an organised tour including transport from Krabi. Self-drive: Route 4 north to Takua Pa, then Route 401 east - straightforward but requires an early start.

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Planning transport

Krabi is well-set up for day trips by boat, and most Ao Nang travel agencies can book tours to any of the destinations above. Comparing prices between two or three agencies is worthwhile - the difference can be ฿200–400 per person for the same trip. For trips to Tiger Cave Temple, Khao Phanom Bencha, or Khao Sok, renting a car or scooter gives the freedom to set your own pace - see our car hire guide for options.