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Phi Phi day trips from Krabi
Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon and the Viking Cave by speedboat or catamaran, by day or at sunset, from Krabi.
Planning · 21 October 2026 · 7 min read
Krabi to Phuket, and back: by boat or by road
A short crossing on the map, a longer one door to door: where each boat leaves from, where it lands on Phuket, and when the road is the safer bet.
On this page 7
Take a boat if you are leaving from Ao Nang or Railay and the sea is calm; take the road if you are heading for Phuket airport, if you are travelling between May and October on fixed dates, or if you are going from Krabi Town to Phuket Town. Both work in either direction. Whichever you choose, count the whole journey, hotel to hotel, not just the time on the water.
This page is about the choice: which pier on each side, the stop you can make on the way, the road, and the flight you should not risk on a boat. Timetables and fares change with the season and the operator, so we do not print them; the crossing times below are orders of magnitude from booking sites and travel guides.
Where you land on Phuket
Phuket is a large island, and the boats from Krabi do not all land in the same place. Before you compare boats, find out where each one lands: it decides how long the last leg to your hotel will be.
On the ticket, check both ends: the pier you leave from, the pier you land at, and whether the van from your hotel and to your hotel is included. Some tickets include it and some are for the boat alone. Coming from Phuket, the same logic runs in reverse: start from the pier closest to where you are staying.
| Rassada pier | The main ferry port, on the east coast near Phuket Town. Boats from Klong Jilad, Ao Nang and Railay land here. One guide recommends it if you are staying in Phuket Town or on the west-coast beaches such as Patong and Kata. |
|---|---|
| Bang Rong pier | In the north-east of the island, the closest pier to the airport and to the northern beaches. Some speedboats from Ao Nang land here after calling at Koh Yao. |
| Laem Hin pier | A small pier near Phuket Town, which one guide lists for some speedboats: check that yours still uses it. |
| Phuket airport | In the far north of the island. No boat lands there: from any pier, you finish by road. |
From Ao Nang and Railay: the speedboats
From Ao Nang, the speedboats for Phuket leave from Nopparat Thara Pier, west of the town beach, and some also call at the floating pontoon on Railay East, so you do not have to cross to Ao Nang first. Several operators run the route every day, the low season included, by one guide's count. The crossing takes about one to two hours, depending on the boat and on its stops.
Some of these boats stop at Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai on the way and land at Bang Rong; others go straight to Rassada. One guide also describes a larger, slower ferry from Ao Nang and Railay to Rassada, with fewer sailings outside the high season.
A speedboat is quicker than a ferry but wetter, and less steady in a swell. Keep what must stay dry in a bag inside your bag, and your passport and phone on you.
Krabi's ferry piers, and which one is yours
From Krabi Town: Klong Jilad
If you are sleeping in Krabi Town, the boats for Phuket leave from Klong Jilad pier, south of the centre, and land at Rassada in about two hours, according to the booking sites. Those same sites also list much longer sailings on this route: some of them go by way of Phi Phi, with a change of boat. Check the length of the crossing, not only the departure, before you buy.
For Krabi Town, one travel guide simply recommends the van. The bus terminal is a few kilometres north of the town, and the road does not depend on the sea.
A stop on the way: Phi Phi or Koh Yao
The crossing can also be a reason to stop. Boats run from Phi Phi Don to Krabi and to Phuket, and the Koh Yao islands are served from both sides as well, so either can sit between the two: arrive from one side, stay a night or a few, and leave by the other.
The two stops are not alike. Phi Phi Don is the busy one, with its pier at Ton Sai and the day boats all around it. Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai are the quiet ones, with fishing villages, rubber plantations and no nightlife strip.
Do not confuse a stop with a ticket that changes boats at Phi Phi. Some sailings from Rassada go by way of Phi Phi with a change of boat and arrive hours after a direct speedboat: that is a transfer, not a stay. If you plan a real stop in the low season, check that both legs run on your dates.
Phi Phi from Krabi: a day trip or a night on the island
Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai, from Krabi and from Phuket
By road, round the bay
The road takes the long way round Phang Nga Bay: about 150 to 170 km. A shared van from Krabi Bus Terminal, a few kilometres north of Krabi Town, to Phuket Bus Terminal 2 takes about three hours, and the booking sites show departures through the day, roughly every hour. Some vans stop briefly in Phang Nga to drop off and pick up passengers.
A van that collects you from your hotel takes longer, about three to five hours, because it calls at several hotels at each end. A private car or taxi is the quickest way by road, and the one worth pricing if you are several people with luggage.
The road has one advantage no boat has: it runs in any weather. Between May and October, or with a flight to catch at the other end, it is the plan that does not depend on the sea.
Getting to Krabi from Phuket: the road and the ferry
With a flight to catch
Phuket airport is in the far north of the island, well north of Rassada and Phuket Town. If you are leaving Krabi for a flight out of Phuket, go by road, and if the flight is early, think about spending the night before near the airport rather than counting on the first boat.
Coming the other way, one guide suggests that after a late-night landing in Phuket, a night near the airport and a morning speedboat from Bang Rong, the nearest pier, is a calmer plan than the road in the dark.
Flying between the two makes no sense. We have found no regular direct flight between Krabi and Phuket, and the connections that booking sites show go through Bangkok and take longer than the road.
Krabi or Phuket? What separates them
In the monsoon
From May to October the southwest monsoon brings swell into the bay, and the boats between Krabi and Phuket can be rough or cancelled. Operators reserve the right to cancel or postpone a crossing, or to replace it with road transport, and their conditions say so: read them before you book.
Book a crossing you can move, confirm with the operator on the morning itself that your boat is going, rather than trusting an old listing, and keep the road as your fall-back. The rainy-season article explains who cancels the boats, and how to read a marine weather alert.
Krabi in the rainy season: what closes, and how to read an alert
Read nextKrabi ferries: which pier, which island, which season ▸
Read nextKrabi or Phuket? ▸
These places on the map
- Nopparat Thara Pier Practical
- Railay East Beaches
- Klong Jilad Pier Practical
- Koh Yao Noi Islands
- Phi Phi Don Islands
Days out that go with this
Common questions
How do I get from Krabi to Phuket?
By speedboat from Ao Nang's Nopparat Thara Pier or the Railay East pontoon, in about one to two hours; by boat from Klong Jilad in Krabi Town, in about two hours; or by road, about three hours by shared van between the bus terminals, longer with hotel pickups. Count the transfers at both ends.
Which pier do the boats from Krabi use on Phuket?
Mostly Rassada, on the east coast near Phuket Town, and Bang Rong, in the north-east. One guide also lists Laem Hin, a small pier near Phuket Town, for some speedboats. Check the landing pier on your ticket.
Should I take the boat or the road to Phuket airport?
The road. The airport is in the far north of the island, no boat lands there, and a cancelled crossing would cost you the flight.
Do the boats between Krabi and Phuket run in the rainy season?
Some do, every day by one guide's count, but any crossing can be cancelled when the sea is rough between May and October. The vans run in any weather.
Can I fly from Krabi to Phuket?
We have found no regular direct flight. The connections booking sites show go through Bangkok and take longer than the road.