Ultimate Day trip to Hong Island; Discovering Krabi, Thailand
All you need to know for a perfect day trip!
Hey! Welcome to our blog, we LOVE travel and get lots of questions as to what we’re up to. Or, how was our trips and adventures so here is the low down on the Hong Island excursion in Krabi. All the tips and tricks to help you have the BEST time and show you why it’s absolutely worth visiting!
Hong Island, also known as Koh Hong is located in the southern province of Krabi. The islands around this area are known for their impressive limestone formations. Not to mention, the sheer natural beauty surrounding them, both above and below the water.
You’re in the right place if you’re considering a trip to Hong Island, Krabi. If you’re needing help with the planning or just want some insight on the actual trip, costs & timings. Or you just enjoy reading and learning about great places to add to your own travel bucket list. Regardless, we got you covered. We have a full vlog, which goes into lots of detail and shows you the entire day. If blogs are not your thing so click here to watch instead….
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Hong Island has a special memory for us as we actually went on 25th December 2021. This was our first Christmas spent away from family, by ourselves. But, it’s definitely not all doom and gloom as we actually had a blast and met some new friends! But let’s get to it…
The prep….BASICALLY…. How can you book Hong Island?
The first thing you should always consider when you want to take a trip in another country, is that (9 times out of 10), you’ll get a better deal by booking directly with a local or a local tour company. In turn this will provide you with a better experience. You can ask them questions, see photos of previous trips, understand exactly what your itinerary will be. Sometimes its changed from online, due to many different reason. If you pay in cash, you’ll normally get a discount as it’s easier for the operator. However, you can book online through viator if you wish to.
We scouted a few different tour operators along the Ao Nang strip in Krabi, and asked for their packages for a Hong Island trip, i.e what would be included or excluded in terms of pricing, like the national park fees, lunch, snorkel equipment, transport to and from the pier and any additional extras. To be totally honest, this was during the time where Thailand had only just opened back up. Thailand started their Test & Go scheme so many companies were offering this great day trip at a hugely discounted price. We chatted with a really friendly lady on the beach, who was using very similar brochures to Barracuda Tours, but she was independent and offered us this boat trip to Hong Islands for a competitive price. We paid 1200 baht per person (roughly £27 conversion at the time of writing). This included all the extras I mentioned above.
Easy and simple to book, make sure you have a written confirmation/receipt of everything you’ve agreed and paid for. She even drove us to the closest ATM haha! That really is some service. Sometimes, they can ask for a deposit, but we paid the total amount upfront as we wanted to be settled. Being super excited for the trip and with tourism, unfortunately, at an all-time low, we were literally able to book this excursion for the next day, Christmas Day!!
Hong Island itinerary on the day….
Firstly, this was our first proper day trip in Thailand, and I cannot tell you how excited we were! We were told to be ready for a 0900 pickup from our hotel in Ao Nang. Obviously we were late LOL, but…. So were they!! We’re telling you now, be prepared, Thais’ are the loveliest, friendliest people ever but they run on Thai time. We didn’t mind, after all we want the day to be fun and not so strictly scheduled so it didn’t bother us in the slightest. 0910 and we hopped in the songthaew. We made a few stops at other hotels and then made our way to Hat Nappharat Pier. Most of the day trip boats leave from here.
Temperature check, covid certificate check & contact details check. National Park fee of 300 baht per person, (roughly £7), paid at registration (this wasn’t included as part of our original price paid but some tour operators do include it, so be sure to check). We were required to wear masks for the check in. After they grouped us to our specific boat groups, then we did not need to wear masks any longer. The boat was supposed to leave at around 0945 and we had a half hour journey to the first stop, but I won’t lie, as per Thai timing, we left about 1030, but we think there may have been a problem with some people missing or the boat as the other groups did leave around 1000.
Koh Lao Lading
When we arrived to Lao Lading Island, there were several other boats already there but getting ready to leave. BONUS. It’s quite a small island so it felt a little crowded BUT that did not take away from its sheer beauty, we can understand it’s nickname of paradise island because that it is! Beautiful white sandy shores and clear turquoise green water waited for us. Limestone cliffs surrounded us, as we took some shelter in the shade from the morning sun we already fell in love with this tiny island, especially since the crowds were leaving – yay! Picture perfect for some Instagram shots, great sea life to take a quick snorkel, or shaded spots to sit and take it all in, it’s an island to suit the whole family no matter your ages! …And just like that, 45 minutes were up so we were heading to the next…!
Koh Pak Bia
We could immediately tell that this day was going to be a tough one to beat, pulling up in our boat to the shore of Pak Bia Island, was just stunning. This island may be even more magical than the first. This island is known for its gorgeous sandbank connecting the island to a littler island just off shore, on one side is quite steep and the other is super flat, so we couldn’t resist taking a dip in this crystal clear water with all the little fish swimming by our feet. Koh Pak Bia is unique for it shaping and is located in between Koh Yao Noi & Krabi so it was another short 10 minute boat ride to this island. The perfect balance of nature and relaxation made it a sure favourite in our book!
Hong Island
W O W … We didn’t expect much from Hong Island, our lunch stop. We anticipated it to be overcrowded. Despite the busyness, management was effective. People arrived at staggered times, avoiding chaos. We hadn’t expected much for lunch and thought it would be pretty standard, but we’re happy to say it was delicious, so delicious that we both went back for seconds! There was chicken, rice, vegetables, and some salad, it was so needed after a morning of swimming and island hopping!
We had just under 2 hours to enjoy Hong Island. After lunch, we went to take a look around the island away from the lunch area, we wanted to head to the bay, as we saw a peep when walking from the boat to lunch, as well as going up to the viewpoint. Honestly, we were completely captivated by the sheer beauty of the bay. Words can’t do justice to its magnificence. We were reluctant to leave the water until we spotted our boat guide rounding everyone up…oops!
Hong Lagoon
4th stop of the day and it just keeps on giving. This lagoon is around the corner from Hong Island, and is another highlight of this ultimate day trip from Krabi! We navigated the boat through the narrow rock opening to explore deeper inside the lagoon. Calm and peaceful emerald green waters greeted us, along with a mangrove in one corner. You can sometimes swim or snorkel here, but our boat guide said that the water wasn’t so clear on the day and as you couldn’t see to the bottom we wouldn’t stop here for swimming or snorkelling and we would go to another point which would be better for that. It still is however, 100% worth just gliding round the lagoon still in your boat and we stopped by the limestone rock opening for the obligatory photoshoot.
Snorkel Stop
We have to say that this was a beautiful stop to snorkel but we cannot for our lives remember the name of this place – sorry for that! However, it wasn’t a usual stop on the trip, more so an extra location to stop and snorkel should the original planned stops not be clear. We grabbed our life jackets, provided by the company and jumped in, there were SO many fish here, we said hi to Nemo, obviously, and tried super hard to find Dory too. This actually was the first time we have snorkelled together and it was GREAT.
Jumping back on the boat after the snorkel we were of course thirsty and hungry again, it’s hard work after all, and we were offered complimentary water (this was offered throughout the whole day), as well as fresh fruit, pineapple & watermelon, which to be honest, topped off an amazing and absolutely brilliant trip! One we would recommend and continue to recommend during our travels- Hong Islands Day Trip MUST be on your KRABI bucket list!
If you have any further hints, tips, or even questions, please share them with us as sharing is caring and after all we all want the same thing: to have the BEST trip!
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