The Four Island Tour Excursion of Krabi

The Four Island Tour Excursion of Krabi

Krabi has been one of the popular tourists spot in Southern Thailand in recent years. A favourite holiday destination by the Scandinavians, Krabi is considered as the next best thing after Phuket Island.  In Aonang, streets are filled with motels, hotels, bars, restaurants, massage centers and tourists. Aonang is a better option than Krabi town as the jetties are located there and there are more hotels and restaurants to choose from. One of the best part of staying in Aonang is the beautiful sunset that can be seen along the busy the main road.

There are a few popular island tours in Krabi. One of them is the four islands hopping tour or also known as the “Unseen Island Tour”. The tour was inclusive of Tup Island, Chicken Island, Poda Island and Phra Nang Cave. The published rate was around 1200 baht (around US 40) per person with the speed boat. This rate is based on peak season rate. Most of the tour operators in Krabi are selling the same tour packages, the difference will be the type of boat and the pricing. My friends and I had pre booked the tour with the long tail boat, we should have booked it in Krabi as it’s cheaper. The tour was inclusive of one English speaking guide. There are three popular island hopping excursions in Krabi, the four island tour, Phi Phi Island Tour and Hong Island Tour.

The tour van picked us up in early in the morning from our hotel and the jetty which is roughly 15 min drive from Aonang. There, we were assigned to our boat. As everyone had their safety vests, our boat was ready to go.

The long tail boat was not really a bad option. Though it was slower but we can enjoy the breezes of the wind and also a great chat altogether.

The Tup Island was the first destination. From far, we could see there was a beautiful sand pathway in the middle of the island. As we went closer, we can see through the sea bed through the clear sea water. It was like a picture of the postcard, the color of the sea was turquoise and the clear blue sky. It was a perfect day for photography and sunbathing.

We walked around the island, having fun taking pictures with beautiful island as the backdrop and dipping ourselves to the sea.  We spent an hour relaxing there as we proceed to the next island. We wished we could spend more time on Tub Island but we have 3 islands to go.

Next, we went to the Chicken Island. There were no chickens on the island and there’s no hero named chicken died on the island.

The Chicken Island is named such way due to the shape of rock formation that looks like a head of the rooster. However, I felt it looks like a camel to me. The rock formation can be visibly seen from far. Well, that was not the reason we were there, the actual highlight of Chicken Island is to snorkel near the island, the water there is like Tub Island which is crystal clear. The snorkeling gears were provided by tour operator.  There’s nothing beat the moment of diving in to the cold sea for snorkeling, it was refreshing!

Snorkeling around Chicken Island was nothing particular spectacular, there were lots of tiger fish and there quite a number of sea corals as well. I reckon places like Redang Island has more variety of fish than here.

Then, we sailed to Poda Island for lunch. Our tour was inclusive of lunch which is a packet of mixed rice and a bottle of mineral water.

If you are wondering, everyone else was having the same lunch box.

Poda Island was slightly different from the earlier 2 islands. The island was slightly bigger and has the backdrop of a small rock island. As we walked around the island, we spotted 2 long tail boats offering food. Like the food stall, the 2 wooden boats were selling from fried chicken to Thai fried rice. It was an eye opener. They were also offering baguette and fruit shakes. There is nothing beats a good fruit shake under the hot sun!

The food and drink price in the range of 40-60 Thai Baht which is less than USD 2.  Slightly expensive than the stalls in Krabi but on an island like this, it’s worth it. We spent an hour lying down under the shady coconut trees after our lunch and fruit shake. Then, we went to the last island on the island hopping list, the Phra Nang Cave Island.

The first impression of the Phra Nang (Princess) Cave Island was packed. So who is Phra Nang? There are different stories on the legend of Phra Nang.

One legend mentioned that an Indian princess was killed in a shipwreck and her spirit occupied the cave while the other story was the wife of a local fisherman who lived out her life in the cave waiting her husband to come back.

Phra Nang cave has also become associated with fertility. Believe it or not, the lingams placed here are the actually carved wooden penises. Many fishermen will pray here for safe journeys with flowers or incense.

The island has a landscape of a huge rock hill and small resorts. The island is also very popular for its rock climbing activities. It is one of the top destinations for rock climbing in Thailand. Many rock climbers from all parts of the world went there to test out their skills. There was a few young climbers practicing at the lower part of the hill while the rest were seen climbing the hill from various locations. As we walked to the other side of the island, many climbers were seen getting ready on their gears. At least dozens can be visibly seen climbing the rocky hill.

As we walked back towards our long tail boat, we saw a stretch of long tail boat food stalls that we seen earlier at Poda Island. The beach side was parked by a long stretch of the long tail boats, it was really quite an effort to trace our boat if our guide wasn’t there. We left Phra Nang and reached Krabi in the late afternoon. The island hopping tour took more time than we anticipates, it will be shorter if we had the speed boat tour. We reached Aonang around 4pm.

We went for massage after that and then to dinner and shopping till late. Life in Krabi could never be better.

Overall, we enjoyed island hopping tour. Snorkeling near Chicken Island wasn’t that spectacular but we had great time there. Tub Island was beautiful and Koda Island was really relaxing. We enjoyed looking climbers stretching their arms and legs near Phra Nang Cave. Not forgetting, the clear turquoise water and the beautiful Andaman Sea. This is one of the reasons you should be going to Krabi for your holiday.

Wilson Ng