How much does a private longtail boat cost in Krabi? (2026 prices)

Same islands, three different experiences

All three boats reach the same islands. What changes is who is on board with you, and what was checked before you left the beach.

A note on the first two columns: they show what public listings say, not what you’ll get. Standards vary a lot from boat to boat within the same price band, so the six questions further down tell you more than any label.

Insider tip: before you book any boat, ours included, ask for photos of the exact boat you’ll board, and when they were taken. A photo from a few seasons ago tells you little about the boat waiting at the pier.

What Krabi Bliss charges

Prices listed on the Krabi Bliss website are per boat for up to four guests, and they are the same all year.

Every trip includes three crew, lunch, snorkelling gear, a paddleboard, your photos, hotel transfers within Ao Nang and insurance for every guest.

What you pay on the day

National park fees are not in our price. You pay them in cash to the captain on the day.

Two other things can add to the total:

• Extra guests. Beyond four, each adult is ฿500 and each child ฿250, up to eight on board.
• Pickup outside Ao Nang. Hotels in the Klong Muang and Tubkaek area, such as The Tubkaak Krabi Boutique Resort, Amari Vogue Krabi and Banyan Tree Krabi, are ฿800 for the return transfer. Pickup from Railay East pier is ฿1,000 on any trip that includes Hong Island, and free on 4 Islands trips.

Those are the only additions. Here are three example bookings, each with Ao Nang pickup:

• A couple on the Sunset Combo: ฿16,900 plus ฿1,000 in park fees is ฿17,900.
• Two adults and two children on a Hong Island half day: ฿9,500 plus ฿900 in park fees is ฿10,400.
• Six adults on a 4 Islands full day: ฿12,900 plus ฿1,000 for two extra guests plus ฿1,200 in park fees is ฿15,100.

Where our price goes

Somewhere online you will read that a luxury longtail means cushions and some decor on the bow. Anyone can add cushions. Nobody should pay ฿9,500 for that alone.

Here is what the money pays for.

Three crew, every one of them licensed. Your captain and first mate both hold boat captain licences. Your guide holds a Tourist Guide Licence from the Department of Tourism and speaks English, so the plan can bend when you want it to: stay longer here, skip a crowded stop there.

A new boat, kept that way. Our boat was built new for our launch in January 2026. It comes out of the water at least twice a year for maintenance and fresh paint. The engine is serviced twice a year and is larger than a boat this size needs, because a breakdown at sea costs you hours of the day you planned your trip around.

Four guests on a boat registered for ten. Four is our standard and eight is our limit. We never add another booking to fill the seats.

A day that is set up, not just driven. Lunch is laid out as a picnic on the island, or at our special spot on the boat on Hong Island trips. The boat is dressed for the season. Your guide is trained to take your photos, so the lagoon and the picnic come home with you.

A crew that works sober. No alcohol or drugs before or during a shift. One breach ends the job, and every crew member has signed that rule.

This standard costs real money to run, and the same money pays our crew properly. We will not get cheaper by cutting either one.

Six questions to ask any operator before you pay

Nobody certifies the words “private” or “luxury” in Krabi. Anyone can put them on a listing. These six questions get you past the label, and they work on us too.

1. Who exactly will be on the boat, and can I see their licences?
   • Why ask: tourist guides and boat captains in Thailand are licensed, and a licence is a card. A real guide can show you theirs. A helper introduced as “your guide” cannot.
   • The Krabi Bliss standard: a captain, a first mate and a guide on every trip. Both boatmen hold captain licences, and the guide holds a Tourist Guide Licence from the Department of Tourism. Ask, and we send copies before you book.
2. Does the guide really speak English?
   • Why ask: some boats list a guide who turns out to be a deckhand with a few words of English. That works until you want to stay longer somewhere, skip a crowded stop, ask what you are looking at or sort out a hiccup.
   • The Krabi Bliss standard: your guide and your captain both speak English, and the plan changes when you ask.
3. What is your rule on alcohol and drugs for crew on duty?
   • Why ask: it feels like an awkward question, right up until you watch a captain light a joint at an island stop. One of us has, on a cheap boat booked before Krabi Bliss existed.
   • The Krabi Bliss standard: none, before or during a shift. One breach ends the job, and every crew member has signed that rule.
4. When was the boat last out of the water?
   • Why ask: a boat that is only repaired when something breaks will, sooner or later, break with guests on board.
   • The Krabi Bliss standard: out of the water at least twice a year for maintenance and paint, with the engine serviced twice a year.
5. Is this the final price, and what else will I pay on the day?
   • Why ask: a low headline price often leaves out park fees, hotel pickup or lunch. Some listed prices are also a starting point for haggling, so the number on the page was never the real one.
   • The Krabi Bliss standard: the listed price is final. The only additions are park fees, extra guests beyond four and pickup outside Ao Nang, all listed above.
6. Can I see photos of the actual boat I am booking?
   • Why ask: listings reuse old photos. We have stood at the pier and watched guests look at the boat in front of them and ask for their money back.
   • The Krabi Bliss standard: the boat in our photos is the boat you board. Ask, and we send recent ones.

Which one should you book?

Book the beach booth if you know which islands you want, you are happy to bring your own food and run your own day, and you mainly need a boat: how it looks matters less to you than where it takes you. It is a fair price for exactly that. Bring cash.

Book a packaged tour if you want hotel pickup and a few extras without paying for a hosted day. Run the six questions first.

Book Krabi Bliss if the day matters: a honeymoon, an anniversary, a family’s first time on the sea together. You want someone hosting it, the lunch handled, the photos taken and the plan bent around you.

If all you need is a ride between beaches, we are more boat than you need, and we would rather tell you now. The ticket booths along Ao Nang beach sell exactly that. Walk the beachfront and you will find them.

Choosing between routes? See Hong Island or 4 Islands in Krabi: which should you choose?

What it works out to per person

A private boat gets cheaper per head as your group grows. This is our Hong Island half day, before park fees, with extra guests counted as adults.

For comparison, a packaged private tour at ฿4,000 to ฿6,500 works out at ฿1,000 to ฿1,625 each for four. Against the top of that range, our Hong Island half day costs ฿750 more per person, and that ฿750 buys every standard listed above.

Common questions

Is the price per boat or per person? Per boat, at every level in this guide. Ours covers up to four guests.

Will there be other guests on the boat? No. Every Krabi Bliss trip is private. The only people on board are you, the people you bring and our three crew. We never add another booking to your boat.

Can I negotiate? At the beach booth the prices are posted on a board. With us the price is fixed: no discount codes and no haggling on WhatsApp, so the couple before you paid what you pay.

Do prices go up in high season? Ours do not. Some operators publish higher rates from November to April, so check the date on any price you are quoted.

What if the weather is bad? If the marine authorities close the pier, we reschedule you or refund you in full. Tell us how many days you are in Krabi when you book, and we can move your trip to the best day of your stay.

How do I book? Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and group size. We confirm availability and send a secure payment link.

Written by Krabi Bliss, the crew that runs this boat. Last updated 13 October 2026.