This is a step-by-step guide on how to get from Krabi Airport to Koh Phi Phi Island using public transport, particularly private minivan services.
Koh Phi Phi has been Thailand’s tourism magnet for quite some time. This comes as no surprise because Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Lei are blessed with beautiful white sand beaches, stunning emerald waters, spectacular resorts and massive limestone karst formations.
After you book your flights there are multiple ways to access Koh Phi Phi via ferry from Krabi, Phuket, Ao Nang, and Koh Lanta. If you are flying into Krabi Airport and you want to access Koh Phi Phi, this article will provide you with a clear, budget-friendly guide on how to do so.
Here are the steps on how to get from Krabi Airport to Koh Phi Phi:
1. Book your flight online well in advance.
Once your flight arrives at Krabi Airport, proceed through customs and purchase a shuttle bus ticket to Krabi pier (Klong Jilad pier) at the counter located on the ground floor.
Tell the ticket distributor that you want to go to Koh Phi Phi (The bus ticket is around 90 baht = $2.74 US per pax).
2. Leave the airport through the front doors. The shuttle bus is usually located to the right of the main entrance (about 50 meters from the airport).
3. Take note that the shuttle bus will stop at a travel agency in Krabi Town. The person at the ticket counter may not inform you.
Once at Krabi Town, tourists heading to Koh Phi Phi will be asked to get off of the shuttle bus. Passengers heading to Ao Nang will remain on the shuttle bus.
Passengers heading to Koh Phi Phi will then get on a mini bus that goes directly to the Krabi town pier in order to board the ferry en route to Koh Phi Phi.
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4. Either at the travel agency or at the Krabi pier, purchase a ferry ticket to Koh Phi Phi (400 baht = $12.17 US) and convert the ticket to a boarding pass.
The ferry ride to Koh Phi Don will take approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. As of the time of writing, the ferry departure times from Krabi to Koh Phi Phi were 9:00 am, 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm.
5. Once you arrive at Koh Phi Phi Don, depart the ferry and pay the 20 baht ($0.60 US) environmental “clean up fee” to get onto Koh Phi Phi Don.
Taking the Minivan to Krabi Pier: Things to Consider
There is always risk in going with minivan companies in Thailand as they are not regulated well. However, most of the time, they will get you to the places you want to go at the cheapest rate.
Take note that the minivan will usually wait until all seats are taken before leaving. This could mean a long waiting time for you.
If you have the money or you’re traveling with a group, you can just take the taxi and go straight to Krabi Pier.
The guide is based on our own transit experience, but readers are always welcomed to share their own experiences.
Where Did We Stay on Koh Phi Phi?
Finding the right spot to stay on Koh Phi Phi can be quite tedious due to the loud music pulsation at night. Therefore, try to stay close enough to the beach, but far enough from the main action. During our last visit, we decided to stay at P.P. Casita Hotel and found it to be laid back and still close to the prime beach area, but you can decide if it fits your price range. We don’t have an affiliation with this property or any property on Koh Phi Phi. At the time of writing, it had a score of 7.4/10 based on 3424 verified guest reviews. We would consider this score to be an accurate representation of this property based on our experience there.
How to Find the Best Room Deals on Koh Phi Phi?
If you’re planning your trip well in advance then your strategy for finding the cheapest room on Koh Phi Phi might be a bit different. Many of our North American and European readers prefer www.booking.com because of their excellent cancellation policies and great customer service. If you can find “cancellation-free” rooms for the same price as a non-cancellation room, it might make sense to use www.booking.com instead to avoid the risk of changing your itinerary due to flight delays and so forth.
Another extremely popular booking site is www.agoda.com. This is without question the most popular accommodation in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Here’s where you can find all the properties on Koh Pi Pi using Agoda:
SEARCH ALL ROOMS on KOH PHI PHI: www.agoda.com
If you want to be guaranteed to find the ‘cheapest room’ on Phi Phi use this price comparison website. Within seconds you can find the cheapest room from the largest room providers using www.hotelscombined.com. Just be sure to double check that your room is some distance from the ‘party beaches’ – unless of course that’s your thing! To save you time, here are the:
Top Rated Properties on Koh Phi Phi Based on Verified Guest Reviews
Important: Mobile Users must swipe from left to right to see entire table.
| Star/Budget Range | Guest Rating: Hotel Provider 1 | Guest Rating: Hotel Provider 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agoda (Koh Phi Phi) | Booking.com (Koh Phi Phi) | ||
| 5 stars/Luxury | Zeavola Hotel – 8.7/10 | Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort – 8.6/10 | |
| 4 stars/Comfort | Holiday Inn Resort Phi Phi Island – 8.4/10 | Holiday Inn Resort Phi Phi Island – 8.4/10 | |
| 3 stars/Mid-range | MaMa Beach Residence – 8.2/10 | P.P. Blue Sky Resort – 8.6/10 | |
| 2 star/ Budget | P.P. Insula Hotel – 7.9/10 | Panmanee Hotel – 8.4/10 | |
| 1 star/ Strict Budget | Kitty Guesthouse – 7.7/10 | Phi Phi Inn – 7.3/10 | |
| Compare all room prices on Koh Phi Phi using www.agoda.com | Compare all room prices on Koh Phi Phi using www.booking.com |
- Properties rated based on ‘overall’ review scores from each respective website’s verified guests.
- Minimum of 50 verified guest reviews required to be considered eligible for comparison.
- All star ratings and verified guest review scores are tallied at the time of writing, and therefore, are subject to change.
Accommodation Map for Koh Phi Phi
- Properties rated based on ‘overall’ review scores from each respective website’s verified guests.
- Minimum of 50 verified guest reviews required to be considered eligible for comparison.
- All star ratings and verified guest review scores are tallied at the time of writing, and therefore, are subject to change.
Flight Information for Koh Phi Phi:
How did we find the cheapest flight(s) to Koh Phi Phi during our trip?
The closest and most practical airport to fly into when you are planning on visiting Koh Phi Phi is Krabi International Airport (airport code = KBV). Typically, tourists first fly from different regions around the world to Bangkok and then transit (either by taking a short domestic flight, backpacking across Thailand, or taking the train or bus) to Krabi. We always use flight price-comparison sites when we purchase our tickets. For our trips to Koh Phi Phi we used two different sites: Momondo and BookingBuddy. Once we arrived at Krabi Airport we followed the steps outlined in this article to get to Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi doesn’t have an airport, therefore don’t waste your time even thinking about that as an option. To save you some time, I have created a link to both Momondo’s and BookingBuddy’s flight price comparison pages:
COMPARE FLIGHT PRICES TO KRABI: Momondo
COMPARE FLIGHT PRICES TO KRABI: BookingBuddy
We hope that the information provided in this article will help to point you in the right direction. Please share this post to help fellow travelers going to Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
Read More Articles on Koh Phi Phi
Article Updated on July 6, 2018
Buenas tardes, vamos a viajar en temporada baja a las islas Phi Phi y hemos visto en algunas webs, que el autobús del aeropuerto de Krabi hacia el puerto, sale cada 4 horas, como los ferrys en esta epoca solo hacen dos viajes por la mañana, nos preocupa un poco que no nos dé tiempo. ¿Hay alguna forma de saber los horarios de los autobuses?
Muchas gracias.
Hola Carmen, lo siento no habla Espanyol. Pero haré todo lo posible con el traductor de Google. Sí, hay menos operaciones de ferry durante la temporada baja. Depende de cuándo llegue su vuelo. Puede que tenga que quedarse en un hotel por una noche y luego tomar el ferry al día siguiente. No tengo el horario del ferry para la temporada baja.
Thank you so much for such clear information. How do I proceed to Holiday Inn once I get off the ferry in Phi Phi Don?
Eliot
I have just done this trip and the info here could not be more accurate – thanks so much! Was really helpful for planning and reassured me particularly when we made the stop off!
Thanks!
Wow! Very informative …
I’d love to know the busy places you’ve not mentioned with loud music… Any area I can book my stay? Thanks!
Though this article is quite informative, I have read terrible reviews of the travel company “Black Tiger Tour” on Facebook.
As per reviews, this company runs the shuttle service at airport, to force people to use their own restaurant (which serves as a bus stop) and ferry booking service.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/BlackTigerTour/reviews/
Hi Shashank, Thanks for commenting. During our experience with Black Tiger Tour going to Koh Phi Phi, we found they offer the cheapest service especially there were only two of us traveling back then. Travelers always have the option to take a taxi, go straight to the pier and buy the tickets to the ferry going to Koh Phi Phi. This option is still more expensive. I read the comments on the FB page link you gave, and most of the complaints come from passengers going to Koh Lanta. I believe we did not use Black Tiger Tour going to Koh Lanta from Krabi Airport. We took the blue minivan service that picks up passengers outside of the Krabi Airport. This is the link to the article: https://chasingplaces.com/how-to-get-from-krabi-airport-to-koh-lanta/. There is always risk in going with minivan companies in Thailand as they are not regulated well. If you have the money, the better option is to take the taxi to minimize hassle. This particular guide to Koh Phi Phi is meant for travelers who prefer to take the cheaper option like we did. The guide is based on our own transit experience, but readers are always welcomed to share their own experiences. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you appreciate our effort enough to come back and become a regular visitor 🙂
This is probably true to an extent – though I would say that we were not pressurised in any way at all to buy anything from the restaurant – we just sat there while we waited for the second minibus to take us to the pier, but nobody even so much as approached us with a menu, and they were happy to let us use the free wifi while we waited. Just thought it would be useful to share my experience!
The bus leaves after a flight arrives once it is pretty much full. In other words, it won't leave with only a couple of people on it. The entire ride to the pier took roughly 45 minutes-50 minutes.
Is there any schedule time for the shuttle bus ride from the airport and was there a long wait for the mini bus?
How long was the entire ride to the pier?
THANK YOU for the detailed information. We're heading there today from Bangkok and your description is the most helpful I've seen so far.
Best!
Thanks Adrian.
Can we buy a round trip from krabi airport or krabi town? Do you have idea of the price for round trip?
Is it a free of charge for Minibus from krabi town to pier?
It depends on what mode of transport you are taking. The cheapest option with the bus above in the photo is 60 baht into Krabi Town. No need to book round trip if you know where and when it will pick up on the way back to the airport. Just to be sure to ask at the ticketing office at the airport. We never took the bus back to Krabi airport due to our connection time. Therefore it's best to ask right at the counter upon arrival…cheers
Very accurate information. Thank you!
It should also be noted, you can buy the ferry ticket from the airport where you purchase the bus ticket into town. 490 baht all up.. Plus the 20b when you arrive at Phi Phi.
Thanks for the info..cheers
Very informative..thanks