What To Expect

What‘s Included

Reviews

• Phi Phi island tour

  25cool,,Jan 4, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We did the above tour with Sawanu travels.For all those who are booking a boat tour to Phi phi islands or James bond island in Thailand, no need to wear shoes. Just slippers is enough. You need to take of both slippers and shoes when you enter the boat. You will be picked up from your hotel, depending which tour group you book. We booked via Sawanu travels. You will be dropped at thier Marina office. Breakfast is served with tea and coffee. They also do have a shop were you can buy slippers, hals, mobiel water proof covers, etc. Snorkels and flippers and provided in the boat. You do not need to carry any towels, you can borrow at the shop and return when the tour is finished. If you lose them they will charge you. After breakfast and shopping at their shop, there is a briefing about the tour. Then they board the correct boat, which will be informed and a handband with different colours handed over upfront. The first Island stop is about an drive. The boat ride could be bumpy but in general it's fine. They use catamaran stye modern speed boats. The boats has onboard toilet/s. If you do the phi phi islands you will visit 5 islands if permitted by the authorities. Lunch is provided in a restaurant (full buffet style) in the Banyan bay island. Onboard soft drinks, water unlimitted, cake , watermeloen and pinapple is served. Its a full day program. Starting around 7.30am and you will be dropped at your hotel around 6pm. Well organised and our crew were fantastic, from the captainto the deck crew.. Specially Bunny, Bella and Elis and the rest ( the names i dont know) If you book a boat tour in Phuket do via Sawanu travels, you wont regret. Cost of a James bond & Phi Phi Island 3800 Bhat per person (adult),

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Tourism gone mad

  johnsK8018XR,,Jan 2, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  Tough to know where to start. I was persuaded by my wife to do a day trip out of Phuket with Sawanu on a boat tour with the promise of pristine beaches, crystal waters, snorkelling etc. I arrived back feeling depressed and saddened by what I saw, so much that I was compelled to write my first TripAdvisor review in 10 years. I am not naïve. I expected places to be busy. I had heard about the crowds. However nothing prepared me for the mayhem that I experienced. If you read this, see the pictures, read the brochures and buy into it, then go ahead, have a great day and knock yourself out. There’s no doubt a lot of the people on our boat, and other boats really enjoyed themselves and of course the beaches and sea are beautiful. However, what I saw was tourism gone mad and it was depressing. I’m also ashamed to say that I was a part of it. I contributed. I wish I hadn’t. I regret it. Here's the picture. Dozens of high-speed tourist boats, each holding maybe 20 – 30 people, out of different locations converge on exactly the same spots at the same time. Hundreds of people pile off onto a beach with a confined space for swimming, all forced to wear lifejackets (in 2 feet of water!) with officials on the beach with loud speakers on crowd control duty. We stepped off the boats, looked at each other and said ‘this is madness’. All the boats leave at the same time and onto spot #2, a small beach in a cove with some monkeys. The boats crowd that cove, jostling, bumping, reversing, the sea is churned up, people hanging off the boats at all angles. It’s complete chaos. The next swimming bay has hundreds of boats. About 30 of the bigger boats reverse up in a line into a corner, with a small snorkelling area next to a cliff. There are so many people in the water it looks like the Titanic just sunk. People literally bumping each other and unable to move. There’s a traffic management thing going on to get all the boats in there. Then onto Maya beach. Stunning of course, except there is a 200 metre + queue along the boardwalk to get onto the beach (no swimming allowed) and the same queue to get back to the boats. More officers with loudspeakers on crown control duty. I am not sure how you solve it. The tour operators take some responsibility and could organise schedules that reduce the pressure. Maybe the Authorities could find a way to limit numbers. I don’t know. What I do know is that if it isn’t controlled, it’s going to get worse. I wish I had stayed home. I didn’t feel enriched by the experience, just sad. I wish I knew before I went. I wouldn’t have gone. I wish it remained a pristine place in my mind. Instead it will now always be a place of madness that I want to forget.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• An Enjoyable Experience on the Phi Phi Islands!

  795brendanm,,Dec 30, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  We very much enjoyed our excursion to the Phi Phi Islands and Bamboo Islands. The Sawanu Team was fantastic (can’t say enough good things about our guide Sky!) and we found the experience to be very well organized. Unfortunately Maya Bay was extremely crowded, but each successive stop was more relaxing than the last. On top of that, the lunch buffet was one great. When you are in Phuket, treat yourself to an excursion (I know, it’s touristy, but just do it), and definitely go with Sawanu!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Highly recommended!

  Patrice J,,Dec 22, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Great experience, beautiful islands & very courteous staff. Plenty of fresh fruit/snacks & hydration for the excursion. Lunch was great also

• Great experience with the...

  Anirudh C,,Dec 16, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Great experience with the Tour Guide and the Staff and everything was well executed and on time. We saw and experienced a lot more things that we could by our own.

• It was OK

  Jess E,,Dec 9, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  3.00

  We were excited for this tour to swim and snorkel. Unfortunately it feels like you just get herded from one place to another like cattle. When we finally get to the activities or places we want to see we got very little time in each place. They only allowed us to swim for 15 mins. Maya Bay was a horrible stop you can't get in the water you are just stopping to take a selfie. To me that is a waste of time. Everywhere is beautiful and I felt like that area is just overhyped. I dont even know why they bother handing out Snorkel gear when you only get 15 mins by the time you get into the water. They need to do less things and allow more time at the places. This is a good tour if you don't like to swim or Snorkel and just want to quickly see a bunch of the highlights. But if you want to enjoy your time in a more relaxed atmosphere this is not the tour. The most amount of time we were allowed was 40 mins on Bamboo Island to swim and that was the most fun we had all day. They do have decent snorkeling. But if that is your priority book a different tour. You get 15 mins to Snorkel with this tour. The staff overall were good. But the tour is just a horrible waste of time. Alot of the time is spent traveling on the Catarman and you can't even see because you have to sit down.

• mass tourism and a hasty day

  896cengizm,,Nov 27, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  What a rushed day. We visited some beautiful spots, everything had to be done quickly. Snorkeling where there were hardly any fish to be seen. What a tourist trap. Maya Bay, what a beautiful beach, but so crowded with tourists—so many people, it's unbelievable. And then: lunch and exploring the surrounding area in an hour, far too short. Bamboo Island, where we were supposed to stay for 45 minutes, didn't see any bamboo; it was destroyed by the tsunami 20 years ago. Why didn't they plant new ones? I'd recommend taking a private boat and taking it easy. Talking to the staff is pointless.

• Great tours!!! Highly recommended

  N4728RPanjap,,Nov 19, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We had a great trip! Everything was very well organized and you had enough time at the individual stops. We especially liked our tour Gide Jun. He gave us a lot of information and we laughed a lot too. We felt very well looked after by the crew. Also on our next trip to James Bond Island. Everything great!!!

• Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon the highlights for sure!

  671garryr,,Oct 25, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  The Sawanu team were a really happy bunch and Bella was fantastic as our boat leader 🎉🏝️🎉 Our catamaran was clean, spacious and rode the waves better than a speed boat for the one hour journey to kick of the sightseeing. Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon, including the snorkelling, were stunning places to enjoy and take lots of pics 😊🏝️😊 Bamboo Island was less impressive particularly compared to Panwa Beach with its beach chairs and drink service. Bamboo beach isn’t a snorkelling spot by the way 😢. The Phi Phi island sights are worth the long journey from Royal Phuket Marina. Even the crowds are back of mind as you enjoy the scenery! Thanks to Bella and the Sawanu team for a cool day out 👏🎉🏝️👏

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Have fun and get exhausted

  Mahdiehmasjedi,,Sep 30, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Perfect, the guide was Bella, who was the best i suppose. The plan was full, the equipment was modern and clean, the food was good

  
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