Explore 4 Island Krabi by Longtail Boat
The 4 island krabi tour connects Phra Nang Cave Beach, Tup Island, Chicken Island, and Poda Island by traditional longtail boat, departing from Ao Nang. Snorkeling gear, life jackets, and a Thai-style lunch are provided on most 4 island krabi tours. The route passes limestone karsts, coral reefs, and the seasonal sandbar linking Tup and Mor Islands.
The four islands scattered between Ao Nang and Railay form a 12-kilometer arc of karst geology that rose from the Andaman seabed roughly 260 million years ago. Phra Nang Cave Beach anchors the western edge, where a limestone overhang shelters a shrine visited by fishing crews since the 19th century.
Chicken Island, named for its rock profile resembling a rooster's head, marks the eastern boundary, its silhouette visible from the mainland on clear mornings. Between them lie Tup Island and Poda Island, connected at low tide by a 300-meter sandbar that emerges twice daily.
The 4 island krabi circuit became a formal tourism route in the mid-1990s, when longtail operators from Ao Nang began running scheduled departures to the sandbar phenomenon. Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park absorbed all four sites in 1983, establishing a 400-baht conservation fee collected on arrival. The marine park designation protects 87 coral species and the seagrass beds that support green turtles during nesting season, April through October. Visibility averages 15 meters November through March, dropping to 8 meters during monsoon months when phytoplankton blooms cloud nearshore waters.
Most 4 island krabi tours depart Ao Nang's eastern pier between 08:00 and 09:30, following a clockwise itinerary that prioritizes the sandbar window. Longtail boats carry 10 passengers and require 45 minutes to reach Chicken Island; speedboats seat 15 and complete the crossing in 20 minutes. Tup Island's sandbar is submerged from two hours before high tide until two hours after, limiting access to a four-hour window that shifts 50 minutes later each day. Tour operators consult tide tables published by the Thai Navy Hydrographic Department, adjusting departure times to align snorkeling stops with sandbar exposure.
Phra Nang's cave shelters a collection of wooden phalluses left as offerings to the spirit Mae Nang, believed to grant fertility and safe passage. The beach's sand is crushed coral and shell, finer than Railay's coarser limestone fragments. Poda Island's crescent beach faces west, its gradient steep enough that kayaks must be pulled 15 meters inland to avoid the tidal swing. The islands receive 2,800 visitors daily during high season, concentrated in the 10:00–14:00 window when 40 boats converge at the sandbar.
6 hr
