Private boat charter in Phuket: 22 day boats with published prices, from ฿23,900

The cheapest whole-boat day on this list is Kiri Long-tail 40 at ฿23,900 (≈ $715); the dearest is Nimbus T11 at ฿115,000 (≈ $3,442). Between them sit 6 motor yachts, 6 power catamarans, 10 speedboats. The published rate is for the boat, not per person, so the real comparison with a join-in tour is the rate divided by your group: a speedboat for eight at the low end of the range costs each guest about what a seat on a crowded group boat would, with the beach to yourselves and the schedule reversed so you reach the lagoons before the fleets arrive.

Half-day charters of three to five hours run to the islands within sight of Phuket — Coral Island, Maiton, Racha Yai from Chalong, Koh Khai and Naka from the east coast — and are the right format for families with small children, a morning before a flight or an afternoon that ends with the sunset off Promthep Cape. Full days of eight to ten hours reach Phi Phi, the Racha pair with Coral on the way back, or Phang Nga Bay from the east coast; the speedboats make the Phi Phi crossing in under an hour from Chalong, the power catamarans in about ninety minutes with a steadier deck.

The 5 departure points on this list — Royal Phuket Marina, Boat Lagoon Marina, Ao Po Grand Marina, CoCo Pier, Chalong Pier — sit on the south and east of the island where the water is sheltered. Chalong Pier in the south is the natural start for Racha, Coral Island and Phi Phi; the east-coast marinas — Ao Po, Royal Phuket Marina and Boat Lagoon — are twenty minutes from the first karst of Phang Nga Bay and the right side for Koh Yao, Naka and the Khai islands. A boat that leaves from the wrong side of the island spends two of your eight hours in transit, which is why each card names its pier.

The dry months from November to April are the calm months on the west coast and every route on this page runs; December and January are also the months when the small private boats sell out first, because a speedboat for ten is the cheapest whole-boat day in Phuket and every villa in Bang Tao wants one for the same week. From May to October the west-coast swell makes the Racha crossing uncomfortable on some mornings and the Harbour Department occasionally holds boats in port; the east-coast routes — Phang Nga Bay, Koh Yao, the Khai islands — are sheltered and run all year, and the low-season column in the tables applies.