Boat rental in Phuket

Boat rental in Phuket starts at 2,700 THB an hour for a 24 ft fibreglass speedboat with six seats, at 10,700 THB for a full day on an eight-seat boat, and at 29,900 THB for a four-hour package on a 42 ft speedboat for 20 guests. The 32 boats below take 4 to 33 people, and more than half of them leave from Ko Kaew.

Speedboats, sport boats and RIBs: what is on the water

The 32 motorboats on this page fall into three groups: Thai-built fibreglass speedboats, custom speedboats with one or two outboard engines, and a smaller set of sport boats, cabin boats and RIBs. The group tells you more about price than length does. Each boat has its own card with the price and its unit, the number of seats and, where known, the length and engine power, so you can shortlist by group size first and open the cards that fit. The overview below is a map of the whole range rather than a ranking: the cheapest hull is not automatically the right one, and the most expensive is not automatically the most comfortable.

Thai-built fibreglass speedboats

Six boats come from Thai yards: the SR Fiberglass SR 24 ft and SR 28 ft, the Ruengwaree Fiberglass 29 ft and three BB Pattaya Fiberglass hulls of 33, 39 and 45 ft. They run from 7.3 to 13.7 metres and take 6 to 25 people. All six are priced by the hour, from 2,700 THB for the two SR hulls to 4,700 THB for the 45 ft BB Pattaya with 25 seats. These are the island-hopping workhorses, and for a group that wants a few hours on the water they are the cheapest way to have a whole boat to yourselves.

Custom speedboats with one or two engines

Fifteen boats are classed simply as speedboats, most of them built to order rather than by a known brand. Five are twin-engine hulls of 27 to 39 ft, up to two 250 hp outboards, and one runs a single 250 hp engine on 31 ft. Seating is where this group stands out: from 8 on the smaller hulls to 33 on the Custom speedboat 37 ft. Most are priced by the day, between 18,500 THB (Custom 115, 22 seats) and 40,400 THB (Custom Twin Engines 2×200 hp, 37 ft, 12 seats). The 42 ft speedboat for 20 guests is the one boat sold as a fixed four- or eight-hour package.

Sport boats, cabin boats and RIBs

The remaining eleven boats are where brand names appear. Axopar contributes the 28 T-Top and the 37 Sun-Top; Atomix the 705 HT; Finnmaster and Nimbus the Pilot 8 and T11 cabin cruisers; Sea Ray the 270 Amberjack; Chris-Craft the Launch 28 Heritage bowrider. The Al Dhaen 38 Sport Cruiser and the Silver Craft 360CC centre console both run 600 hp. Two RIBs close the group: the 21 ft Fast Response RIB for four and the 14.9-metre SACS Strider 15 for twelve. Expect to pay for the design and the engines here rather than for seats: the six-seat Axopar 37 Sun-Top costs more than any speedboat for 20 or more.

What it costs by the hour, by the day and by the package

Prices on Phuket's motorboats come in three units, and an offer only means something once you know which one it uses. A low hourly figure and a high daily one can describe the same cost, so the first step is always to translate them into one total. Eleven are priced per hour, twenty per day and one as a package.

Prices and units side by side

The cheapest daily rate belongs to the Yamaha Boats 27 at 10,700 THB with eight seats; the most expensive is the Axopar 37 Sun-Top at 87,700 THB with six. Half of the daily rates are 31,000 THB or less.

Half day or full day

The 42 ft speedboat makes the trade-off easy to see. Four hours cost 29,900 THB, which works out at 7,475 THB an hour. Eight hours cost 47,900 THB, about 5,990 THB an hour. In other words, the second four hours add 18,000 THB — 4,500 THB an hour, well under the rate for the first half. If your plan includes Phi Phi or several islands, the full day usually earns its place; if you only want a swim stop and lunch, the half day keeps the bill lower.

Turning an hourly rate into a day

An hourly price looks small next to a daily one, so put both on the same footing. Eight hours on an SR Fiberglass SR 28 ft at 2,700 THB comes to 21,600 THB; the same time on the 45 ft BB Pattaya at 4,700 THB comes to 37,600 THB. That is simple multiplication, not a quote: ask whether there is a minimum number of hours and whether a long charter is billed at the same rate. For any speedboat charter in Phuket, ask for one total for your exact hours and date before you compare two boats.

Why boats of the same length cost so differently

Two 28 ft boats show the spread. The SR Fiberglass SR 28 ft takes eight people at 2,700 THB an hour, so eight hours on the water come to about 21,600 THB. The Axopar 28 T-Top, a sport boat of similar length, takes four people at 39,500 THB for a full charter. That is nearly twice the money for half the seats. The difference lies in the hull, the engines and the finish, not in feet, so length alone is a poor guide to price. When two offers look alike on paper, compare the group, the seat count and the unit of the price before anything else.

Why a 49 ft RIB costs 47,000 THB an hour

The SACS Strider 15 is the outlier: a 14.9-metre RIB for twelve at 47,000 THB an hour — more than 18 of the 20 boats with a daily rate charge for a full outing. The next most expensive hourly boat, the Nimbus T11, costs 13,625 THB. It is a performance boat sold as an experience, so do not let it skew your sense of the market: the hourly median is 4,700 THB.

Seats, length and the price per person

For groups, the useful number is not the boat price but the price per seat. Large speedboats spread a similar daily cost across many more people.

Length does not decide the seat count

Boat length and seating are only loosely linked. The Custom speedboat 37 ft and the Axopar 37 Sun-Top are both about 11.3 metres long, yet the first takes 33 people and the second six. At the extremes, the shortest boat on the page, the 6.4-metre Custom 21 ft Fast Response RIB, seats four, while the longest, the 14.9-metre SACS Strider 15, seats twelve. Count your group first, then filter by seats, and treat length as a comfort detail.

Groups of 15 to 33

Twelve of the 32 boats take 15 people or more. At the top of the range, three speedboats with daily rates come out between about 840 and 970 THB per seat, and the hourly BB Pattaya 45 ft costs 188 THB per seat per hour when all 25 places are filled. Is a large boat worth it for twelve people rather than thirty? Often yes — the price is per boat, not per person, so empty seats cost nothing extra and give you room on deck.

Couples and small groups

Fourteen boats take eight people or fewer. For a small party the cheapest whole boat by the day is the Yamaha Boats 27, at about 1,340 THB per seat when full; by the hour, the SR Fiberglass SR 24 ft costs 450 THB per seat with six aboard. Sport boats change the picture: the Axopar 28 T-Top seats four for 39,500 THB, close to 9,880 THB each. A private speedboat in Phuket for two or four people is therefore a choice between the cheapest hull and the boat you actually want to be on, and the gap between the two can be ten times or more.

Island routes and the park fee on top

Most motorboats here are hired for island days rather than a cruise along the coast. The trips on offer name a handful of destinations again and again.

Where the boats go

Phi Phi comes first: 13 of the 32 boats are offered for Phi Phi trips. Khai Island follows with 7, James Bond Island with 6, Krabi with 4 and Naka with 3; Hong appears twice, and Racha and Phang Nga Bay once each. The pattern is useful in two ways. Charters regularly run to Phi Phi and Khai, so those days are easy to arrange; a route that rarely comes up, such as Racha, deserves a direct question about distance and fuel. Pair the route with the time you book: for Phi Phi, compare full-day prices rather than four-hour ones.

The Phi Phi park fee

Trips into the Phi Phi island zone carry a national park fee of about ฿400 per adult on top of the boat price. Treat that figure as an estimate and confirm it before you pay. Because it is charged per person, it grows with the group: ten adults add 4,000 THB to the bill, twenty add 8,000 THB. On a 23,000 THB boat for 25, the fee for a full group of adults adds more than 40 percent to the cost. Ask whether a charter price includes park fees or whether they are collected separately at the island.

Departure piers: Ko Kaew, Chalong and Ao Po

Where you board matters for the time it takes to reach the boat. For 24 of the 32 hulls the departure area is named.

Ko Kaew and Royal Phuket Marina

Ko Kaew, the area that includes Royal Phuket Marina, is the main base: 17 of the 32 leave from there. That covers all six Thai-built fibreglass speedboats, both Axopars, the Nimbus T11, the SACS Strider 15 and four of the custom speedboats for 15 to 33 people. If you have no strong preference, starting your search in Ko Kaew gives the widest choice of hulls and prices in one place.

Chalong, Ao Po and smaller piers

Chalong pier is the second base, with four of the hulls on this page: the Atomix 705 HT, the Finnmaster Pilot 8, the SFY33 speedboat and the Custom 115. Private speedboats with a captain also leave from Chalong at from 20,000 THB for up to 8 people and from 25,000 THB for up to 20. The 42 ft speedboat leaves from Ao Po Grand Marina; the Custom speedboat 26 ft starts at Pa Khlok and the Yamaha Boats 27 at Wichit. For the other eight the pier is not stated, so ask for the exact departure point with the price and treat an offer that names only the island as incomplete.

Captain, season and how boats compare with yachts

Three conditions shape the final bill more than the choice of hull: who drives, when you go and whether a motorboat is the right kind of vessel at all.

Captain at the helm

The usual format on the island is a skippered charter, by the hour or by the day. Some prices say so outright — the Silver Craft 360CC's daily rate of 39,100 THB includes a skipper, and the private speedboats at Chalong come with a captain. Where an offer is silent, ask before you compare it with anything else, together with what happens to fuel on a long run. If anyone in your group hopes to take the wheel, raise it before booking rather than at the pier; plan the outing around a skipper unless the operator says otherwise.

Fuel, transfers and timing

A boat price rarely tells the whole story. Before paying, ask four short questions: is fuel included for your route, is a transfer from your hotel to the pier part of the deal, what time does the boat leave and return, and what happens if the sea is too rough to go. The answers decide whether two similar prices are really similar. A daily rate that includes fuel for a Phi Phi run and a hotel pick-up can work out cheaper than a lower rate that adds both on the day.

High season against low season

The season moves prices more than any other factor. From November to April, the average daily price of a boat on Phuket is about 66,500 THB, against about 29,200 THB in the low season — roughly 2.3 times higher. These are island-wide averages for all boat types, so one speedboat may move by more or less. The direction, however, is clear, and the gap of around 37,300 THB is larger than the whole low-season average. If your dates are flexible around the start of November or the end of April, ask for prices on both sides: boat rental in Phuket is the same boat and the same route at a very different price.

Speedboat, yacht or catamaran

A motorboat is the fast, open option among the island's private vessels. For comparison, a private motor yacht such as the Princess 89 starts from 160,000 THB per charter, and a private catamaran from 19,000 THB per charter. The cheapest private catamaran therefore sits in the same band as a private speedboat from Chalong at 20,000 THB, while the yacht costs eight times as much. Choose the kind of trip you want first — fast island-hopping or a slower cruise — and only then compare boats within that type.

Checks before you book a boat

Six checks turn a page of boats into one fair comparison.

• Unit: confirm whether the price is per hour, per day or per package, and the minimum number of hours.
• Total for your day: convert every offer into one figure for your exact hours and date.
• Seats: divide the price by the people you will bring; large speedboats cost from about 840 THB per seat a day.
• Route and fees: for Phi Phi, add about ฿400 per adult unless the price already includes the park fee.
• Pier: get the exact departure point — Ko Kaew, Chalong, Ao Po or another — before you pay.
• Season and crew: expect the November–April average to be over twice the low-season one, and confirm that the captain and fuel are in the price.