As posted on TripAdviser, I gave 4 stars to Phuket Tours Direct based on the fact that this is an agent that provides many tour options with very competitive price and have a quick, easy, secure booking process. I could take my time to browse the tour options at Phuket Tours Direct, pressure free, good deal, fast response, easy payment.
In the past, I usually went to a tour booth on the street when arrived Thailand and the salesman talked me into buying their products/tour packages, sometimes it's very annoying when the salesman was trying too hard, sometimes, it could be nice if the salesman was funny. Most of the time, the price matters, I eventually picked the one at the lowest offer after several talks at different booths, it's tiring and kind of wasting time since I was already in Thailand and supposed to start enjoying the day.
This time, I found Phuket Tours Direct and told my husband about the good price after my research but my husband believed there's better price as we had once booked online when visited Krabi 2 years ago and found out the local offer was better. So I was like, OK, let's wait & see, I ended up not booking it before arrival. Turned out the price on Phuket Tours Direct was really good and we booked 4 tours (Similan island, Raya Island, Flying zipline, Khai Island halfday) when we got to the hotel. However, we had to give up the free airport pick-up since we were already in Phuket....
As for the tour quality, it's more about how the operators work and I probably will not blame on the agent alone though the agent should tries to find a good operator to make the customers happy. well, for such competitive price, keep a reasonable understanding in mind that it may not fall in high customer satisfactory category. Actually, I think the average price range tours bought at street booth might put me at the same operators and makes no big difference experiences, unless I have high budget then I may go for the much more expensive agent or direct operator, or a private charter, haha. Overall, I'm fine with it, it's pretty much like what I experienced in other tours in the past.
Now, allow me to share my tour experiences:
1. Similan Island: operator is Similan Pro Dive, a little overcrowded, 2 girls sat on the floor, I guess they could squeeze in but they opted to sit on floor. Many many people at the pier to be sorted out which activity group belonged to. Poor organization in collecting people, it's a mess to wait for getting on board or on bus returning to the hotels. Maybe they should make a note in some popular language explaining the process so people would easily follow, it may help non English speakers from repetitively asking what to do, what's next. Hopefully they grow a better plan on how to put people of the same city area on one bus when returning to the hotels.
We were picked up at 6:20 a.m. but waited for a couple for about 40 minutes in total. That couple stayed at "ICheck Inn" that had 2 hotel locations at Patong. The pick up list did not specify which ICheck Inn and the driver went to the first Inn and they said no such room number and asked the driver to go to another ICheck Inn. Then the 2nd ICheck Inn said no such name registered by guest. The driver still waited for people to show up but did not see people waiting at the lobby, he then contacted the agent. Eventually, the agent got contacted with the couple/or the hotel but the driver already left for the pier. The agent asked the driver to wait at a specific point and said the couple would catch up by taxi. We probably waited 20 minutes for the taxi to come. My husband said he saw the couple waiting on the street when the driver was driving around. So, I'm not sure whose fault it was, weird. However, I've learned from this that it is a must to
1) leave a contact phone number when you book the tour, better to be a phone number you use with you, I mean, purchase a local sim card to use on your unlocked phone, or a hotel phone number would be helpful.
2) be on time. sometimes the driver is not to blame for the late pickup, it's the customer's problem not being on time. It affects the next customer's pick up time and people waiting for the driver blames the driver's late pick up but it could be the people with no time concept delays everyone's trip.
3) wait at the lobby on time, do not go to other places to wait so the driver could find you easily.
We finished the tour and got back to the pier at around 5 p.m. Waited for collecting people for bus trip. Plus the peak time traffic, when we got back to hotel, it's almost 9 p.m., very hungry and exhausted!
The boat attendant Lucy was really funny and made my husband laugh all the time; staff Afei spoke Chinese and was very attentive to chinese speaking guests. Lunch was very simple buffet just to fill your stomach, with some fruits and ice cream offered.
Long, long, long day. A long speedboat ride, 1.5-2 hrs, a few people got sick and threw up. I was glad I was fine, thanks to the wristband, search it if you are prone to motion sickness. In addition, there's almost 2 hrs road drive to the pier from Patong beach. Despite of the great staff and what I've seen on youtube, I'm sorry to say that I would never recommend friends to go because the snorkeling was not worthy 2 hrs boat ride + 2 hrs bus ride, for a round trip you spend 8 hours on the transportation though the sail rock at Similan Island was quite unique. We stopped 3 snorkeling sites but only one had some fishes but not that great. Some people did get to see turtle but not everyone was lucky. The aquamarine water and white powdery sandy beach are picturesque but I could find them at other closer beautiful islands as well.
2. Raya + Coral Island: operator is Raya Princess Tour. On time pickup and organised. About 50 mins to Coral Island for rest first. The seats were fully taken on speedboat but not jammed, everyone seemed to seated comfortably. The attendant Mod was nice. I had a fantastic open water snorkeling (5 mins away from Raya island), plenty fishes, saw sea snake, small barracuda. Lunch was simple buffet at Raya Island, when we finished for fruits, it's all finished and had to pay for a banana. I made a small complaint to the staff that they should prepare enough fruit. Raya beachline was short, it's not a big beach. If you want to do parasailing, do it at Coral Island, much cheaper than at Patong beach! I paid 1,300 Bahts at Patong beach while the list price was 1,500 and my husband said he saw the price at 800 Bahts at Coral Island...
3. Flying Hanuman/zipline half day:
Exciting! Screaming! Laughing! all good just wish...
We booked half day zipline. wonderful experience! I was from screaming, scared to laughing. in the end, felt not enough! all staff cared about our safety.
There's some rocky climbing prior to the 1st platform so be prepared, wear suitable shoes.
We paid to purchase the video but were a little disappointed that the work after editing appeared to be short, all is about 2 and half minutes, if taking off the introduction and the standardized staff scenes it leaves1.5 mins for two of us, each one probably gets only 90 seconds in the clip. It got the points (ziplining) but I would ask for full footage and edit it myself (not sure if they would allow you keep full footage including other people). When they suggested us to buy the video they said there's a cameraman following us for whole time. I did not know the video would come out this short.
The staff educated guests to leave any valuable items in the locker so we did, put away the camera. But here I suggest you to bring your own camera and ask the staff to take pictures of you. In our group, a single girl asked the staff to take care of her nice expensive camera and to take pictures of her all the way (she probably tipped the staff a little, but I'd say her pictures/videos may be way better than the customized short video in a less cost). A couple brought a smart phone and recorded the fun time and the staff offered them to take "extreme photo" for unforgettable memory. So, wear something that has a deep/zip pocket to put your phone and you will get to take each full zip lining, on the side scenes, the conversations, and the emotional moments!
Half day zipline was really a short activity. From beginning to the end, it takes 1.5-2 hours, if take off the waiting time (check in and waiting for the video to be edited), all is about 1 hour I think. I wish I arranged it on my last day to leave and add another full day activity.
Overall, I'd strongly recommend people to do it!
4. Khai Island, half day: operator is Phuket New Generation Travel. The attendant Sam spoke quite good English. The staff were kind and would help you take close shots of nemo in deeper water if you ask, with your waterproof camera. Not sure if because of the half day tour, there were not many people, very comfortable ride and it only took half an hour to Khai Island. Plenty fishes at shore, did not have to go far, saw fishes around your feet, including a few parrotfish. Suitable for a family with young, little kids to play in water and scream for 'wow! fish!'. A relaxing and a calm day.
5. We did not go to Phi Phi island and Hong Island tour because we had been there 2 years ago. If you've never been to Phi Phi and Hong I would absolutely recommend you to go first!! In my mind, Hong island kayaking is the best.
In the past, I usually went to a tour booth on the street when arrived Thailand and the salesman talked me into buying their products/tour packages, sometimes it's very annoying when the salesman was trying too hard, sometimes, it could be nice if the salesman was funny. Most of the time, the price matters, I eventually picked the one at the lowest offer after several talks at different booths, it's tiring and kind of wasting time since I was already in Thailand and supposed to start enjoying the day.
This time, I found Phuket Tours Direct and told my husband about the good price after my research but my husband believed there's better price as we had once booked online when visited Krabi 2 years ago and found out the local offer was better. So I was like, OK, let's wait & see, I ended up not booking it before arrival. Turned out the price on Phuket Tours Direct was really good and we booked 4 tours (Similan island, Raya Island, Flying zipline, Khai Island halfday) when we got to the hotel. However, we had to give up the free airport pick-up since we were already in Phuket....
As for the tour quality, it's more about how the operators work and I probably will not blame on the agent alone though the agent should tries to find a good operator to make the customers happy. well, for such competitive price, keep a reasonable understanding in mind that it may not fall in high customer satisfactory category. Actually, I think the average price range tours bought at street booth might put me at the same operators and makes no big difference experiences, unless I have high budget then I may go for the much more expensive agent or direct operator, or a private charter, haha. Overall, I'm fine with it, it's pretty much like what I experienced in other tours in the past.
Now, allow me to share my tour experiences:
1. Similan Island: operator is Similan Pro Dive, a little overcrowded, 2 girls sat on the floor, I guess they could squeeze in but they opted to sit on floor. Many many people at the pier to be sorted out which activity group belonged to. Poor organization in collecting people, it's a mess to wait for getting on board or on bus returning to the hotels. Maybe they should make a note in some popular language explaining the process so people would easily follow, it may help non English speakers from repetitively asking what to do, what's next. Hopefully they grow a better plan on how to put people of the same city area on one bus when returning to the hotels.
We were picked up at 6:20 a.m. but waited for a couple for about 40 minutes in total. That couple stayed at "ICheck Inn" that had 2 hotel locations at Patong. The pick up list did not specify which ICheck Inn and the driver went to the first Inn and they said no such room number and asked the driver to go to another ICheck Inn. Then the 2nd ICheck Inn said no such name registered by guest. The driver still waited for people to show up but did not see people waiting at the lobby, he then contacted the agent. Eventually, the agent got contacted with the couple/or the hotel but the driver already left for the pier. The agent asked the driver to wait at a specific point and said the couple would catch up by taxi. We probably waited 20 minutes for the taxi to come. My husband said he saw the couple waiting on the street when the driver was driving around. So, I'm not sure whose fault it was, weird. However, I've learned from this that it is a must to
1) leave a contact phone number when you book the tour, better to be a phone number you use with you, I mean, purchase a local sim card to use on your unlocked phone, or a hotel phone number would be helpful.
2) be on time. sometimes the driver is not to blame for the late pickup, it's the customer's problem not being on time. It affects the next customer's pick up time and people waiting for the driver blames the driver's late pick up but it could be the people with no time concept delays everyone's trip.
3) wait at the lobby on time, do not go to other places to wait so the driver could find you easily.
We finished the tour and got back to the pier at around 5 p.m. Waited for collecting people for bus trip. Plus the peak time traffic, when we got back to hotel, it's almost 9 p.m., very hungry and exhausted!
The boat attendant Lucy was really funny and made my husband laugh all the time; staff Afei spoke Chinese and was very attentive to chinese speaking guests. Lunch was very simple buffet just to fill your stomach, with some fruits and ice cream offered.
Long, long, long day. A long speedboat ride, 1.5-2 hrs, a few people got sick and threw up. I was glad I was fine, thanks to the wristband, search it if you are prone to motion sickness. In addition, there's almost 2 hrs road drive to the pier from Patong beach. Despite of the great staff and what I've seen on youtube, I'm sorry to say that I would never recommend friends to go because the snorkeling was not worthy 2 hrs boat ride + 2 hrs bus ride, for a round trip you spend 8 hours on the transportation though the sail rock at Similan Island was quite unique. We stopped 3 snorkeling sites but only one had some fishes but not that great. Some people did get to see turtle but not everyone was lucky. The aquamarine water and white powdery sandy beach are picturesque but I could find them at other closer beautiful islands as well.
2. Raya + Coral Island: operator is Raya Princess Tour. On time pickup and organised. About 50 mins to Coral Island for rest first. The seats were fully taken on speedboat but not jammed, everyone seemed to seated comfortably. The attendant Mod was nice. I had a fantastic open water snorkeling (5 mins away from Raya island), plenty fishes, saw sea snake, small barracuda. Lunch was simple buffet at Raya Island, when we finished for fruits, it's all finished and had to pay for a banana. I made a small complaint to the staff that they should prepare enough fruit. Raya beachline was short, it's not a big beach. If you want to do parasailing, do it at Coral Island, much cheaper than at Patong beach! I paid 1,300 Bahts at Patong beach while the list price was 1,500 and my husband said he saw the price at 800 Bahts at Coral Island...
3. Flying Hanuman/zipline half day:
Exciting! Screaming! Laughing! all good just wish...
We booked half day zipline. wonderful experience! I was from screaming, scared to laughing. in the end, felt not enough! all staff cared about our safety.
There's some rocky climbing prior to the 1st platform so be prepared, wear suitable shoes.
We paid to purchase the video but were a little disappointed that the work after editing appeared to be short, all is about 2 and half minutes, if taking off the introduction and the standardized staff scenes it leaves1.5 mins for two of us, each one probably gets only 90 seconds in the clip. It got the points (ziplining) but I would ask for full footage and edit it myself (not sure if they would allow you keep full footage including other people). When they suggested us to buy the video they said there's a cameraman following us for whole time. I did not know the video would come out this short.
The staff educated guests to leave any valuable items in the locker so we did, put away the camera. But here I suggest you to bring your own camera and ask the staff to take pictures of you. In our group, a single girl asked the staff to take care of her nice expensive camera and to take pictures of her all the way (she probably tipped the staff a little, but I'd say her pictures/videos may be way better than the customized short video in a less cost). A couple brought a smart phone and recorded the fun time and the staff offered them to take "extreme photo" for unforgettable memory. So, wear something that has a deep/zip pocket to put your phone and you will get to take each full zip lining, on the side scenes, the conversations, and the emotional moments!
Half day zipline was really a short activity. From beginning to the end, it takes 1.5-2 hours, if take off the waiting time (check in and waiting for the video to be edited), all is about 1 hour I think. I wish I arranged it on my last day to leave and add another full day activity.
Overall, I'd strongly recommend people to do it!
4. Khai Island, half day: operator is Phuket New Generation Travel. The attendant Sam spoke quite good English. The staff were kind and would help you take close shots of nemo in deeper water if you ask, with your waterproof camera. Not sure if because of the half day tour, there were not many people, very comfortable ride and it only took half an hour to Khai Island. Plenty fishes at shore, did not have to go far, saw fishes around your feet, including a few parrotfish. Suitable for a family with young, little kids to play in water and scream for 'wow! fish!'. A relaxing and a calm day.
5. We did not go to Phi Phi island and Hong Island tour because we had been there 2 years ago. If you've never been to Phi Phi and Hong I would absolutely recommend you to go first!! In my mind, Hong island kayaking is the best.
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