Best Time for a Phuket Boat Trip, Month by Month

If you are searching for the best time to visit Phuket for a boat trip, the short answer is November to April, the drier months, when the Andaman Sea is generally calmer and clearer. The longer answer is that boats leave from Phuket all year, and what changes from month to month is how much rain you get, how rough the sea can be, and which islands and trips are open.

This guide goes month by month using the Thai Meteorological Department’s own 30-year climate figures, then explains what the monsoon does at sea. The trips we link are run by Simba Sea Trips, an independent local operator; we list them on this website with live availability and secure online payment. What we say about the weather and the parks comes from the official or press sources listed at the end; what we say about the trips comes from the trip pages.

The short answer

• November to April: the best window for a boat day. Less rain, calmer and clearer water according to the Thai National Parks website, and the full programme, including the Phi Phi sunset trip, which only runs from November to April.
• May to October: the southwest monsoon season. Trips still run, but rain is frequent, the sea can be rough, and speedboat days can be rescheduled or cancelled when the weather warns against it.
• August and September: Maya Bay is closed to visitors every year. Our Phi Phi sunrise trip goes to Bamboo Island in those two months and you see Maya Bay from the boat.

What the official data says

The most reliable numbers come from the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD), which publishes its climate normals for 1991–2020 for each weather station. Phuket has two: the Phuket Airport station, in the north of the island, and a station in Phuket town. The table below uses the airport station; a “rainy day” is a day with 0.1 mm of rain or more, and cloudiness is on a scale from 0 (clear) to 10 (overcast).

Month	Rain (mm)	Rainy days	Mean max. (°C)	Cloudiness (0–10)	Prevailing wind
January	66.2	6.8	32.1	5.0	E
February	32.0	4.3	33.2	4.7	E
March	117.2	8.5	33.6	5.1	E
April	143.7	12.9	33.5	5.8	W, NW
May	277.5	19.8	32.4	6.7	W
June	314.0	18.7	31.8	6.9	W
July	260.4	19.4	31.5	7.1	W
August	378.2	19.8	31.3	7.2	W
September	399.2	21.9	30.9	7.3	W
October	370.5	23.1	31.0	7.2	W
November	219.0	17.5	31.4	6.6	E
December	86.4	10.7	31.3	5.9	E

Source: TMD, Climatological Data of Thailand for the 30-year period (1991–2020), Phuket Airport station (48565).

Three things stand out. First, February is the driest month (32 mm over about four rainy days) and September the wettest (399 mm over about 22 rainy days). Second, the Phuket town station tells the same story with slightly lower totals: its driest month is also February (24 mm) and its wettest September (350 mm), with 2,272 mm a year against 2,664 mm at the airport. Third, the prevailing wind flips: easterly from November to March and westerly from May to October, with April in between.

One caveat: the TMD tables for these two stations have no sunshine-hours figures, so we use cloudiness instead. And the Thai National Parks website, describing its own area, says the rainy season runs from May to December with the highest rainfall in July, so the peak varies from place to place; for the Phuket stations, it is September.

The monsoon and the sea

Rain is only half the story for a boat trip; the sea state matters more. TMD describes the pattern in its own bulletins: it declared the start of the 2025 rainy season on 15 May, attributing the rain to the southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea, and its October outlook calls October a time of transition from the rainy to the winter season, when the southwest monsoon begins to turn into the northeast monsoon.

At sea, the effect shows up in TMD’s warnings. On 7 August 2026 it forecast waves of 2 to 4 metres in the upper Andaman Sea, higher in thunderstorms, and told small boats to stay ashore from 7 to 9 August. The Thai National Parks website says the islands are best from around November or December until May, when the water is clearer with fewer waves, and warns of cancellations on bad-weather days, with boats running less often in the rainy season.

Local authorities can also act on the day. In July 2018, for example, the Phuket Marine Office banned boats under 10 metres bound for Phi Phi and Racha from leaving port when TMD forecast waves of up to three metres. In practice, a speedboat day in the monsoon months can be moved or cancelled at short notice. Check the trip page for what the operator says, and keep a spare day in your plan.

Month by month

• January: dry (66 mm) and fairly bright, inside the Thai National Parks website’s calmer-water window. The Phi Phi sunset trip is on sale, and our destination guide flags this as one of the busiest periods, so book ahead around the holidays.
• February: the driest and least cloudy month of the year in TMD’s data. If you can pick any month for a boat day, this is a strong candidate.
• March: still dry and the hottest month at the airport (mean maximum 33.6 °C), but rain and thunderstorms creep back: TMD counts about 3.9 thunderstorm days, up from 1.7 in February.
• April: the sunset trip’s last month. Rain and storms pick up (about 13 rainy days and 6.4 thunderstorm days, the highest of the year), and the wind turns westerly as the monsoon approaches.
• May: the rainy season starts: 277 mm and almost 20 rainy days. It is the last month of the Thai National Parks website’s calmer-water window, but the weather is clearly changing.
• June: the first month above 300 mm (314 mm). Boats still run, but this is monsoon season, when the Thai National Parks website warns of cancellations on bad-weather days.
• July: slightly less rain than June at the airport (260 mm), but still around 19 rainy days.
• August: Maya Bay is closed. Our Phi Phi sunrise trip visits Bamboo Island instead; rainfall is about 378 mm.
• September: the wettest month (399 mm, almost 22 rainy days) and the second month of the Maya Bay closure, which ends on 30 September.
• October: the most rainy days of the year (23), but TMD describes it as a transition month, with the southwest monsoon starting to turn into the northeast monsoon. Maya Bay is no longer in its closure window.
• November: rain falls to 219 mm and the wind returns to the east. The Phi Phi sunset trip starts again, and the Thai National Parks website’s calmer-water window begins around now.
• December: 86 mm and about 11 rainy days, with the wind still easterly. It is a busy period around the holidays, so book ahead.

Which trip, in which season

• Phi Phi sunrise, small group: runs through the year. The boat leaves at about 06:00 to reach Maya Bay before the day-trip boats, but from 1 August to 30 September the bay is closed and the trip goes to Bamboo Island, seeing Maya Bay from the boat.
• Phi Phi sunset and shark spotting: November to April only, as stated on the trip page.
• James Bond Island and Phang Nga Bay, small group: a day of kayaking among limestone cliffs, caves and mangroves; the calendar on the trip page shows the dates on sale.
• Private speedboat charters: the same routes for your group only, for 2 to 20 guests: Phi Phi sunrise, James Bond Island, a 4.5-hour Phang Nga Bay sunset cruise, the Krabi islands and the quieter coral islands of southern Phuket. The calendar shows the total for your group size.

How to choose your dates

• Flexible dates: if you are travelling between May and October, book the boat day early in your stay, so a weather change still leaves you a spare day.
• Fixed dates in the rainy season: read the trip page and ask the operator what happens on bad-weather days; TMD’s Andaman Sea warnings are public.
• Marine life and clear water: aim for the November to May window the Thai National Parks website describes, and for the full Phi Phi programme including Maya Bay, avoid August and September.
• Sunset: the Phi Phi sunset trip is a November to April trip; outside those months, a private Phang Nga Bay sunset cruise is worth checking in the calendar.

Practical checklist

• Pick-up: free around Kata, Karon, Patong, Kamala, Surin and Bangtao; other areas may cost extra (about 1,000 THB per vehicle on some trips). The operator sends the exact time the day before.
• Bring: your passport number (not the passport itself), swimwear, a towel, sunscreen, hat and sunglasses, a camera and some cash for tips and extras.
• Park fees: some trips include them and others do not; for the Phi Phi fees and Maya Bay rules, see our Phi Phi island tour guide.
• Health: the trips are not recommended for pregnant travellers or people with heart or back problems, and are not wheelchair accessible.

Know where you are staying? Read the full Phuket destination guide or browse all our trips from Phuket.

Quick answers

• What is the best month for a boat trip in Phuket? February is the driest month in the TMD normals; November to April is the best overall window for calmer, clearer water.
• Is the rainy season a bad time to go? Not necessarily, but rain is frequent from May to October and trips can change with the weather; September is the wettest month.
• Is Maya Bay open in the rainy season? Only partly: it is closed every year from 1 August to 30 September.
• When does the Phi Phi sunset trip run? From November to April.

Sources

All sources were read on 30 October 2026.

• Climatological Data of Thailand for the 30-year period (1991–2020), Thai Meteorological Department, report No. 551.586-13-2023 (Phuket Airport, p. 83; Phuket station, p. 82).
• Monthly Summary Data, May 2025, Thai Meteorological Department (start of the rainy season, southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea).
• 3-month climate prediction, October 2024, Thai Meteorological Department (October as a monsoon transition).
• Strong wind-waves in the upper Andaman Sea… No. 7 (149/2026), Thai Meteorological Department, 7 August 2026.
• Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, Thai National Parks (best season, rainy season, cancellations, Maya Bay closure 1 August to 30 September).
• Phuket boats banned from leaving port, The Nation, 6 July 2018.
• Our trip pages (supplier information in Bókun).