4 Islands Tour Koh Lanta Thailand | Is It Worth It?

Disclosure: This posts may contain affiliate links. I may make a small commission on purchases made after clicking the link. I do my best to try and keep information up-to-date but please check direct with businesses for current opening times and prices. For more information visit the Privacy & Disclosure Policy. Thank you for your support!

A popular day trip from Koh Lanta is the 4 Islands Tour by longtail boat or speed boat. You can do the same tour from Ao Nang too, but Koh Lanta is closer to the group of islands. The islands visited are part of the Trang Islands. Here’s everything you need to know about the trip and if the Koh Lanta 4 Islands Tour is worth doing!

4 Islands Tour Koh Lanta

Islands visited: Ko Chueak, Ko Muk (Morakot Cave/Emerald Cave), Ko Waen, Ko Ngai

*Ko means island in Thai. In English it is written as Koh, so both tend to be used interchangeably.

🕗Duration: Approximately 8hr 30 (8am until 4.30pm)

My tour included:

Hotel pick up
Snorkel equipment
Bottle of water
Fruit: pineapple and watermelon
Lunch with another bottle of water or a can of Coke or Sprite

Hotel Pick Up/Start Point

I booked my tour through GetYourGuide and it included a pick up from my hotel on Klong Dao Beach in Saladan. My driver originally said pick up would be at 8.30am but be ready 10 minutes early. They ended up arriving 20 minutes early as I was one of the first to be picked up!

The vehicle was a pick up truck with benches in the back. They really do cram you right in. A family of 4 ended up having to sit with their children on their lap! The boats depart from Old Town Pier on the opposite side of the island, so it takes around 30 minutes to reach.

I decided to go on a longtail boat over a speed boat. This turned out to be a great choice because I didn’t really like the speed boat that was used for my Phi Phi Islands trip!

Lanta Old Town

There seemed to be a lot of waiting around near the pier before we got assigned our boat. We had to pay ฿200 IN CASH for the Hat Chao Mai National Park fee, as it’s not included in the tour price. You need to sign a visitor book and they give you a sticker to show that you’ve paid.

Toilets are in this area too. It’s best to use them if you can. We didn’t get another chance to use the toilet again until 4 hours later when we reached Ko Ngai.

Just like the pick up, the longtail was completely rammed too. You literally sit shoulder to shoulder. There is an ‘exposed’ area at the front of the boat, but the rest is covered with a canopy.

Koh Lanta from Lanta Old Town Pier — Looking back at Lanta Old Town

You need to climb in, out and across boats, but the guides do help and are happy to assist. Make sure to pack only necessities as there’s not a huge amount of space on the boat. It’s also best to already be wearing swim stuff, as otherwise you’ll have to get changed on the boat in front of everyone.

Ko Chueak

The first stop was Ko Chueak. This isn’t an island with a beach or anything, it’s literally just a giant limestone cliff in the sea. The boat docked and we had around 30 minutes to swim and snorkel in the area next to the boat.

Life vests are available for those who would prefer to use them. I can swim but sometimes I find using a life vest makes it easier to just float and watch the sea floor.

As someone that has been snorkelling all over the world, in all honesty, it wasn’t great. The only fish I really saw were Indo-Pacific Sergeants (black, white, and yellow striped fish). Yes, there were LOTS of them, but other than that there wasn’t particularly any coral or other species.

Koh Chueak 4 islands tour by longtail — Ko Chueak snorkelling spot

Koh Mook and the Emerald Cave

The next stop was Koh Mook (Ko Muk), this IS a proper island, the opposite side has hotels and a small town. However, the 4 Islands Tour anchors up in front of Morakot Cave (also known as Tham Nam). It is said that pirates used to hide things in the cave.

This was one of my highlights of the tour. Everyone is required to wear a life vest as you need to swim 80m through the cave to the ‘hidden beach’. It can only be done at low tide, so sometimes the tours will be done in a different order to match the tides.

Emerald Cave (Morakot Cave) Koh Mook — Emerald Cave, Koh Mook

It is a bit of a trek against the current in the pitch black but it’s OK. The guides have head torches and they will assist those with children. You can’t really get lost if you just follow the crowds!

My guide also offered to carry people’s phones in his dry bag, through the cave. I was a little nervous, I had it in my own ziplock bag and then it was placed inside TWO dry bags. He also carried a small towel so you could wipe your hands off to use them after the swim!

Emerald Cave Koh Mook limestone cliff with tourists in orange life vests — Emerald Cave, Koh Mook

The tunnel opens up at a beach that’s completely surrounded by limestone cliffs on all sides. It looks like a jungle, with loads of trees and plants. Of course, it was completely packed out with tourists on other boats, but it was still a fun experience.

We had around 15 minutes on the beach before following the guide back through the cave and to the boat.

Ko Waen

Just like Ko Chueak, I kind of wish that we had just skipped Ko Waen. It was similar in the sense that we were just anchored up next to the rock for another snorkel stop. This time we saw even less. There were only a handful of dull coloured fish and the visibility was pretty poor. Again, we had another 30 minutes here.

If you wanted to do a tour specifically for the snorkelling, I wouldn’t recommend the 4 Islands Tour. I just used the snorkel stops as a way to cool down.

Ko Ngai

The final stop was Ko Ngai, this personally was the reason for me doing this tour. I made sure to pick one with a stop at Ko Ngai. Koh Ngai has a few resorts on the island but there aren’t any roads or anything.

4 islands tour koh lanta, lunch on Koh Ngai — Lunch on Koh Ngai Beach

We stopped for an hour and it was also our food stop. Lunch was included in the cost of the tour. It was a giant scoop of rice with vegetables, Massaman curry, and little cookies. Bottles of water, cans of 7UP, and Coke were available too. It was really good actually!

This is the first time you’ll also be able to use the toilet since leaving the mainland. They cost ฿10 and are tucked behind one of the beach bars. There was no toilet paper though (not uncommon), so it’s best to pack your own in a ziplock bag (so it doesn’t get wet!).

If you wanted a beer, cocktail, or ice cream, you can get those too, so make sure to bring a bit of cash on top of the National Park fee.

I LOVED Koh Ngai. I walked up and down the beach and went for another swim. The bit where the boats drop off is obviously the most ‘crowded’ area. However, just a short walk either side will have plenty of space.

Purple flowers on Ko Ngai beach — Koh Ngai Beach

The boat back to Koh Lanta took around an hour and then we were taken back to the hotels with the same drivers on the morning pick up.

Is It Worth It?

I may have sounded a bit negative in this post but I didn’t do it for the snorkel element. I wanted to see the Emerald Cave and Koh Ngai and these didn’t disappoint. However, I wish we had skipped the 2nd snorkel stop and just had longer in Koh Ngai. Often quality is better than quantity!

Those travelling with kids seemed to prefer Koh Ngai to the other stops too. The kids were able to swim around in the shallower water next to the beach, rather than in the really deep water with stronger currents.

Longtail boats on Koh Ngai Thailand — Longtail boats in Koh Ngai

In hindsight, I think I personally would have preferred to find a way to get to Koh Ngai independently and then spent the night. This was my original plan. But I thought that the 4 Islands Tour would give me a taster of a selection of places and it was simpler.

If you weren’t bothered about staying on a very quiet deserted island, the 4 Islands Tour would probably give you plenty of time.

Book the 4 Islands Tour Koh Lanta

Here is the exact tour that I booked on GetYourGuide:

Book the 4 Islands Tour Koh Lanta here