Longtail or speedboat: what is the actual difference?

The boat matters more than the itinerary. Two trips visiting the same islands feel completely different depending on what you are sitting in.

Longtail boats

A wooden hull with a car engine mounted on a pivot and a long propeller shaft out the back. Slow — about 15 knots — open to the air, and shallow enough to get in close to a beach or into a mangrove channel.

You sit low, close to the water, and the pace means fewer stops but longer at each one. The engine is loud when running and silent when it is not, and it will not reach the far national park islands in a day.

• Best for: close-in islands, the Emerald Cave, mangroves, small groups
• Typical group: 8–20 people
• Range: roughly an hour from Lanta
• Feel: slow, open, traditional

Speedboats

Fibreglass hulls with two or three outboards, capable of 30 knots or more. They reach Koh Rok, Koh Haa and Phi Phi comfortably in a day, which a longtail simply cannot do.

The trade-off is comfort. At speed a speedboat slams in any chop, which is hard on backs and hard on anyone prone to seasickness. Groups are bigger and stops are more tightly scheduled.

• Best for: Koh Rok, Koh Haa, Phi Phi, multi-island days
• Typical group: 20–35 people
• Range: the whole southern Andaman in a day
• Feel: fast, efficient, bumpy in swell

Which to pick

If the islands you want are within an hour, take the longtail — it is a better day. If they are not, take the speedboat and sit towards the middle of the boat where the ride is softest.