Tour by U - Day Tours
Tour by U - Day Tours
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Tour by U - Day Tours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.0
148 reviews
Excellent
82
Very good
36
Average
14
Poor
6
Terrible
10
MARIO C
Rio Dulce, Guatemala30 contributions
Even though is the favorite tour from phuket, this company manage to organize the guests very orderly. They have top of the line speed boats and very professional crew. I would suggest a better lunch, but aside of that, every single detail was covered.
Written January 4, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alice J
10 contributions
May 2017 • Family
We went on the Phi Phi Island tour as a family of 3 on the 7th of May and had a wonderful experience! The day started with prompt pick up from our hotel by a Shuttle Bus for the 45 minute drive to the Royal Phuket Marina. From there was a brief introduction and some photos before we boarded the boat which was nice, clean and quite spacious so wasn't overly crowded. We decided to sit at the very front to get the full experience and not only was it good fun when we hit some waves but the breeze was amazing and kept us from feeling the heat. We visited Maya Bay, Monkey Beach, Phi Phi Island, Bamboo Island and stopped to swim and snorkel in two different locations. I cannot fault a single part of the day as the tour guide kept us well informed on where we were going, what we were seeing, as well as being full of fun facts. We also seemed to be atleast 15 minutes ahead of the other boats so we got to each location with some time to spare before it got busier. The sights to see were to die for and photos cannot do them justice. The staff was what made this tour different to one that I have previously been on because they were friendly, spoke good english and took good care of everyone onboard and made sure that everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves. They also offered cold fruits throughout the day and had a constantly full esky of cold drinks. They somehow managed to remember the names of most passengers and kept us entertained with their welcoming and friendly personalities and great sense of humour. I would also strongly recommend to spend the extra bit of money and buy the DVD at the end of the day - the Cameraman really personalises the dvd and makes it a priceless memory and we received it within afew hours!
Thank you for a very memorable day visiting the islands! :)
Thank you for a very memorable day visiting the islands! :)
Written May 12, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michael F
Melbourne, Australia25 contributions
May 2015 • Friends
This was a great way to see the beautiful Phi Phi islands and surrounds
Our guide was really great, very informative and friendly, the speedboat was comfortable , I can imagine it might not be so comfortable on a rough day but I guess you cant control the weather!
Buffet Lunch was nice and I didn't feel any of the stops were rushed.
Would definitely recommend this company as a great way to explore the islands
Our guide was really great, very informative and friendly, the speedboat was comfortable , I can imagine it might not be so comfortable on a rough day but I guess you cant control the weather!
Buffet Lunch was nice and I didn't feel any of the stops were rushed.
Would definitely recommend this company as a great way to explore the islands
Written May 26, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alex_NZ001
Berlin, Germany4 contributions
Jan 2015 • Couples
We have just returned from our day trip to Phi Phi Island from our hotel in Phuket and it was the worst tour we have done in our life (and yes, we have traveled a lot and we've been on several other tours in Europe, Australia, and North America before).
In short, Tour by U seems to rip off tourists and do the bare minimum to check off all "attractions" that they promise in their brochures. But everything, including non-existing safety standards for adults and especially kids, is way below expectations and the usual tourist day-trip that you would expect.
The details
Pickup & our way to the marina
=========================
We were picked up from our hotel (the Westin Siray Bay) in the morning and left with ~45 mins delay as some passengers were missing. Due to the delay, the driver tried to shorten the driving time with his crazy driving style - clearly no European / American standard here.
At the marina
===========
We were briefly instructed what to expect during the day and the tour operator "Tour by U" forced us to have pictures of us taken for 'security reasons' so that the insurance company of the operator would know whom to look for in case someone gets lost. Obviously, the pictures were used to produce the cheap tourist snapshots that you can buy in the afternoon for 25 USD each, but I mean: really? They tell people that you might get lost during the day and the insurance company need to know whom to look for? This was already strange, but okay...
The boat
=======
Now, things started to become really unacceptable. We were brought to a speedboat that had a licence to carry 35 people (and just enough space to do so), but ~45 people (incl. 4 crew members) were forced onto the boat. Not only was this against any security standards, but it was extremely crowded on the boat and we spent 3-4 hours sitting on that boat. Finally, the didn't even have enough life jackets for all children on board so some smaller kids (max 6 years old) had to wear adult life jackets which were way too big and wouldn't have helped a lot. A real disaster!
The "attractions"
==============
1st stop - Maya Bay (30-45 mins time): the bay is nice and the water is clear, but you cannot at all enjoy any of this since thousands (not hundreds!) of tourists are being brought there and new boats arrive all the time. This is much worse than what you see on the most crowded beach on Mallorca or other mass tourist destinations! There is not even enough space at the beach so all boats can anchor while tourists are spending the short 45 minutes they have on the beach, but the boats to have to unload all people and wait further out in the bay where ~100 other boats are waiting at the same time. I am sure Leonardo di Caprio had a different Beach in mind when the movie was shot here.
2nd - Viking Cave (2 mins): Barely enough time to take a picture off the speedboat. Overrated and disappointing
3rd - Pileh Cove (15 mins): Jump into the clear water off the boat and swim. We barely had enough space to do so since 30 other boats were doing the same thing and new boats kept on coming in all the time. We didn't enjoy it at all.
4th - Monkey Beach (5 mins): Tour By U fooled us with the pictures in the brochure since they don't let you off the boat here. The beach is tiny (maybe 30 meters long at max) and, again, tourist speedboats are squeezing themselves next to one another to get as close to the beach as possible to throw bananas towards the monkeys at the beach. We only had a chance to take a picture of some monkeys, but nothing more than that. I can probably have the same experience by looking at a youtube video - again deeply disappointing,
5th - Lunch (50 mins): Good buffet lunch at a resort on the way, but (you know it) way too many tourists and other speedboats doing the same thing at the same time. The scenery at the location was beautiful though and the food was tasty. Overall this highlight of the day (how disappointing can this be, since we didn't book this tour to eat authentic Thai food but see nice landscapes and relax in a beautiful atmosphere ...)
6th - Snorkeling (11 mins): What a disappointments - and I am already tired of saying it. The captain navigated to a coral reef inbetween Phi Phi Island and Bamboo Island (our last stop) and the crew anchored right at the coral reef thereby "sacrificing" same corals. Other tourists mentioned that this would destroy the corals but the crew didn't care at all and responded that they also love the nature but they wanted to present something special to us. Well, the coral reef was not too spectacular and we haven't been able to see too many different animals here - probably due to the high traffic in that area. Snorkling gear was provided, but since we brought our own gear I can't comment on the quality of the equipment. But what was worst is the time we had to snorkel at this spot: 11 minutes (11 minutes and 34 seconds, to be precise). The tour guide promised that we could spend 1 hour in the water but let us know after 11 minutes that we had to leave this spot now due to a tight schedule. After all the disappointments and crowded spaces before, I became really angry at this point and started to argue that this is absolutely not acceptable and not the tour we booked. Well, the tour guide didn't care and we had to leave he spot for the next and final attraction: Bamboo Island.
7th - Bamboo Island (30 mins): The beach is nice and we finally had a chance to "enjoy" the beach, the sun and the water a little bit - but again together with thousands of other tourists. We counted a total of 56 other speedboats while we were at the beach on Bamboo island and our speedboat couldn't even find a spot to land right at the beach so the crew simply made space for our boat by squeezing the speedboat inbetween 2 other boats that anchored already there (yes, I mean squeeze: there was no space between these boats but the crew simply pushed the 2 boats and all other boats to either side of them to the left and to the right so we could fit in here).
Our way back: 1 hour bumpy ride in the cramped / overloaded speedboat back from Bamboo Island to Phuket - nothing to remember.
Overall: very bad experience, waste of money and time. Don't ever go on this tour or a tour with a similar itinerary.
In short, Tour by U seems to rip off tourists and do the bare minimum to check off all "attractions" that they promise in their brochures. But everything, including non-existing safety standards for adults and especially kids, is way below expectations and the usual tourist day-trip that you would expect.
The details
Pickup & our way to the marina
=========================
We were picked up from our hotel (the Westin Siray Bay) in the morning and left with ~45 mins delay as some passengers were missing. Due to the delay, the driver tried to shorten the driving time with his crazy driving style - clearly no European / American standard here.
At the marina
===========
We were briefly instructed what to expect during the day and the tour operator "Tour by U" forced us to have pictures of us taken for 'security reasons' so that the insurance company of the operator would know whom to look for in case someone gets lost. Obviously, the pictures were used to produce the cheap tourist snapshots that you can buy in the afternoon for 25 USD each, but I mean: really? They tell people that you might get lost during the day and the insurance company need to know whom to look for? This was already strange, but okay...
The boat
=======
Now, things started to become really unacceptable. We were brought to a speedboat that had a licence to carry 35 people (and just enough space to do so), but ~45 people (incl. 4 crew members) were forced onto the boat. Not only was this against any security standards, but it was extremely crowded on the boat and we spent 3-4 hours sitting on that boat. Finally, the didn't even have enough life jackets for all children on board so some smaller kids (max 6 years old) had to wear adult life jackets which were way too big and wouldn't have helped a lot. A real disaster!
The "attractions"
==============
1st stop - Maya Bay (30-45 mins time): the bay is nice and the water is clear, but you cannot at all enjoy any of this since thousands (not hundreds!) of tourists are being brought there and new boats arrive all the time. This is much worse than what you see on the most crowded beach on Mallorca or other mass tourist destinations! There is not even enough space at the beach so all boats can anchor while tourists are spending the short 45 minutes they have on the beach, but the boats to have to unload all people and wait further out in the bay where ~100 other boats are waiting at the same time. I am sure Leonardo di Caprio had a different Beach in mind when the movie was shot here.
2nd - Viking Cave (2 mins): Barely enough time to take a picture off the speedboat. Overrated and disappointing
3rd - Pileh Cove (15 mins): Jump into the clear water off the boat and swim. We barely had enough space to do so since 30 other boats were doing the same thing and new boats kept on coming in all the time. We didn't enjoy it at all.
4th - Monkey Beach (5 mins): Tour By U fooled us with the pictures in the brochure since they don't let you off the boat here. The beach is tiny (maybe 30 meters long at max) and, again, tourist speedboats are squeezing themselves next to one another to get as close to the beach as possible to throw bananas towards the monkeys at the beach. We only had a chance to take a picture of some monkeys, but nothing more than that. I can probably have the same experience by looking at a youtube video - again deeply disappointing,
5th - Lunch (50 mins): Good buffet lunch at a resort on the way, but (you know it) way too many tourists and other speedboats doing the same thing at the same time. The scenery at the location was beautiful though and the food was tasty. Overall this highlight of the day (how disappointing can this be, since we didn't book this tour to eat authentic Thai food but see nice landscapes and relax in a beautiful atmosphere ...)
6th - Snorkeling (11 mins): What a disappointments - and I am already tired of saying it. The captain navigated to a coral reef inbetween Phi Phi Island and Bamboo Island (our last stop) and the crew anchored right at the coral reef thereby "sacrificing" same corals. Other tourists mentioned that this would destroy the corals but the crew didn't care at all and responded that they also love the nature but they wanted to present something special to us. Well, the coral reef was not too spectacular and we haven't been able to see too many different animals here - probably due to the high traffic in that area. Snorkling gear was provided, but since we brought our own gear I can't comment on the quality of the equipment. But what was worst is the time we had to snorkel at this spot: 11 minutes (11 minutes and 34 seconds, to be precise). The tour guide promised that we could spend 1 hour in the water but let us know after 11 minutes that we had to leave this spot now due to a tight schedule. After all the disappointments and crowded spaces before, I became really angry at this point and started to argue that this is absolutely not acceptable and not the tour we booked. Well, the tour guide didn't care and we had to leave he spot for the next and final attraction: Bamboo Island.
7th - Bamboo Island (30 mins): The beach is nice and we finally had a chance to "enjoy" the beach, the sun and the water a little bit - but again together with thousands of other tourists. We counted a total of 56 other speedboats while we were at the beach on Bamboo island and our speedboat couldn't even find a spot to land right at the beach so the crew simply made space for our boat by squeezing the speedboat inbetween 2 other boats that anchored already there (yes, I mean squeeze: there was no space between these boats but the crew simply pushed the 2 boats and all other boats to either side of them to the left and to the right so we could fit in here).
Our way back: 1 hour bumpy ride in the cramped / overloaded speedboat back from Bamboo Island to Phuket - nothing to remember.
Overall: very bad experience, waste of money and time. Don't ever go on this tour or a tour with a similar itinerary.
Written January 2, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
farzaneh a
1 contribution
Aug 2017
Hi sir/ Modom
I had a traveling with your company to James band island in 18 July. Unfortunately tim's behaviour was very bad with Iranian.
The company got on more than boat's capacity on the boat, so at least 5 person had to go in front the boat under son lights.
It didn't important for me to go there too, but Mr. Tim said "if u come front of the boat, balance of the boat will miss" !!!!!
I thought his quote was very redicoules... He showed this behaviour only because Iranian didn't go in front of the boat...
It was very rude... please survey & polite him...
I'm looking forward to hear from u...
Email: fa8191@ yahoo. Com
I'm Miss. akbari & I stayed at Deevana plaza hotel in Phuket.
Thanks a lot ...
I had a traveling with your company to James band island in 18 July. Unfortunately tim's behaviour was very bad with Iranian.
The company got on more than boat's capacity on the boat, so at least 5 person had to go in front the boat under son lights.
It didn't important for me to go there too, but Mr. Tim said "if u come front of the boat, balance of the boat will miss" !!!!!
I thought his quote was very redicoules... He showed this behaviour only because Iranian didn't go in front of the boat...
It was very rude... please survey & polite him...
I'm looking forward to hear from u...
Email: fa8191@ yahoo. Com
I'm Miss. akbari & I stayed at Deevana plaza hotel in Phuket.
Thanks a lot ...
Written August 3, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Craig H
Perth, Australia17 contributions
Mar 2015 • Couples
Booked a trip to Phi Phi Islands through the hotel. We were picked up at 7.30am by minibus. The speedboat then took us to the islands where we did some snorkelling, had lunch then free time of around 1 hour to relax. Back to marina around 4.30pm. It was worth doing this trip and the guides were interesting and knowledgeable.
Written March 23, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yengyou_K
Singapore12 contributions
Nov 2014 • Friends
I joined the trip with Tour by U for a day trip to the Phi Phi islands. I must say it is the highlight of our trip to Phuket. Great scenery, good food and terrific service by Tick and his crew. Everything was well co originated from start to the end.
We went on a 3 engine speed boat No. 99 and got a first class seat right at the bow.
If you are in Thailand I would highly recommend going to the Phi Phi Islands with Tour by U. I enjoyed my day trip to the Phi Phi Islands more than any other activity. I booked my trip to Phi Phi Islands with hotel’s tour desk. They are very friendly and professional with Western style service.
We went on a 3 engine speed boat No. 99 and got a first class seat right at the bow.
If you are in Thailand I would highly recommend going to the Phi Phi Islands with Tour by U. I enjoyed my day trip to the Phi Phi Islands more than any other activity. I booked my trip to Phi Phi Islands with hotel’s tour desk. They are very friendly and professional with Western style service.
Written December 11, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Balsree
Bengaluru, India55 contributions
Sep 2014 • Couples
We took the Day Tour - Unseen Krabi . Email communication for the booking was slightly on the slower side but acceptable. We boarded a speed boat and it was very crowded. There was no space to sit comfortably inside. Could not even widen your legs and sit. It was literally packed. If not for this, I would have given them 5 stars. Rest of the trip was really good. We had expressed our interest to see Taleh - Waek beach and the guide offered to drop us in that beach since the rest of the group was interested to go Poda Islands. Nice gesture i would say. TBU team was willingly to take our pictures on the tour sites.
We visited Chicken Island (only Photo), Poda Islands (Snorkelling and Beach), Phra Nang Cave, Railay Beach and Hong Island. Railay Beach and Hong Island are absolute beauties that you must visit in Krabi province
We had asked for Vegetarian food and it was promptly arranged. Food was good too.Thanks to the guide who explained about the locations and also showed scenic spots for the pictures
If you are planning to do the Krabi tour on Tuesday or Saturday just go with these guys as most of the tour operators run the krabi tour only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
We visited Chicken Island (only Photo), Poda Islands (Snorkelling and Beach), Phra Nang Cave, Railay Beach and Hong Island. Railay Beach and Hong Island are absolute beauties that you must visit in Krabi province
We had asked for Vegetarian food and it was promptly arranged. Food was good too.Thanks to the guide who explained about the locations and also showed scenic spots for the pictures
If you are planning to do the Krabi tour on Tuesday or Saturday just go with these guys as most of the tour operators run the krabi tour only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Written September 17, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DTraveler
Sydney, Australia16 contributions
Jul 2016 • Family
We had a terrible time at the seas on this trip to Phi Phi island. At one time the sea was so rough that people in the boat were praying & scared to death. The tour guide was absent on this day and some back-up led the tour. He later admitted to some of the other tourists that the coast guard had recommended not to take to the seas on that day. In fact he also went around telling everyone how we came for the tour but many other boats cancelled theirs.
We did not stop by Maya beach, monkey island (it was a brief stop of 4-5 min), and one other island because of high tide. The bad experience could be due to bad weather & bad timing of our trip. But it's for the experts to advice & listen to the coast guard's recommendations and not venture into the seas with 20 people in a fit of bravado.
We did not stop by Maya beach, monkey island (it was a brief stop of 4-5 min), and one other island because of high tide. The bad experience could be due to bad weather & bad timing of our trip. But it's for the experts to advice & listen to the coast guard's recommendations and not venture into the seas with 20 people in a fit of bravado.
Written July 11, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SoradaNakpradit
Bangkok, Thailand4 contributions
Oct 2014 • Couples
Phi Phi Island is probably one of the most beautiful islands in Thailand. Tour by U (TBU) is an excellent leisure company with specialising in Phi Phi Island and all over Andaman Sea around Phuket Island. Brand new boat, great crew. Very well organised and safety conscious. Great lunch provided on the beach and Resort. They stopped just off the beach for first snorkel, then we went ashore for lazing, exploring, swimming or snorkeling from the beach in the crystal clear water
Written November 12, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tourbyu
Phuket, Thailand
Dear Ms.Akbari
We are sincerely sorry for your inconvenience. We will immediately check the issue for you in detail and will contact you privately by your E-mail.
Thank You,
Tour by U Co.,Ltd.
Written August 8, 2017
Hello,
I was wondering if this tour would do pick-up from the Radisson Blu on Cape Panwa.
Thanks!
Written April 30, 2016
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