Okay well USUALLY we are pretty organized when it comes to researching tours offered for the location we are going. However this time we were pretty lazy and still in moaning for having to leave Bali. Therefore we made all mistakes one can make when booking a tour and for what it’s worth it at least gave us the idea to put together a guide about how to NOT book your island hopping tour in Krabi (or any other place for that matter).
- WHAT ISLAND HOPPING TOURS ARE ON OFFER?
MISTAKE 1:
We just walked into town thinking to maybe quickly pop into a tour agency before grabbing some lunch to get some info on the tours and prices offered. (We ended up buying a random tour product just to get out of the shop again as otherwise we would have starved to death, once they have you they won’t let you go.)SO INSTEAD:
Prior to your trip to Krabi (or at least BEFORE talking to any tour agent) check online what tours are offered. There are TONS of different tours on offer so it really depends on what you are looking for. There are various day trips which usually start in the morning and finish at around 1-2pm as well as the sunset tours that start around 1pm and finish at 8-9pm.When it comes to Island hopping tours the most popular are probably the “4 Island Tour” and the “7 Island sunset tour”. However even here itineraries and mode of transport (traditional boat vs. big motorized boats vs. modern speed boats) vary tremendously between the different operators so do compare!
- CHECK TOUR AGENT REVIEWS BEFORE BOOKING
MISTAKE 2: We bought a 7 Island Sunset tour with a tour operator we later found out had terrible reviews on tripadvisor. Safety issues, itinerary changes and food poisoning were just some of the “fun facts” we learned about when reading the reviews.
SO INSTEAD:
Once you have found the perfect tour for you check who actually offers these tours and look them up on trip advisor. What are other people saying that have done the tour with that specific tour operator already? Are people repeating the same issues? If yes and it’s something that you care about (safety issues, health risks, itinerary changes) than think twice whether to take the risk and book with that operator.There are several operators offering similar tours but at different prices and standards. As everywhere, you get what you pay for so it might be worth investing a few $$ to have a better experience.
Otherwise you could end up like THIS:
- RESEARCH PRICES BEFORE BOOKING
MISTAKE 3: As we hadn’t done any research before we had no idea about prices and how much we could negotiate. The flyer the travel agent handed to us stated 1500 BHT however he already started at 1200 BHT. As we were clueless on average tour prices and randomly picked 700 BHT as our starting point. We had no idea where to start so ended up paying 850 BHT for the tour. Turns out many other guests had only paid 600-700 BHT for the same tour.
SO INSTEAD:
When researching the tours and operators do also check prices. Some agents publish these already on their websites. Check Blogs, Reviews etc. what people are saying how much they paid for a specific tour so that you know how low you can go when negotiating prices.Also think about what to say when negotiating the price. Are you celebrating a special event? Are you travelling in a group? You will usually get a better deal. Couple or Solo Traveller? Time to socialize! Hit the bars and start talking to people. Most of them will be interested in doing a tour as well so find your travel buddies with whom you can book the tour together with. The more the merrier.
- DON’T READ REVIEWS
So if you haven’t followed steps 1-3 and ended up like us just booking a random tour for the next day DON’T CHECK REVIEWS NOW!!!! It’s too late anyway. We had the idea to look up the operator 2 hours before our trip was supposed to start and ended up in complete horror of going. We found the most terrible reviews and started completely panicking however it was too late to cancel. You can imagine how happy we were when our pickup service arrived. All we wanted to do is RUN.INSTEAD
Don’t look up reviews if it’s too late anyway. Instead get in a positive mood and look forward to seeing something new. You’re on holiday – no room for stress and worries!!!
We ended up enjoying our tour despite all the negative feedback and were happy we didn’t cancel last minute just out of panic to sink with the rotten old boat or die from food poising. It was a great day out and sure, many things could have been done better but overall we enjoyed it.
Check out our little video clip below.
[lyte id=”fVvbw6Ws0O8″ /]
Still, next time we’ll be doing our research again – that’s for sure!
What have been your experiences with packaged tours? Have you ever missed doing your research and ended up on a tour from hell? Or are you always worry free and just book what comes along and make the most out of it?? Tell us about it! We’d love hearing from you!!
