Can You Bring Your Own Food on Phuket Boat Tours?

Short answer: yes. On a group boat tour from Phuket you can normally bring your own snacks and soft drinks. Most full day tours include lunch and drinks, so you rarely need a packed meal, but a few snacks help on long transfers, with children, with seasickness and with special diets. This guide covers what our tours include, what is worth packing and what to leave at the hotel.

What Our Tours Include

Check the inclusions before you pack, because they vary from trip to trip:

• Phi Phi, Maya Bay and Khai Island: a light breakfast at the pier, a halal buffet lunch on Phi Phi Don, and fruit and soft drinks on board.
• James Bond Island and Phang Nga Bay: a Thai buffet lunch at Koh Panyee, the stilt village in the bay. Bring a refillable water bottle for the rest of the day.
• Raya and Coral Island: morning coffee and tea, a buffet lunch at a seaview restaurant, and soft drinks and fresh fruit on the boat.
• Jet Ski 7 Islands: a Thai lunch and drinks.
• White water rafting: lunch is included.
• Private speedboat charters: soft drinks and water are included. Lunch is not, so ask about options when you book or plan to bring food. Alcohol is not included.

In short, nobody goes hungry on a full day tour. Your own food is for the gaps: the early start, the drive to the pier, the afternoon on the boat, and anyone whose needs a buffet may not meet.

Can You Bring Your Own Food?

Generally, yes. There is no rule against snacks on a shared speedboat, and many guests bring something. A few points of etiquette help:

• Keep it compact. Space on a speedboat is limited, and bags often go in a shared storage area. A small soft bag is fine, a large cool box is not.
• Eat your own food on the boat or the beach, not at the lunch restaurant's tables, unless the staff say it is fine.
• Take every wrapper back. Bins on small islands are limited, and anything left on a beach can end up in the sea.

Good things to pack

• Plain crackers, pretzels or rice crackers. Dry, salty snacks help settle the stomach on a bumpy ride.
• Fruit that travels well, such as bananas, apples or small mandarins.
• Cereal bars or nuts, if nobody in your group has an allergy.
• A sandwich in a sealed box, eaten in the morning before the heat gets to it.
• Familiar snacks, baby food and formula for young children.
• A refillable water bottle. Heat and sun dehydrate you faster than you expect.
• Ginger sweets, a traditional help for mild nausea.

What to leave behind

• Glass bottles and jars. They break easily on a moving boat and are dangerous on beaches.
• Food that melts or spoils in the heat, such as chocolate, dairy, mayonnaise or cooked meat that has been out for hours.
• Strong smelling food. You share a small space, and some guests may be fighting seasickness.
• Foam boxes and single-use plastic bags. Thailand's national parks have been cutting down on both, so pack snacks in reusable containers.
• Alcohol. It is not included on our tours, it adds to dehydration and seasickness, and on the jet ski tour nobody who has been drinking is allowed to drive.

Special Diets

Thai buffets on tour days usually include rice, a few curries or stir fries, vegetables, fruit and often fish or chicken. That works for most people, but some diets need a little planning.

• Halal: the Phi Phi tour lunch is a halal buffet. Koh Panyee, where the James Bond Island tour stops for lunch, is a Muslim village, so pork is not on the menu there.
• Vegetarian and vegan: there are usually vegetable dishes and rice, but fish sauce and shrimp paste are common in Thai cooking, even in dishes that look vegetarian. Mention your needs when you book, and bring backup snacks if you are strict.
• Gluten free: rice is naturally gluten free, but soy sauce and oyster sauce often contain wheat. Plain rice, fruit and simple grilled dishes are the safest choices.
• Severe allergies: peanuts, shellfish and fish sauce are widely used, and buffets carry a risk of cross contact. Bring your own food, carry your medication and tell the guide about your allergy at the start of the day.

If you are unsure whether a tour suits a specific need, contact us before you book with your question. A shared buffet cannot always be adapted, so bringing your own food is the safest option for strict diets.

Food for Children

Buffet lunches usually include plain rice, fried rice, fruit and a few mild dishes, but some food is spicy, and unfamiliar food can be a hard sell to a tired child. Pack favorite snacks, a small sandwich and a drink they like. Avoid a big sugary breakfast before the boat ride, and offer snacks in small amounts through the day rather than one large meal just before a crossing.

Eating and Seasickness

What you eat before a boat day makes a difference. Have a light breakfast rather than skipping it, avoid greasy or very spicy food in the morning, and sip water through the day. If you use seasickness tablets, take them before you board as the packet directs, not once you already feel ill. Our seasickness tips have more ideas, including where to sit on the boat.

Keep Food Away from Wildlife

Snacks attract attention. At Monkey Beach on the Phi Phi tour, the macaques know that bags can contain food, and they will grab anything that looks promising. Keep food inside a closed bag, do not eat in front of the monkeys and never feed them. Our guide to the monkeys at Monkey Beach explains why.

The same applies in the water. Feeding fish is not allowed in Thailand's marine national parks. It changes their behavior and harms the reef, so leave the bread on the boat.

A Simple Food Checklist

• A light breakfast before pickup.
• A refillable water bottle.
• One or two dry, salty snacks per person.
• Fruit and familiar snacks for children.
• Your own food and medication if you have a severe allergy.
• A small bag to carry your rubbish back.

For everything else, see what to bring on an island tour, and browse all tours to compare what each trip includes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I bring snacks on a Phuket boat tour?

Yes. Small snacks and soft drinks are fine on our shared tours. Keep them in a small bag and take your rubbish with you.

Is lunch included on island tours?

Lunch is included on all five of our day tours. On private speedboat charters lunch is not included, so ask about options when you book.

Can I bring alcohol?

Alcohol is not included on our tours, and we do not recommend it on a speedboat day in the sun. On the jet ski tour, anyone who has been drinking cannot drive. For a private charter, ask when you book.

Is the food halal?

The Phi Phi tour lunch is a halal buffet, and the James Bond Island tour stops for lunch in a Muslim village. For other tours, ask before you book.