It is the first question almost everyone asks us, and it is a fair one. Both shared tours visit Tup Island and the sandbar, Chicken Island, Koh Poda and Phra Nang Cave Beach. Both collect you from your hotel, include lunch, a guide, snorkel gear and life vests, and leave the national park fee of THB 200 per adult and THB 100 per child to be paid in cash on the day. So the islands are not what you are choosing between. The boat is.
A longtail is a long wooden boat with an engine on a pole at the back. You sit low, the spray reaches you, and the engine is loud enough that conversation waits for the beach. It is also the boat most people picture when they think of Krabi, and pulling up on Poda's sand in one feels right. The shared longtail starts at THB 995 per adult and THB 795 per child, lunch is a Thai meal on the beach at Koh Poda, and you are back at your hotel around 15:30 to 16:00.
The shared speedboat covers the same route faster, so you spend less of the day moving between islands. It starts at THB 1,150 per adult and THB 950 per child, lunch is a Thai lunch box eaten on Poda, and hotel drop-offs begin around 14:00. The trade-off is the ride: in choppy water a speedboat bounces, and anyone who suffers at sea feels it more than on a slow boat.
Private longtails and speedboats are priced per boat, not per person. A private longtail starts at THB 4,050 for one to five guests, which works out close to the shared rate for a group of five and far above it for a couple. A private speedboat starts at THB 10,995 for up to ten. Lunch and an English-speaking guide are extras on both, and pickup outside Ao Nang costs a supplement.
Choose the longtail if price matters most or you want the traditional boat. Choose the speedboat if an earlier return or a gentler morning suits you better, and the sea looks calm. Choose a private boat if there are five or more of you. Everything is side by side on the comparison page, and the prices and fees guide shows the full cost of each.