exploreaswego

Depends on what you want to see. If you have tonnes of time for R&R, by all means book with a tour package.
If you don't mind forking out more money, or share a private tour with another couple, I suggest John Gray Canoe.
They are pricey, but those were some of our best memories of our time in Phuket.
We paid about $500-600 for a day tour.
We had free shuttle pick up from our hotel, 3 locals - 1 fluent in English, 1 support guide that isn't as fluent, and 1 boatman.
We had the whole longtail boat complete for ourselves, decked with 4 personal kayak canoes.
The main attraction was the Hongs (Lagoons in Thai) on kayaks, spectacular tour, as we beat the crowds that had about 30-40 poor souls stuffed in a long tail boat in our size.
In comparison, other tours usually take you to 1 location, drop the bunch of people off in a beach with other tour boats, give you an hour in a ridiculously packed remote beach, and then they pick you back up. (Phi Phi Islands was one of those beaches - in all honesty, you can get to Phi Phi via water ferry at Rassada Pier from Phuket for just a few hundred baht)
We passed by numerous of these beaches, and we pity those poor tourists, as they are essentially stuck and not given an option to choose their itinerary.
We told our guide we prefer secluded spots and hidden gems where the locals would visit, and for the day, that is what we got.
Throughout the day, we had snacks/fruits/water all stocked for us, so we didn't have to worry about food, just enjoying our tour and taking a tonne of pictures and videos.
We had lunch at a local fisherman village, none there spoke a word of English, but the food was mind blowing the best seafood we had in Thailand ever.
We ended the tour with a relaxing afternoon unwinding at a beach where only locals visit, and head back to the port where the driver picked up back to our hotel.
When we looked back, with the $600 split into 4 people, about $150 per person, it was money worth spending as transportation/food/tour all eventually added up to that amount.
Will probably do the night tour with them when we get a chance to go back to Phuket.