Koh Lanta is the island people arrive at exhausted, having discovered that the map lied. It shows Lanta a short hop off the Krabi coast. It doesn’t show that the mainland link is a queue of minivans for a ten-minute car ferry, that the “Krabi–Lanta ferry” runs five months of the year and not the other seven, or that a Phuket agent will sell you a boat that turns out to be a bus. Working out how to get to Koh Lanta isn’t hard, but it rewards ten minutes of reading over trusting a laminated sign.
I’ve done every version, from the ฿350 van that detoured to collect someone’s cousin to the Lipe speedboat that lost a hat overboard. Here’s every route, costed for 2026, with an honest verdict on each.
The short version: there are two ways onto Lanta — the road, via a car ferry and the Siri Lanta bridge, which works year-round; and the sea, via ferries and speedboats from Krabi, Ao Nang, Phi Phi, Phuket and Koh Lipe, which run roughly November to April and then stop. From Krabi town or airport, a shared minivan (฿350–500, 2–2½ hours, dropped at your hotel) is the answer in any month. From Bangkok, fly to Krabi and take that van; from Phuket, ferry in high season, van otherwise. If you’re still deciding whether Lanta deserves the extra hour, our Koh Lanta slow-road guide makes the case.
How to get to Koh Lanta: every route compared
One-way, one adult, September 2026 prices; times assume a hotel on Long Beach. “High season” boats run roughly November to April and are suspended otherwise — the road works in every month.
| Route | Mode | Time | Cost (฿) | When to choose it | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krabi town → Lanta | Shared minivan + car ferry | 2–2½ h | ฿350–450 | Any month; the default | Krabi → Lanta on 12Go |
| Krabi airport → Lanta | Shared minivan, hotel drop | 2–2½ h | ฿400–500 | Flying in | Airport → Lanta on 12Go |
| Krabi (Klong Jilad) → Lanta | Ferry, high season | 2 h | ฿450–600 | Nov–Apr, light luggage | Krabi ferries on 12Go |
| Phuket (Rassada) → Lanta | Ferry or speedboat, high season | 1½–4 h | ฿1,000–1,500 | Nov–Apr, you want the sea day | Phuket → Lanta on 12Go |
| Phuket → Lanta | Minivan, year-round | 5–6 h | ฿500–800 | Low season; families with bags | Phuket vans on 12Go |
| Bangkok → Lanta | Fly to Krabi + minivan | 6–7 h | ฿1,300–3,000 | Almost everyone | Flights on 12Go |
| Bangkok → Lanta | Overnight bus | 14–16 h | ฿1,000–1,400 | Tight budget | Bangkok → Lanta on 12Go |
| Bangkok → Lanta | Sleeper train to Trang + minivan | 15–17 h | ฿1,200–1,600 | Rail people with a spare day | Train + van on 12Go |
| Koh Phi Phi → Lanta | Ferry, high season | 1–1½ h | ฿450–700 | Island-hopping south | Phi Phi ↔ Lanta on 12Go |
| Koh Lipe / Trang islands → Lanta | Speedboat, high season | 1–3½ h | ฿800–1,900 | Coming up from the deep south | Lipe ↔ Lanta on 12Go |
| Koh Samui → Lanta | Ferry + bus + minivan | 7–9 h | ฿900–1,600 | Gulf to Andaman in one go | Samui → Lanta on 12Go |
From Krabi to Koh Lanta: the road, the ferry and the van that stops everywhere
The geography explains every price here. Koh Lanta Yai — the island with the beaches — sits behind smaller Koh Lanta Noi, joined to it by the Siri Lanta bridge since 2016. Lanta Noi is joined to the mainland at Ban Hua Hin by a ten-minute car ferry, the coast’s most reliable traffic jam. A mainland bridge finally got its contract on 31 August 2026 (฿1.8 billion, 1,825 metres, a Malaysian contractor), which means it is years, not months, away; until it opens the vans still queue for the car ferry. Krabi town to Saladan pier is about 70 km and, with the ferry, two to two and a half hours.
The shared minivan is the workhorse: ฿350–450 from Krabi bus terminal or the town agencies, roughly hourly from 7am to 5pm, car ferry included and — the useful part — a drop at your hotel, which the ferry does not do. Krabi to Koh Lanta vans on 12Go show which operators pick up in Ao Nang versus town. Now the honest bit: the van stops everywhere — four hotels in Ao Nang, the airport, a petrol station where you’re encouraged to buy crisps. Two hours becomes three. Nobody’s cheating you; it’s how a ฿400 door-to-door service pays for itself. If that’s intolerable, a private car is ฿2,000–2,800 and takes ninety minutes plus the ferry.
From Krabi airport, don’t go into town first. The arrivals counters sell Lanta with hotel drop for ฿400–500; the van leaves when full (allow up to an hour’s wait) and you’re on Long Beach two and a half hours later. Pre-booking Krabi airport to Koh Lanta on 12Go matters in December and January, when the last vans fill and the alternative is a night in Krabi town — a decent place to be stuck, per the Krabi stay guide explains.
The ferry from Krabi exists only in high season. From Klong Jilad pier, south of the town centre, one late-morning sailing calls at Koh Jum or Phi Phi and reaches Saladan in about two hours for ฿450–600; from Ao Nang it’s ฿600–700. It’s a lovely way to arrive, but it lands you at Saladan with bags and a tuk-tuk still to negotiate. Between May and October the schedules vanish, and anyone selling a “ferry” ticket is selling a van with a boat-shaped logo.
Verdict: van from the airport, van from town; treat the high-season ferry as a treat, not a transfer. Railay is boat-only, so cross to Ao Nang first (฿150 longtail, see our Railay guide) and pick up a van or the ferry there.
From Phuket to Koh Lanta: ferry or minivan
Phuket has the flights and Lanta has the beaches, so this is the second most common approach. In high season, boats leave Rassada pier around 8:30am: the slow ferry via Phi Phi takes up to four hours for about ฿1,000–1,200, the speedboats under two for ฿1,300–1,500. Add ฿200–400 for the hotel-to-pier transfer unless included. If your answer to “is Koh Phi Phi worth it?” was “not for a whole night”, the ferry gives you a look without the commitment. Phuket to Koh Lanta on 12Go lists ferry, speedboat and van side by side.
The minivan is the other answer and the only one from May to October: ฿500–800 including the car ferry, five to six hours via Phang Nga and Krabi, with at least one van change at a highway shed. Not a pleasure, but half the price of the boat, monsoon-proof, and it drops you at your hotel rather than Saladan pier. In low season the choice makes itself; in high season the ferry wins unless you’re a family with a mountain of bags.
From Bangkok to Koh Lanta: fly, bus or train
Fly to Krabi. AirAsia, Nok Air and Thai Lion put Krabi at ฿900–2,500 one way from Don Mueang (see the BKK vs DMK guide), the flight is 80 minutes, and the airport van is the ฿400–500 above. Door to door, six to seven hours and ฿1,300–3,000. Take a morning flight; the last airport vans leave around 5pm. Flights book on the Bangkok to Krabi page on 12Go alongside the buses; the full leg is in our Bangkok to Krabi guide.
The overnight bus comes in two forms. A direct Bangkok–Koh Lanta coach leaves the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai) a few evenings a week, ฿1,000–1,400, rolls onto the car ferry mid-morning and drops along the beach road — 14 to 16 hours. Otherwise it’s the Bangkok–Krabi VIP coach (฿700–1,200) and a change to the Lanta van at Krabi bus terminal, which is where most “direct” Khao San tickets actually put you. You save a hotel night and about ฿800, and arrive having slept in a refrigerated armchair. Bangkok to Koh Lanta on 12Go shows the direct services with seat class and terminal named.
The train goes to Trang, not Krabi, and for Lanta that’s a feature. The southern sleeper from Krung Thep Aphiwat reaches Trang around 8am — ฿900–1,100 for a second-class air-con berth as of September 2026 — and from the station it’s a 2½-hour minivan to Lanta for ฿350–400, timed to meet the train. Total ฿1,200–1,600 and a long, pleasant, slightly pointless day. Verdict: fly, morning departure, van from the airport. The bus is for the genuinely skint, the train for people who like trains more than beaches.
Island to island: Phi Phi, Koh Lipe and the Trang islands to Lanta
Koh Phi Phi to Koh Lanta is the easiest hop on the coast in the months it exists: ferries leave Tonsai pier late morning and early afternoon, take an hour to ninety minutes, and cost ฿450–700. The same boats run back, which is how Lanta does Phi Phi — as a day, not a stay. Koh Lanta to Koh Phi Phi on 12Go shows both directions; the last boat back is mid-afternoon. If that’s too much admin for a look at Maya Bay, a Phi Phi day trip from Lanta does it with lunch and snorkelling for ฿1,500–2,200.
Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta is the long one and the best boat ride on the coast. From roughly November to April, speedboats (Bundhaya, Tigerline, Satun Pakbara) leave Lipe around 9am, call at Koh Bulon, Koh Kradan, Koh Muk and Koh Ngai in some combination, and reach Saladan after three to three and a half hours for ฿1,350–1,900. Sit at the back if you value your camera. From the Trang islands you board the same boats mid-route for ฿800–1,200. There is no low-season version: from May it’s a ferry to Pakbara and two vans through Trang, most of a day for about ฿1,000. Koh Lanta to Koh Lipe on 12Go lists whichever is running.
Koh Samui to Koh Lanta: the cross-country day
Gulf to Andaman in one go is a real route and a full day. A combined ticket — ฿900–1,600 depending on whether the Samui leg is a Lomprayah catamaran or a slow Raja car ferry — goes Samui to Donsak by boat, Donsak to Krabi by coach (three to four hours of rubber and palm oil), and Krabi to your Lanta hotel by van. Seven to nine hours, leaving Samui at 7–8am and reaching Long Beach mid-afternoon, or dusk on a bad day. The only faster option is flying Samui–Krabi for ฿3,000–5,000 and doing the van anyway. Book the Koh Samui to Koh Lanta combo on 12Go as one ticket rather than three counters and hope. The Gulf end is in our Bangkok to Koh Samui guide.
Arriving at Saladan: hotel drops, ticket-booth scams and the low-season shutdown
Saladan is the top of the island, and your hotel probably isn’t. Long Beach is ten minutes south, Klong Nin thirty, Kantiang and the southern coves close to an hour. Every minivan ticket includes the hotel drop — say the hotel’s name clearly at the counter and again to the driver. Ferry passengers get no such kindness: at Saladan the pickup-truck taxis charge ฿100–200 a head to Long Beach, ฿300–400 to the south, ฿500–800 for the whole truck, which is why the ฿450 ferry and the ฿400 van cost the same in the end. Book the bed before the boat — Koh Lanta hotels on Agoda sort by beach, and the beach decides the transfer.
The scams are small and specific. Around Krabi bus terminal and on the road into Ao Nang, booths with printed “Koh Lanta Ferry” signs sell ฿700–900 tickets for the ฿400 van sold fifty metres away; in low season they’ll sell the ferry that isn’t running and put you on the van anyway. Buy from the terminal counter, your hotel, or online with the operator named. The other classic is “ferry cancelled, weather, take my private car” on a windless morning; the boat is fine. The wider field guide is in Thailand scams to know about, and if a quote sounds odd the Thailand Price Index has the fair number.
Seasons decide the route for you. From about November to April every boat in this guide runs. From May to October the passenger ferries are suspended — a few Phi Phi boats limp into May and restart in late October, but don’t plan on it — and the road is the whole answer; the car ferry runs in anything short of a storm. Lanta is quieter and half the price in the green months; see when to visit Thailand for the month-by-month.
Getting to Koh Lanta: your questions, answered
What is the cheapest way to get to Koh Lanta from Krabi?
The shared minivan from Krabi bus terminal, ฿350–450 including the car ferry and hotel drop, two to three hours depending on pick-ups. The high-season ferry costs about the same but lands you at Saladan with a taxi still to pay.
Is there a ferry from Krabi to Koh Lanta all year?
No. Passenger ferries from Klong Jilad pier and Ao Nang run roughly November to April. The only year-round crossing is the ten-minute car ferry to Lanta Noi, which every minivan and bus uses, followed by the Siri Lanta bridge.
How do you get from Krabi airport to Koh Lanta?
Buy a shared minivan ticket at the arrivals counters or online for ฿400–500 with hotel drop; about two and a half hours including the car ferry. Vans leave when full and the last go around 5pm. A private car is ฿2,000–2,800.
Is it better to go to Koh Lanta from Phuket by ferry or by minivan?
In high season the ferry or speedboat from Rassada pier (฿1,000–1,500, under two to four hours via Phi Phi) is the better and usually faster journey. From May to October the boats don’t run and the minivan (฿500–800, five to six hours, hotel drop) is the only option.
Can you get from Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta directly?
Yes, but only from about November to April, when speedboats run Lipe to Saladan via the Trang islands in three to three and a half hours for ฿1,350–1,900. In low season it becomes a ferry to Pakbara and two minivans through Trang, most of a day for around ฿1,000.
Related guides
- Koh Lanta: The Slow Road Island, Beach by Beach
- Bangkok to Krabi: Every Route Costed
- Seven Days on the Andaman Coast: An Island-Hopper’s Itinerary
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Transfers: everything in this guide books on 12Go with the operator named — Krabi to Koh Lanta, Krabi airport to Koh Lanta, Phuket to Koh Lanta and Bangkok to Koh Lanta. Hotels: pick your beach first, then compare Koh Lanta hotels on Agoda. Not certain Lanta is your island at all? Our Where to Go in Thailand matcher scores all 77 provinces against your month, your crowd tolerance and what you actually want from the trip.
