Three islands, one stretch of the Gulf of Thailand, and a ferry network that looks chaotic from the pier and is in fact admirably simple once you know three things: which boat leaves from which pier, that the last dependable boat to Koh Tao goes mid-afternoon, and that the cheapest Koh Samui to Koh Phangan ferry is a car ferry that sails when the fancy catamarans are hiding from the weather. Here is every boat between Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao for 2026 — piers, times, fares in baht, and the one we’d book on each leg.
The short answer: Samui to Phangan is a 30-minute hop that costs ฿200–350 and runs all day, so nobody needs to plan it; Phangan to Koh Tao is an hour-plus crossing that costs ฿450–600 and stops running by late afternoon, so everybody needs to plan it; and Samui to Koh Tao is simply those two legs stitched together on the same boat, ฿600–700 and two hours, with the 12:30 Lomprayah the sailing that makes a same-day flight-and-ferry arrival work. Everything else is detail, and the detail is where people lose a day.
Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao ferries: every boat compared
One adult, one way, August 2026 fares. “Counter” is the operator’s pier price; online booking sites often list the same sailing cheaper (12Go’s floors this month: ฿200 Samui–Phangan, ฿450 Phangan–Tao, ฿450 Samui–Tao), and evening speedboats cost more than the daytime ones. Times are crossing times — add the taxi to the pier.
| Leg and boat | Piers | Crossing | Fare | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samui → Phangan, Lomprayah catamaran | Maenam (Pralarn) or Bangrak → Thong Sala | 20–30 min | ฿300–350 counter | Samui–Phangan on 12Go |
| Samui → Phangan, Seatran Discovery | Bangrak → Thong Sala | 30–45 min | about ฿300 | same page |
| Samui → Phangan, Songserm | Nathon → Thong Sala | 45–60 min | ฿200–300 | same page |
| Samui → Phangan, Raja Ferry (car ferry) | Lipa Noi → Thong Sala | 60–90 min | ฿150 · bike from ฿200 · car from ฿470 | at the pier |
| Samui → Haad Rin direct, Haad Rin Queen | Bangrak (Big Buddha) → Haad Rin | 50–60 min | ฿250–300, cash at the pier | at the pier |
| Phangan → Koh Tao, Lomprayah catamaran | Thong Sala → Mae Haad | 1 h – 1 h 15 | ฿450–600 | Phangan–Koh Tao on 12Go |
| Phangan → Koh Tao, Songserm | Thong Sala → Mae Haad | 1 h 45 – 2 h | ฿400–450 | same page |
| Samui → Koh Tao, Lomprayah catamaran (via Thong Sala) | Maenam or Bangrak → Mae Haad | 1 h 30 – 2 h | ฿600–700 | Samui–Koh Tao on 12Go |
| Samui → Koh Tao, Seatran Discovery (via Thong Sala) | Bangrak → Mae Haad | 2 h – 2 h 30 | about ฿600–700 | same page |
| Samui → Koh Tao, Songserm (via Thong Sala) | Nathon → Mae Haad | 2 h 45 – 3 h | ฿550–600 | same page |
Koh Samui to Koh Phangan by ferry: thirty minutes, five ways
It is 17 kilometres of water and there are, depending on how you count the speedboats, something like 150 departures a day, so the Samui–Phangan leg is the one crossing in Thailand you can do on a whim. Lomprayah‘s red-and-white catamarans are the classic: 20–30 minutes from its Maenam (Pralarn) pier on the north coast, or from its newer Bangrak pier, to Thong Sala, Phangan’s main harbour, ฿300–350 at the counter, the 08:00 and 12:30 sailings being the ones that continue to Koh Tao. Seatran Discovery does the same run from its own pier at Bangrak — three or so boats a day, early morning, early afternoon and late afternoon — in 30–45 minutes for about ฿300, and its boats are the ones with the most room for a rucksack. Songserm is the slow, honest option: a proper ferry from Nathon on the west coast, 45 minutes to an hour, ฿200–300, which matters if you are coming off the Surat Thani boats that also dock at Nathon. Compare the lot on one page — Koh Samui to Koh Phangan on 12Go — which this month lists the crossing from ฿200 and shows you which pier each sailing actually uses.
Two boats do things the others can’t. Raja Ferry‘s big roll-on roll-off car ferries sail from Lipa Noi, a quiet pier on Samui’s south-west coast, to Thong Sala in an hour to ninety minutes, and cost ฿150 a person, ฿200 or so for a motorbike and from ฿470 for a car. It is the only way to move a vehicle between the islands (your rental scooter’s contract almost certainly forbids it, check before you try), it is the cheapest human fare on the water, and it is the boat that still sails when the sea is too lively for the catamarans. And the Haad Rin Queen, a wooden boat of a certain age, is the only service that lands you directly at Haad Rin — the Full Moon Party beach — from Bangrak (Big Buddha) pier: 50 minutes to an hour, ฿250–300, four sailings a day from mid-morning to late afternoon, tickets in cash at the pier. If you are staying in Haad Rin it saves the ฿100–200 songthaew from Thong Sala and a hot half-hour on the road; on party nights it is standing room and worth being early for.
Verdict: Lomprayah or Seatran if you are staying anywhere on Samui’s north or east coasts (Bangrak is 15 minutes from Chaweng and 10 from the airport); Songserm if you are already at Nathon; Raja if you have a vehicle or the weather is up; Haad Rin Queen if Haad Rin is the destination. The speedboats — Songserm Express from Petcherat Marina at Bangrak, Echo Travel, and a couple of party-night operators — take 20 minutes and cost ฿400 by day, rising to ฿600–800 after dark; they are the answer when you have missed the last proper boat and nothing else.
Koh Phangan to Koh Tao by ferry: the leg that ends before tea
Fifty kilometres of open Gulf, and the thing to know before the timetable is this: the last boats to Koh Tao leave Thong Sala in the afternoon — a 15:00 speedboat on a normal day, a 16:45 Lomprayah on some days in season, and nothing at all after dark. Arrive at the pier at five with a rucksack and a plan and you will be sleeping on Phangan. Within those limits there are about two dozen departures: Lomprayah‘s catamarans take an hour to an hour and a quarter to Mae Haad, Koh Tao’s one and only pier, for ฿450–600 (the counter price is at the top of that range, the online price at the bottom), with sailings clustered around 08:30, 12:00–13:00 and a late-afternoon run; Songserm‘s ferry takes nearer two hours for ฿400–450 and leaves at lunchtime; and the speedboats do it in an hour for about the same money as the catamaran, with the caveat that a speedboat on an open-sea crossing is an acquired taste. Seatran Discovery’s Koh Tao boat from Samui also calls at Thong Sala on the way, so you can buy that leg at its pier office. Koh Phangan to Koh Tao on 12Go lists them side by side; in high season and the week after a Full Moon, the morning catamaran sells out a day or two ahead.
Verdict: the 08:30 Lomprayah, booked the day before. You are on Koh Tao by ten with the whole day ahead, which is exactly what the island is for — see our Koh Tao diving guide for why most people who book two nights stay a week. If mornings are not your thing, the 12:00–13:00 catamaran; anything later is a gamble on the weather and the wristband economy.
Koh Samui to Koh Tao by ferry: “direct” means a stop at Thong Sala
Every Samui–Koh Tao boat is the Samui–Phangan boat continuing north: the catamaran pulls into Thong Sala, swaps a few dozen passengers, and carries on. Lomprayah is the fastest, an hour and a half to two hours from Maenam or Bangrak to Mae Haad, ฿700 at the counter and from about ฿450 online, on the 08:00 and 12:30 catamarans, plus a late-morning and a 16:00 sailing on many days; Seatran Discovery from Bangrak takes two to two and a half hours for ฿600–700; Songserm from Nathon takes the best part of three for ฿550–600, and has the dignity of an actual ship. Lomprayah also sells a taxi-plus-boat ticket for about ฿850 that collects you from your Samui hotel or the airport, which is the one to look at if you are arriving by air. Koh Samui to Koh Tao on 12Go shows the departure pier for each, which matters more on this leg than any other: the boats do not wait, and Maenam and Bangrak are 20 minutes apart.
The flight-and-ferry day: a morning Bangkok–Samui flight (our Bangkok to Koh Samui guide has the fares, and the cheaper route via Surat Thani) lands by 11, Bangrak pier is ten minutes from the terminal, and the 12:30 catamaran has you on Koh Tao before three. Miss it and there is usually one more — the 16:00 Lomprayah, arriving at dusk — and after that the honest answer is a night on Samui or Phangan: nothing sails to Koh Tao after dark, and the “private speedboat” a tout will offer you at the pier runs to five figures.
Verdict: the 12:30 Lomprayah if you are arriving by air, the 08:00 if you are already on Samui and want the day on Tao. If Tao is the end of your island run rather than the middle, read the last section first: the way home from Koh Tao is almost never back through Samui.
Know your pier: Nathon, Lipa Noi, Bangrak, Maenam, Thong Sala, Haad Rin, Mae Haad
Most ferry disasters on these islands are pier disasters. On Samui, Nathon (west coast, the town) is Songserm and the Surat Thani ferries — 30–45 minutes and ฿300–500 by taxi from Chaweng; Lipa Noi (south-west, nothing there but the ramp) is Raja Ferry; Bangrak, also called Big Buddha pier (north-east), is Seatran Discovery, Lomprayah’s second pier, the Haad Rin Queen and the speedboat marina — 15–20 minutes from Chaweng, 10 from the airport, ฿200–300 in a taxi or a lot less in a shared songthaew; Maenam, the Pralarn pier (north coast), is Lomprayah’s original home. On Phangan everything lands at Thong Sala on the west coast, a working harbour with a fuel station, a 7-Eleven and a row of songthaew drivers quoting ฿100–200 a head to Haad Rin or the north-coast beaches (more after dark, and more again on party nights); the single exception is the Haad Rin Queen, which docks at Haad Rin’s own west-side pier. On Koh Tao there is only Mae Haad, a village of dive shops on the west coast; Sairee Beach is a ฿100–150 songthaew or a sweaty 20-minute walk north. Fares for all of those, fair versus tourist quote, are in our Thailand Price Index.
Full Moon nights, monsoon weeks and the mistakes that cost a day
The Gulf’s weather clock runs opposite to Phuket’s. The wet season here is October to early December, November the worst of it, and in a rough week the catamarans and speedboats are cancelled first, the Songserm ferry next, and Raja’s car ferries last — Koh Tao, with no car ferry at all, can be cut off for a day or two. Plan a loose day either side of the Koh Tao leg in those months and do not book a non-refundable flight for the morning after a crossing. Full Moon Party dates change everything for 48 hours: 2026’s remaining parties are 28 August, 26 September, 27 October, 24 November, 24 December and the New Year’s Eve countdown (the full story is in our Full Moon Party guide), and around each the Samui–Phangan boats add late sailings at speedboat prices, the Haad Rin Queen is rammed, and the morning-after departures from Thong Sala to Koh Tao sell out — book that one before the party, not after. Buy the ferry, not the package: hotel tour desks and the touts at Chaweng sell “ferry plus transfer” bundles at nearly double the pier price, and the transfer is a songthaew you could have flagged down; the exception is Lomprayah’s own hotel-pickup ticket, which is priced fairly. Scooters stay on their island: almost every rental forbids taking the bike on the ferry, and the damage deposit you signed for makes the argument short. Leaving Koh Tao, go forward, not back: the Lomprayah catamaran from Mae Haad to Chumphon on the mainland takes about two hours for ฿450–600, and from Chumphon the trains and buses to Bangkok are quicker and cheaper than retracing the islands to Samui airport — Koh Tao to Chumphon on 12Go also sells the boat-and-train through-ticket. And the oldest rule of all: arrive in daylight. Thong Sala at 9pm with a rucksack and no hotel booked is the opening scene of several of the scams we warn about.
Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao ferries: your questions, answered
What is the cheapest ferry from Koh Samui to Koh Phangan?
Raja Ferry from Lipa Noi to Thong Sala at ฿150 a person (60–90 minutes, and it takes vehicles). Among the fast boats, Songserm from Nathon is ฿200–300 and the Lomprayah and Seatran catamarans are ฿300–350 at the counter — often from around ฿200 when booked online.
Can I get from Koh Samui to Koh Tao in one day after flying in?
Yes, if you land by late morning: Bangrak pier is ten minutes from Samui airport and the 12:30 Lomprayah catamaran reaches Koh Tao before 3pm. The last sailing is the 16:00 Lomprayah on many days, and nothing runs after dark, so an evening flight means a night on Samui or Koh Phangan first.
Is there a direct ferry from Koh Samui to Haad Rin?
One: the Haad Rin Queen, a wooden ferry from Bangrak (Big Buddha) pier to Haad Rin’s pier, 50–60 minutes, ฿250–300, four times a day, tickets in cash at the pier. Every other boat lands at Thong Sala, from where Haad Rin is a ฿100–200 songthaew.
Can I take a motorbike or car between the islands?
Only on Raja Ferry between Samui (Lipa Noi) and Koh Phangan (Thong Sala) — about ฿200 for a motorbike, from ฿470 for a car — and only if the vehicle is yours: rental contracts almost always forbid it. Nothing carries vehicles to Koh Tao.
What is the best way from Koh Tao back to Bangkok?
Forward to the mainland, not back through Samui: the Lomprayah catamaran to Chumphon (about two hours, ฿450–600) connects with trains, buses and Lomprayah’s own coach to Bangkok, usually as one through-ticket. Going back via Samui only makes sense if you have a flight booked from Samui airport.
Related guides
- Bangkok to Koh Samui: Fly, Fly-and-Ferry, or the Night Train
- Where to Stay in Koh Phangan
- Where to Stay in Koh Samui
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Ferry tickets: every operator on one page for each leg — Koh Samui to Koh Phangan, Koh Phangan to Koh Tao and Koh Samui to Koh Tao — with the return directions (Koh Tao to Koh Samui, Koh Phangan to Koh Samui) priced the same. Book the Koh Tao legs a day or two ahead in high season; the Samui–Phangan hop can wait until the pier.
Hotels: match the hotel to the pier you’ll use — Koh Samui hotels on Agoda (Bangrak and Bophut for early boats), Koh Phangan hotels (Thong Sala and Baan Tai for an easy pier run, Haad Rin for the party) and Koh Tao hotels (Mae Haad or Sairee — everywhere else is a taxi-boat).
Not sure the Gulf islands are your islands 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 — honest ratings included.
