Phuket is where the Andaman starts and where the map stops making sense. It has three working piers on three coasts, a bus terminal nobody finds first time, and an agent on every corner selling a “ferry to Krabi” that turns out to be a Toyota Commuter. Getting from Phuket to Krabi, Phi Phi, Koh Lanta or the Yao islands is not difficult; it is just that every route leaves from a different place, at a different price, and half of them stop for six months of the year. So here is the whole board, costed for October 2026, with a verdict on each. Fares are one adult, one way, and they drift with the season — a compass, not a quote. The small stuff, from tuk-tuks to the songthaew at the other end, lives in our Thailand Price Index.
The short version: Phi Phi is a ฿450–600 ferry from Rassada Pier, two hours, several a day, year-round. Krabi is a ฿240–320 bus from Bus Terminal 2, three to four hours, or a van to the Ao Nang hotel door for ฿450–700. Koh Lanta is a boat from November to April and a van the rest of the year. Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai are a ฿300–400 speedboat from Bang Rong, thirty minutes, and the one route the monsoon barely touches. Pick the bed before the boat — start with the Phuket province profile and our where to stay in Phuket guide — because the pier you need depends on the beach you chose.
Phuket to Krabi, Phi Phi, Lanta and the Yao islands: every route costed for October 2026
One adult, one way, October 2026 prices. “Time” is pier to pier or terminal to terminal — add an hour and ฿200–400 a head for a hotel pickup on any boat. “High season” means roughly November to April, when everything in the table runs; the road runs all year.
| Route | Mode | Cost | Time | Frequency | Verdict | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rassada → Koh Phi Phi | Ferry (speedboat) | ฿450–600 (฿800–1,200) | 2 h (45–60 min) | 3–5 daily high season, 2–3 May–Oct | The default; do it | Phi Phi boats on 12Go |
| Bus Terminal 2 → Krabi Town | Bus | ฿240–320 | 3–4 h | Roughly hourly 06:30–16:50 | Best value on the coast | Buses on 12Go |
| Phuket → Krabi Town or Ao Nang | Minivan | ฿300–500; ฿450–700 to Ao Nang door | 2.5–3.5 h | Hourly-ish, when full | Do it for Ao Nang | Minivans on 12Go |
| Phuket → Krabi or Ao Nang | Taxi or private car | ฿2,200–3,000 per car | 2.5–3 h | On demand | Groups of 3–4, late flights | Private transfers on GetYourGuide |
| Rassada → Koh Lanta | Ferry or speedboat, Nov–Apr | ฿1,000–1,500 | 1.5–4 h | 1–2 daily in season | The pretty way, high season only | Lanta boats on 12Go |
| Phuket → Koh Lanta | Minivan + car ferry | ฿500–800 | 5–6 h | Several daily, year-round | The only low-season answer | Lanta vans on 12Go |
| Bang Rong → Koh Yao Noi | Speedboat | ฿300–400 | 30 min | Every 1–1.5 h high season | Do it; runs nearly all year | Koh Yao Noi on 12Go |
| Bang Rong → Koh Yao Yai | Speedboat | ฿250–400 | 30–45 min | 4–6 daily | Do it; check which pier | Koh Yao Yai on 12Go |
| Bus Terminal 2 → Khao Lak | Bus or minivan | ฿150–250 bus; ฿300–500 van | 1.5–2.5 h | Roughly hourly | Bus wins | Khao Lak on 12Go |
| Phuket → Koh Samui | Bus + ferry combo | ฿900–1,400 | 7–9 h | 1–2 morning departures | Fine once; fly if the money exists | Samui combos on 12Go |
Which pier? Rassada, Bang Rong and Chalong, and what actually leaves each one
Phuket is 50 km long and its piers sit on three coasts, which is why boats get missed. Rassada Pier, on the east side of Phuket Town — 3 km from the Old Town, 45 minutes from Patong — is the big one: a proper terminal with a ticket hall, and the departure point for every scheduled ferry and most speedboats to Phi Phi, Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe. Bang Rong Pier is a jetty in the mangroves on the north-east coast in Thalang, twenty minutes from the airport and an hour from Patong; it serves Koh Yao Noi, Koh Yao Yai and the Yao-islands route to Ao Nang, and nothing else. Chalong Pier, at the south end, is the day-trip pier — Racha, Coral Island, the Phi Phi speedboat tours — with a few scheduled Phi Phi speedboats mixed in. If your ticket says Chalong and you expected a ferry, ask again.
Bus Terminal 2 is neither a pier nor in town: Thepkasattri Road, 4 km north of Phuket Town, around ฿150–200 by Grab from the Old Town and ฿400–600 from Patong, and every intercity bus and most scheduled minivans — Krabi, Khao Lak, the Samui combinations, the Bangkok coaches in our Bangkok to Phuket guide — leave from here. Hotel pickups run about two hours before a boat: for the 08:30 Phi Phi ferry that is a Patong lobby at 06:30 and a van that tours six more hotels first. Straight off a flight, read our Phuket airport arrival guide — the 08:30 boats are out of reach from anything landing after about 07:00. Luggage goes in the bow on a ferry and under a tarpaulin on a speedboat; the tarpaulin is decorative.
Phuket to Koh Phi Phi: the Rassada ferry, the speedboat and the ฿20 at Tonsai
This is the route everyone does, and the numbers are the most stable on the coast. Big ferries — Andaman Wave Master, Chaokoh, Phi Phi Cruiser, Seastar — leave Rassada at 08:30, then late morning and early afternoon, the last around 15:00 in high season: two hours to Tonsai Pier on Phi Phi Don, ฿450–600 one way at the pier or online, ฿600–800 when an agent bundles the hotel pickup. From May to October the timetable thins to two or three sailings and the boats still go, in a swell that separates the people who took the tablet from those who didn’t. Phuket to Koh Phi Phi on 12Go lists every operator with the pickup as a separate line, which is the honest way to compare them.
Speedboats do it in 45 minutes to an hour for ฿800–1,200, from Rassada or, with some operators, Chalong: fine in February, a misery in August. The ฿1,500–2,500 day-trip tour sees Phi Phi at its busiest hour and Maya Bay from a queue; if a day is all you have, book an early-bird departure before 07:00 — early Phi Phi tours on GetYourGuide — and otherwise take the ferry and sleep there. On arrival everyone pays the ฿20 island clean-up fee at Tonsai; it is legitimate. Maya Bay, closed every year from 1 August to 30 September, reopened on 1 October with its ฿400 park fee and no-swimming rule intact; our answer to whether Koh Phi Phi is still worth it covers what that fee buys.
Verdict: the 08:30 ferry, booked the night before, with a Grab to Rassada (฿400–600 from Patong) rather than the agency van if you value the hour. Do it.
Phuket to Krabi: bus, minivan, taxi or the long way round by sea
Krabi is 160 km away round the top of Phang Nga Bay, and the choice is cheap and slow, cheap and slightly faster, or expensive and quick. Buses from Bus Terminal 2 start at 06:30 and run roughly hourly until late afternoon, ฿240–320 as of October 2026, three to four hours to Krabi’s bus terminal at Talat Kao, 5 km north of Krabi Town; a white songthaew into town is ฿20–30, on to Ao Nang another ฿60–100 and a wait. Phuket to Krabi on 12Go shows buses next to vans with the terminals named, which matters, because “Phuket” on a ticket can mean Terminal 2 or a hotel lobby in Patong.
The minivan is ฿300–500 from the terminal counters, hourly-ish from 06:40 to 18:00, leaving when full, two and a half to three and a half hours depending on how many hotels it visits. The version worth paying for is the direct van to Ao Nang, ฿450–700 with the hotel drop at both ends and at least three a day in high season. If your bed is in Ao Nang, or you are bound for Railay — boat-only, so Ao Nang first, per our Railay guide — this is the answer; where to stay in Krabi settles which before you buy anything.
A private car is ฿2,200–3,000 pre-booked, two and a half to three hours door to door; the street price at Patong opens at ฿2,500, and Grab quotes ฿2,100–3,400 plus a ฿200 intercity surcharge, driver willing. Private Phuket to Krabi transfers on GetYourGuide list fixed prices per car; split four ways it is ฿600–750 a head. The sea route — the 08:30 ferry to Phi Phi, two hours at Tonsai, then a Phi Phi–Krabi ferry to Klong Jilad or Ao Nang for ฿450–600 — is ฿900–1,200 and four to six hours, November to April only, and only if Phi Phi is part of the point; Koh Phi Phi to Krabi on 12Go has the second leg. Things to do in Krabi and the Krabi airport arrival guide take over on the other side.
Verdict: bus for Krabi Town, direct van for Ao Nang, private car for four, ferry for a mood. Skip the ฿700 “VIP van”, which is the ฿400 van with a curtain.
Phuket to Koh Lanta: direct boat in high season, van and car ferry the rest of the year
Koh Lanta is the island Phuket agents lie about most, because the answer changes with the calendar. From roughly November to April, boats leave Rassada around 08:30: a slow ferry via Phi Phi, up to four hours for ฿1,000–1,200, or a speedboat, an hour and a half to two for ฿1,300–1,500, both landing at Saladan on the island’s north tip, where a pickup-truck taxi to Long Beach is another ฿100–200 a head. From May to October the direct boats are suspended; the June sailings you may see on an aggregator are speedboat-via-Phi-Phi combinations that run when the sea allows.
The other answer, in any month, is the minivan: ฿500–800 including the ten-minute car ferry to Lanta Noi and the Siri Lanta bridge, five to six hours via Phang Nga and Krabi with a change at a highway shed, and a drop at your hotel rather than the pier. In low season it is the only answer; in high season it is still right for a family with a mountain of bags. Phuket to Koh Lanta on 12Go lists ferry, speedboat and van on one page; the full board is in our how to get to Koh Lanta guide, and what to do on arrival — gloriously little — in Things to Do on Koh Lanta.
Verdict: boat in high season if you travel light; van otherwise, and always from May to October. Anyone selling a “Lanta ferry” in July is selling a van with a boat on the logo.
Phuket to Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai: the Bang Rong speedboats
The Yao islands sit in the middle of Phang Nga Bay, half an hour off Phuket’s east coast — they belong to Phang Nga province, not Phuket, which explains the pace — and they are the best-value crossing in this article. Speedboats leave Bang Rong for Koh Yao Noi’s Manoh pier roughly every hour to ninety minutes from about 07:30 to 17:30 in high season, every two hours or so in low: thirty minutes, ฿300–400 as of October 2026. The older ฿200 figure belongs to the wooden longtails, which take an hour and a quarter and are the better ride if nobody is waiting. Koh Yao Yai gets four to six speedboats a day at ฿250–400, thirty to forty-five minutes, to Klong Hia or Loh Jak depending on the operator — check which, because the island is 30 km long. Phuket to Koh Yao Noi on 12Go and Phuket to Koh Yao Yai show the day’s departures; outside Christmas and Chinese New Year you can simply turn up.
Getting to Bang Rong is the real cost: ฿400–600 by Grab from the airport, ฿700–900 by taxi from Patong, or a shared agent transfer at ฿200–300 a head that arrives when it arrives. Because the bay is sheltered, the Yao boats keep running through the monsoon when the Phi Phi speedboats have given up — the quiet argument for a Yao island in September. The pier also runs a combination via Koh Yao Noi to Ao Nang and Railay, ฿900–1,200, two to two and a half hours, one morning and one early-afternoon departure: the prettiest way to reach Krabi and the least reliable in July.
Verdict: do it. The one Phuket boat that is cheap, short, frequent and mostly monsoon-proof. Book the bed on Koh Yao Noi before the boat; there are not many.
Phuket to Khao Lak and Phuket to Koh Samui: the overland odd ones out
Khao Lak is ninety minutes up Highway 4 on the mainland, the base for the Similans, and served by every bus leaving Bus Terminal 2 for Takua Pa, Ranong and Surat Thani: ฿150–250, roughly hourly, one and a half to two and a half hours depending on stops, dropping you on the main road at Nang Thong or Bang Niang. Minivans with a hotel pickup are ฿300–500; a taxi from the airport, which is already a third of the way there, around ฿1,500–2,000. Phuket to Khao Lak on 12Go has the vans; the big buses are a counter purchase. If the Similans are the reason, read our Similan Islands guide before you fix dates: the park opens in mid-October and shuts again in May.
Koh Samui is a different sea. There is no ferry from Phuket to Samui in any meaningful sense; what is sold as one is a bus to Donsak pier near Surat Thani, four to five hours across the peninsula, and a catamaran or car ferry across the Gulf. Lomprayah’s combination ticket is ฿1,200–1,400, leaving around 07:30 with a pickup and reaching Nathon in seven to nine hours; the Seatran and Raja versions are ฿900–1,200 with a slower boat. Phuket to Koh Samui on 12Go sells all three as one ticket, which beats buying it in pieces at Donsak. Bangkok Airways flies it in an hour for ฿3,000–6,000, which is the whole argument in one line; our Gulf ferries guide takes over at the other end.
Verdict: Khao Lak by bus, no question. Samui by bus-and-boat once, on a day you can spare; by plane if the money exists, because eight hours on Highway 401 is not a holiday.
Monsoon reality: what actually sails from Phuket between May and October
The south-west monsoon runs May to October, and it does not cancel the coast, but it rewrites the timetable. What keeps going: the Phi Phi ferries, two or three a day, in a swell; the Bang Rong boats, nearly always; every bus and van here, because roads do not have swells. What stops: the direct Phuket–Lanta boats; the Phuket–Lipe speedboats, November to April only via Phi Phi and Lanta for around ฿2,300–3,000 (Phuket to Koh Lipe on 12Go shows the season’s first sailings); most Chalong day trips on any morning the harbourmaster raises the flag; and Maya Bay, from 1 August to 30 September. Ferries do get cancelled — in a proper blow the pier simply shuts for the day — and it is the ticket that gets refunded, not the hotel night you miss.
From late October the boats creep back, and by mid-November everything in the table is running; the sea is flat from December to March and the prices know it. Our best time to visit Thailand guide has the month-by-month for both coasts, and Thailand in November covers the shoulder weeks. If a boat and a bus both exist for your date, take the bus in September and the boat in January.
Joint tickets, phantom ferries and the Rassada touts: how to book without being had
Phuket’s transport scams are small, repetitive and mostly legal, and knowing four of them is enough. First, the “joint ticket”: an agency bundle of pickup, ferry and onward transfer sold at ฿1,200–1,500 that unbundles into a ฿250 minivan and a ฿500 ferry, with a “voucher” to be exchanged at a Rassada counter that announces the boat is full and offers the speedboat for a supplement. Buy the ferry with the operator’s name on it and the pickup separately, or take a Grab. Second, the phantom ferry: Lanta and Lipe boats sold in low season that are vans, and a “Krabi ferry” that is a bus with a boat on the sign. Third, “ferry cancelled, weather” on a flat morning, followed by a private speedboat quote; the ferry is fine, walk to the counter. Fourth, the Rassada car park — men selling “pier fees” and “priority boarding” at the taxi rank; the only fee is the ฿20 at Tonsai. The wider repertoire is in our Thailand scams guide.
How to book: boats on 12Go with the operator named, a day ahead from December to February and over Songkran, or at the Rassada counters on the morning otherwise; buses and vans at the Bus Terminal 2 counters, in cash, or on 12Go to hold the seat; Bang Rong on the day. Cards often attract a 3 per cent “fee” and the pier ATM charges the ฿220 like everywhere else (see our money guide), so carry cash; sort an eSIM first (the ten-minute version) so you can check the operator’s page when the tout says the boat is full. And book the bed before the boat — Krabi hotels on Agoda, Phi Phi hotels, Koh Lanta hotels or the Yao islands — because on every one of these routes the pier is at the wrong end of the island.
Phuket to Krabi and the islands: your questions, answered
What is the cheapest way to get from Phuket to Krabi?
The bus from Phuket Bus Terminal 2 on Thepkasattri Road, ฿240–320 as of October 2026, three to four hours to Krabi’s terminal at Talat Kao, then a ฿20–30 songthaew into town. For Ao Nang the direct minivan at ฿450–700 with hotel drop works out cheaper once you add the songthaew and the wait; a private car is ฿2,200–3,000 per car.
How long is the ferry from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, and what does it cost?
Two hours from Rassada Pier to Tonsai on Phi Phi Don, ฿450–600 one way bought at the pier or online, ฿600–800 with the hotel pickup bundled. The 08:30 boat is the reliable one; there are three to five sailings a day in high season and two or three between May and October. Speedboats take 45–60 minutes for ฿800–1,200. Everyone pays ฿20 on arrival.
Is there a direct ferry from Phuket to Koh Lanta?
Only in high season, roughly November to April: a slow ferry via Phi Phi (up to four hours, ฿1,000–1,200) or a speedboat (an hour and a half to two, ฿1,300–1,500) from Rassada around 08:30, landing at Saladan. From May to October the boats are suspended and the ฿500–800 minivan with the car ferry, five to six hours with a hotel drop, is the only route.
Which pier do boats to Koh Yao Noi leave from in Phuket?
Bang Rong Pier on the north-east coast in Thalang, twenty minutes from the airport and about an hour from Patong. Speedboats to Koh Yao Noi run roughly hourly in high season, thirty minutes, ฿300–400; Koh Yao Yai has four to six a day at ฿250–400. Longtails are cheaper and slower. The bay is sheltered, so these boats mostly keep running through the monsoon.
Do ferries from Phuket run in the rainy season?
Some. The Phi Phi ferries and the Bang Rong boats to the Yao islands keep going from May to October on reduced timetables and are cancelled only in a real storm. The direct Lanta and Lipe boats and most speedboat day trips stop, and Maya Bay closes from 1 August to 30 September. Buses and vans run every day of the year.
Related guides
- How to Get to Koh Lanta: Every Route from Krabi, Phuket, Bangkok
- Is Koh Phi Phi Still Worth It? An Honest Answer (2026)
- Bangkok to Phuket: Fly, Bus or the Long Way Down
Book the trip
Some links in this guide are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it helps keep Destination Thailand independent.
Hotels: the pier depends on the beach, so pick your Phuket hotel on Agoda before you pick a boat. Tours/Boats: GetYourGuide’s Phuket listings cover the early-bird Phi Phi boats, private transfers and the Yao island day trips. Getting there: ferries, speedboats, buses and vans sit side by side on 12Go’s Phuket to Krabi page and Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, with the wider picture in our Getting Around Thailand guide. Not sure which island is yours at all? Our Where to Go in Thailand matcher scores all 77 provinces against your month, your budget and what you actually want.
