Koh Samui to Koh Tao: ferry piers, fares and airport connections

How to get from Koh Samui to Koh Tao

Book a passenger boat from Koh Samui to Koh Tao, with a road transfer to the correct Samui pier and a final ride from Mae Haad to your hotel. There is no flight to Koh Tao. Lomprayah publishes services from Bangrak, Pralarn and Nathon; some Bangrak options require changing boats on Koh Phangan.

The operator’s 2026 timetable gives examples from 1 hour 30 minutes to 3 hours 15 minutes pier to pier. That is not the airport-to-hotel duration. Add the trip to the pier, the required 60-minute check-in allowance and the transfer on Tao. This guide compares documented Lomprayah options, not every operator in the market.

Choose the pier before arranging the taxi

Lomprayah’s pier guide identifies Bangrak as the closest of its piers to Samui Airport, with a quoted drive of approximately 10–15 minutes. That is the road segment only: it excludes leaving the aircraft, immigration where relevant, baggage and boat check-in. Do not buy a ferry departing shortly after the scheduled flight arrival just because the drive is short.

Pralarn is the Maenam-area choice; Nathon is the west-coast choice. Use the named operator terminal and your booking confirmation for the driver, rather than saying only Samui ferry pier. The right departure is the one you can reach with its check-in margin, not necessarily the sailing with the shortest sea time.

What those prices include, and what they do not

The examples above come from page 31 of the timetable linked by Lomprayah’s official schedule page, marked Update 25/08/69, and were checked on 25 October 2026. They are published route fares, not a live seat quote. The same page lists Samui transfer service at THB 150 per person per trip. Treat a hotel pickup as an additional segment unless your booking explicitly includes it.

Using those published figures, the THB 550 ferry plus a THB 150 Samui transfer is THB 700 per person; a THB 700 sailing plus that transfer is THB 850. Both examples still exclude any separately charged ride from Mae Haad to your Tao hotel. They are comparison baskets, not quotes for a particular address or date.

The original timetable marks Bangrak departures at 08:00, 11:30 and 14:30 for a change onto a catamaran on Koh Phangan; its pier article does not mark the 08:00 option consistently. Use the timetable marker when shortlisting, and obtain the actual transfer arrangement on the ticket. The 15:30 Bangrak option is explicitly labelled direct. A stop and a required vessel change are different things.

Schedules and routes can change without notice under the operator’s terms. Use the dated booking result before paying; do not assume the afternoon example is your last possible boat or that all listed departures have seats.

Connecting from Samui Airport: allow for check-in, not just driving

Lomprayah’s terms require passengers at its office at least 60 minutes before departure. Work backwards from that requirement before choosing a flight. For a 12:30 boat, that means reaching check-in by 11:30, not leaving the airport at 12:00. An arriving-flight time is not a ready-to-travel time.

If buying a Samui Airport-to-Tao product, the timetable states that the airport-to-pier transfer is included on that airport-origin route. A boat-only ticket does not establish the same inclusion. Read the pickup time and location on the actual booking, and keep the ferry office’s check-in rule distinct from any earlier pickup time.

For a late flight or an arrival with substantial uncertainty, spend the night on Samui and take a suitable boat the following day. That is our conservative planning recommendation, not an operator minimum connection time. Lomprayah disclaims responsibility for missed connecting flights and trains; do not assume separate bookings form a protected connection.

Luggage and arrival on Koh Tao

Lomprayah’s published terms allow a large bag up to 20 kg and list a THB 200 additional charge above that weight; small luggage items are listed without an additional charge. Bulky sports equipment has separate conditions. These are the operator’s published terms, not an allowance to infer for a different carrier. Keep valuables and essentials in a small bag you can retain during the journey.

Koh Tao’s ferry arrival is Mae Haad. A Mae Haad room can minimise the final transfer; Sairee lies north and Chalok south. Send your hotel the operator, arrival time and passenger details if arranging pickup. Do not turn the tourism association’s walking estimates into a plan to drag luggage along a hot road or up a hill.

Leave the arrival afternoon flexible, especially if a dive course begins the next day. For the return journey before an important independent flight, our preference is a buffer night on Samui or at the onward gateway. A calmer forecast is not a guarantee that a ferry-to-flight connection will work.