Koh Phangan to Koh Samui: ferry and speedboat options (2026)

6 ways to make this trip, from ฿200 one way, and 30min–45min on the quickest, direct. Below: what each costs, who runs it, how often it goes and the pier or station it actually leaves from.

Fares checked 7 September 2026 and quoted as one-way bands per adult. They move with season, fuel and demand — the flight bands move fastest of all.

Our pick for time

Speedboat / catamaran

30min–45min · ฿250–฿400 · Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Seatran Discovery

Our pick for budget

Ferry

฿200–฿300 · 1h–1h30 · Raja Ferry, Seatran Discovery

All options

Koh Phangan to Koh Samui: every option with mode, time, fare, operators and frequency
Option	Time	Fare	Operators	How often	Change
Speedboat / catamaran	30min–45min	฿250–฿400	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Seatran Discovery	Several catamaran departures a day from Nathon, Maenam and Bangrak	Direct
Ferry	1h–1h30	฿200–฿300	Raja Ferry, Seatran Discovery	Through the day	Direct
Speedboat / catamaran + Speedboat / catamaran	3h–5h40	฿1,100–฿1,400	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries	Two departures a day on the Samui–Phangan–Tao chain · About two direct departures a day from Nathon, around 08:00 and 13:00	via Koh Tao
Ferry + Ferry	4h45–6h55	฿470–฿600	Raja Ferry	Several sailings a day from Donsak to Thong Sala · Through the day from Donsak, first sailing around 05:00	via Surat Thani
Bus + ferry (one ticket) + Flight	14h45–18h50	฿2,900–฿8,000	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Seatran Discovery, Raja Ferry, Bangkok Airways	Overnight departures from Pinklao and Khao San · Around 20 departures a day from Suvarnabhumi	via Bangkok
Bus + ferry (one ticket) + Bus + ferry (one ticket)	23h45–30h30	฿1,500–฿2,500	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Seatran Discovery, Raja Ferry, Phantip Travel, Nakhon Si Bus	Overnight departures from Pinklao and Khao San · Mostly overnight departures from Sai Tai Mai and Khao San	via Bangkok

Booking notes

Speedboat / catamaran · 30min–45min · ฿250–฿400

Thirty minutes. The choice that matters is which Samui pier you leave from — Bangrak is next to the airport, Nathon is the far side of the island from Chaweng.

Ferry · 1h–1h30 · ฿200–฿300

The vehicle ferries take twice as long as the catamaran for about ฿100 less, and they carry motorbikes — which is the actual reason to take one.

Speedboat / catamaran + Speedboat / catamaran · 3h–5h40 · ฿1,100–฿1,400

Koh Phangan → Koh Tao: The shortest of the three Gulf hops. Doing Samui to Tao with a Phangan stop costs about 2h30–3h in total and one extra ticket — which is why most people put Phangan in the middle rather than at the end.

Koh Tao → Koh Samui: Lomprayah runs this one nearly alone. Children 3–11 travel at roughly half fare. In rough weather this crossing gets cancelled before the shorter Phangan hop does.

Ferry + Ferry · 4h45–6h55 · ฿470–฿600

Koh Phangan → Surat Thani: ฿270 is Raja's published passenger fare for the Donsak–Thong Sala crossing. Around the Full Moon these sailings fill; book the day before rather than at the pier.

Surat Thani → Koh Samui: ฿200 is Raja's own published passenger fare on the Donsak–Lipa Noi crossing, one of the few numbers on this page that comes straight off an operator's board. Donsak pier is 60–90 minutes by road from Surat Thani town.

Bus + ferry (one ticket) + Flight · 14h45–18h50 · ฿2,900–฿8,000

Koh Phangan → Bangkok: Two routings sell under the same name: the Chumphon catamaran down through Koh Tao, and the Surat Thani coach across to Donsak. The Chumphon version is faster and pricier; check which one the ticket actually is.

Bangkok → Koh Samui: Bangkok Airways owns Samui airport and runs a near-monopoly on the route, so the floor here sits where other islands' ceilings do. Flying to Surat Thani and continuing by bus and boat is the standard way around it.

Bus + ferry (one ticket) + Bus + ferry (one ticket) · 23h45–30h30 · ฿1,500–฿2,500

Bangkok → Koh Samui: Standard coaches sit at ฿600–800 and VIP at ฿900–1,100, both including the Donsak ferry. One ticket means one company owns the connection — worth more on this route than the ฿100 difference between operators.

Both ends of the trip

Koh Phangan

Half an hour from Samui by boat: Full Moon on one beach, near-silence on the north coast.

Koh Phangan has no weather station of ours; the nearest one we track is driest Feb–Aug and wettest Sep–Jan.

Koh Samui

The Gulf's biggest island and the only one with its own airport.

Airport USM: Privately owned and served almost entirely by Bangkok Airways, which is why fares here sit well above the low-cost market.

Koh Samui is driest Feb–Aug and wettest Sep–Jan on its own monthly rain-day normals.

Koh Samui weather Koh Samui guide

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get from Koh Phangan to Koh Samui?

30min–45min on the quickest option we hold — speedboat / catamaran with Lomprayah High Speed Ferries. The slowest of the 6 options here takes 23h45–30h30, so the spread between them is about 26h30. Times are for the scheduled leg and exclude the transfer at either end.

How much is Koh Phangan to Koh Samui?

From ฿200–฿300 one way by ferry, checked 7 September 2026. The quickest option costs ฿250–฿400 and saves about 37min, so the gap between them is ฿50 against roughly that much time. That bottom figure comes off the operator's own fare board.

What is the cheapest way from Koh Phangan to Koh Samui?

Ferry at ฿200–฿300, run by Raja Ferry, Seatran Discovery. It takes 1h–1h30 against the quickest option's 30min–45min, and runs through the day.

Where does the Koh Phangan to Koh Samui service leave from, and how often does it run?

Thirty minutes. The choice that matters is which Samui pier you leave from — Bangrak is next to the airport, Nathon is the far side of the island from Chaweng. Several catamaran departures a day from Nathon, Maenam and Bangrak.

Going the other way, or further

The return trip is on the Koh Samui to Koh Phangan page — fares are the same in both directions on almost every leg here, but the timetables are not. To string this hop into a longer trip with a pace check, use the route planner, and see the island comparison for which coast is dry in the month you are travelling.

Sources

InsideSamui Koh Samui–Koh Tao ferry guide (2026 edition) — a dated route reference.
Raja Ferry Port fare and timetable board — the carrier's own fare board.
Lomprayah High Speed Ferries route list and journey times — the carrier's own fare board.
InsideSamui Bangkok–Koh Samui transport guide (2026 edition) — a dated route reference.

Checked 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page is a range, because every one of them moves.

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