Koh Tao to Koh Samui: speedboat and bus options (2026)

6 ways to make this trip, from ฿600 one way, and 1h30–2h 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

1h30–2h · ฿600–฿750 · Lomprayah High Speed Ferries

Our pick for budget

Speedboat / catamaran

฿600–฿750 · 1h30–2h · Lomprayah High Speed Ferries

Same option twice: on this pair the quickest way is also the cheapest, which is rarer than it sounds — it usually means one operator has the route to itself.

All options

Koh Tao to Koh Samui: every option with mode, time, fare, operators and frequency
Option	Time	Fare	Operators	How often	Change
Speedboat / catamaran	1h30–2h	฿600–฿750	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries	About two direct departures a day from Nathon, around 08:00 and 13:00	Direct
Speedboat / catamaran + Speedboat / catamaran	2h–4h25	฿750–฿1,050	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Seatran Discovery	Two departures a day on the Samui–Phangan–Tao chain · Several catamaran departures a day from Nathon, Maenam and Bangrak	via Koh Phangan
Speedboat / catamaran + Ferry	2h30–5h10	฿700–฿950	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Raja Ferry, Seatran Discovery	Two departures a day on the Samui–Phangan–Tao chain · Through the day	via Koh Phangan
Speedboat / catamaran + Ferry	5h15–8h30	฿1,000–฿1,450	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Seatran Discovery, Raja Ferry	Once or twice daily, routed via Koh Phangan · Through the day from Donsak, first sailing around 05:00	via Surat Thani
Bus + ferry (one ticket) + Flight	13h45–17h10	฿2,850–฿7,850	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Bangkok Airways	One overnight combination a day, bus around 22:00 from Pinklao or Khao San · Around 20 departures a day from Suvarnabhumi	via Bangkok
Bus + ferry (one ticket) + Bus + ferry (one ticket)	22h45–28h50	฿1,450–฿2,350	Lomprayah High Speed Ferries, Phantip Travel, Seatran Discovery, Raja Ferry, Nakhon Si Bus	One overnight combination a day, bus around 22:00 from Pinklao or Khao San · Mostly overnight departures from Sai Tai Mai and Khao San	via Bangkok

Booking notes

Speedboat / catamaran · 1h30–2h · ฿600–฿750

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.

Speedboat / catamaran + Speedboat / catamaran · 2h–4h25 · ฿750–฿1,050

Koh Tao → Koh Phangan: 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 Phangan → Koh Samui: 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.

Speedboat / catamaran + Ferry · 2h30–5h10 · ฿700–฿950

Koh Phangan → Koh Samui: 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 + Ferry · 5h15–8h30 · ฿1,000–฿1,450

Koh Tao → Surat Thani: Nothing runs Surat Thani to Koh Tao directly — the boat calls at Phangan or Samui on the way, which is why the time band is so wide. Coming from Bangkok, Chumphon is the shorter door.

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 · 13h45–17h10 · ฿2,850–฿7,850

Koh Tao → Bangkok: The bus runs overnight to Chumphon and hands over to the 08:00 catamaran, landing on Koh Tao around 10:30 — 12 to 13 hours door to door. Lomprayah's own promoted fare for the combination was ฿850 in May 2026; the top of the band covers VIP coach seats and high season.

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) · 22h45–28h50 · ฿1,450–฿2,350

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 Tao

The dive-certification island — small, steep, and reached only by boat.

Koh Tao 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 Tao to Koh Samui?

1h30–2h on the quickest option we hold — speedboat / catamaran with Lomprayah High Speed Ferries. The slowest of the 6 options here takes 22h45–28h50, so the spread between them is about 24h03. Times are for the scheduled leg and exclude the transfer at either end.

How much is Koh Tao to Koh Samui?

From ฿600–฿750 one way by speedboat / catamaran, checked 7 September 2026 — and on this pair that is also the quickest way, so there is nothing to trade off. The dearest of the 6 options here runs to ฿2,850–฿7,850. That band comes from a dated route listing rather than a published tariff, so treat it as indicative.

What else runs between Koh Tao and Koh Samui?

5 other options. The next one after speedboat / catamaran with Lomprayah High Speed Ferries is speedboat / catamaran + speedboat / catamaran with Lomprayah High Speed Ferries at ฿750–฿1,050 and 2h–4h25, changing at Koh Phangan — dearer and slower. All of them are in the table above with their operators and frequency.

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

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. About two direct departures a day from Nathon, around 08:00 and 13:00.

Going the other way, or further

The return trip is on the Koh Samui to Koh Tao 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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