Koh Samui tours & island day trips

The Gulf, honestly

The season is the opposite of Phuket

This is the thing most itineraries get wrong. The Andaman coast (Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi) is dry November to April and wet May to October. The Gulf coast — Samui, Phangan, Tao — is the reverse: wettest October to December, best January to August. Booking Samui in November because "it's Thailand's dry season" is how people end up watching rain from a $300-a-night pool villa.

If you want both coasts in one trip, come in February or March. That is the only window where both are reliably good, and it is why those weeks sell out first.

Ang Thong: which trip

The marine park is 42 islands of limestone and jungle an hour north-west of Samui, and the day is built around three stops: the Emerald Lake on Koh Mae Ko, a kayak or snorkel stop, and the viewpoint climb at Wua Talap. The climb is 50 minutes up a rope-and-root path — genuinely hard in heat — and it is the best view in the Gulf.

Speedboat gets you there in 45 minutes with 30–40 people aboard. A private longtail takes twice as long and can only manage the nearer islands. We quote both and tell you which one your dates actually suit.

Where to stay

Chaweng is the busy beach with the airport ten minutes away; Lamai is Chaweng's quieter sibling; Bophut's Fisherman's Village is the one with restaurants worth dressing for; Maenam and Bang Po in the north are quiet and face Koh Phangan. Almost nothing on Samui is walkable except within a single village, so a car with driver for two half-days is usually better value than taxis.

Getting here

Bangkok Airways flies direct from Suvarnabhumi in 65 minutes into a private airport that is worth seeing on its own. The cheaper route is a flight to Surat Thani plus a 90-minute bus and a 90-minute ferry — about $60 less and five hours more. From Samui to Koh Tao it is a 90-minute catamaran; to Koh Phangan, 30 minutes.