Hua Hin to Pattaya

No. Royal Passenger Liner's 346-seat catamaran started in January 2017 and crossed from Khao Takiab pier, at the south end of Hua Hin, to Bali Hai pier at the end of Walking Street in about two hours, for ฿1,250 in standard class and ฿1,550 in business. It paused for the low season more than once, stopped in 2020 and never restarted. Direct Ferries now says the route is no longer available, and 12Go's search for a November date shows only the bus and private cars.

Several sites still print the old timetable, with a 16:00 sailing from Khao Takiab or a 12:30 return, and Facebook groups in Hua Hin still get the question every season. An earlier boat, Thailiving's catamaran from Pak Nam Pran to Ocean Marina, launched in 2010 and has stopped too. If a new service starts, I'd book it through the operator itself and look for a dated review from a recent passenger first. Until then the bus is the one I'd take, and the flight is the quick way across.

Roong Reuang Coach runs the only direct bus. It leaves the company's Hua Hin bus station on Phetkasem Road, beside Hua Hin Airport and about 7 km north of the clock tower, at 09:00 every day. It picks up in Cha-am in front of the Government Savings Bank on Phetkasem Road, then runs around Bangkok's outskirts to the Pattaya North terminal, where 12Go has it arriving at 14:00. The fare is ฿526 a seat on Roong Reuang's own site and about ฿686 on 12Go. It's a 24-seat VIP coach with three seats across and a toilet.

Book a day or two ahead in the high season, because there's only one a day and it's the option the Hua Hin expat groups recommend most. Give yourself time to reach the station, since it's a ride out of town, and get there 15 minutes before departure as the company asks. Counter 3 at the station handles questions. You'll still see 10:30 and 11:00 times and fares of ฿410 to ฿470 on older pages, but the company's current timetable has only the 09:00.

EZY Airlines started scheduled flights between Hua Hin and U-Tapao, Pattaya's airport, on 23 October 2026. It flies on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays in a Cessna Grand Caravan with about 10 seats, and the flight takes about 40 minutes. For November and December, Hua Hin Today reported a departure from Hua Hin at 11:00, landing at U-Tapao at 11:40. Launch fares started at ฿2,900, sold on EZY's website and at its airport counters.

Hua Hin Airport is on Phetkasem Road about 7 km north of the town center, and U-Tapao is about 30 km south of Pattaya, about 40 minutes by Grab or taxi. Allow about three hours from a Hua Hin hotel to a Pattaya one. On a small plane and a new route, check the day you want on EZY's booking page and ask about the bag allowance before you pay.

It's 323 km by road, about 3 hours 50 minutes of driving without stops by OSRM's routing, because the road has to swing around the top of the Gulf on the edge of Bangkok. The firms on 12Go quote three and a half to five hours. For a November date it listed about 20 of them, with sedans from about ฿3,300 and most under ฿4,500, and nine-seat vans from about ฿4,500. The price is per car, so for a family or three friends with luggage it's close to the bus per head and goes door to door.

Avoid Sunday afternoons and the last day of a long weekend if you can, when traffic heading back into Bangkok fills the same roads.

The cheapest way is two cheap rides. Nor Neane's minibuses leave their stand beside Bluport mall on Phetkasem Road, at the south end of town, roughly every hour from 05:00 to 19:00 for ฿240 cash and take three and a half to four hours to the Ekkamai terminal beside BTS Ekkamai. From Ekkamai, Roong Reuang's Pattaya buses leave every hour until 22:00 for ฿144 and take about two hours to Pattaya North. That's about ฿384, but plan on six to seven hours, and the minibus takes hand luggage only.

There's no train from Hua Hin to Pattaya, and you can't make one work through Bangkok in a day, because the only trains from Bangkok to Pattaya leave in the morning. Our Hua Hin to Bangkok guide has the trains if you're stopping in Bangkok for a night anyway.

The direct bus and the airport bus to North Pattaya both end at the Pattaya North terminal on Pattaya Nuea Road, near Sukhumvit Road. Songthaew drivers there charge a flat ฿50 to Beach Road, and a Bolt is about the same. The Jomtien bus from the airport stops along Sukhumvit Road and ends in Jomtien, which suits the southern beaches better. If you're going on to Koh Samet or Koh Chang, Pattaya is the right side of Bangkok for it, and our Pattaya to Koh Chang guide has the morning buses and vans.