Koh Chang to Koh Kood

Boonsiri is the boat most people take and the one I'd book. It leaves Bang Bao pier, the fishing village on stilts at the southern end of Koh Chang, at 09:00 and 13:00, stops at Ao Nid pier on Koh Mak about an hour later, and lands at Ao Salad pier on Koh Kood at 10:30 and 14:30. The fare is ฿900, or ฿950 with a shared taxi from Ao Salad to your hotel, which gets you there around 11:00 and 15:00.

From your Koh Chang hotel, Bang Bao is a songthaew ride down the west coast, or book the version of the ticket with a hotel pickup, which Boonsiri runs between White Sand Beach and Bang Bao. Leave plenty of time for the 09:00 if you're staying in the north, because the coast road is slow.

This is the October-to-May timetable. From June to September Boonsiri keeps one sailing a day, the 13:00 from Bang Bao for the same ฿900, and the sea can cancel a day at short notice, so keep the last day of a low-season trip free.

Koh Chang Speedboat, which sells the Nor Nu boats from Kai Bae beach, runs a daily speedboat in high season. It leaves Kai Bae at 09:00, stops at Koh Wai and Koh Mak if anyone is getting on or off, and reaches Koh Kood at about 11:00 for ฿1,200. Its advantage is the drop, because it pulls in at most resort piers on Koh Kood rather than at Ao Salad. Its own timetable runs from mid-November to mid-May, and it doesn't run the inter-island trip at all in the low season.

It's a smaller, faster boat than the catamaran and a rougher ride when the wind is up, so with children or heavy bags I'd take Boonsiri.

Koh Mak sits between the two and makes an easy stop of a night or two. Boonsiri's boats reach Ao Nid pier an hour out of Bang Bao for ฿550, and from Koh Mak to Koh Kood they leave at 10:00 and 14:00, landing at Ao Salad 30 minutes later for ฿400. Split this way the trip costs ฿950 against ฿900 straight through, so the stop is close to free.

When the Bang Bao boats don't run, or the sea is rough, the long way still works. Take the car ferry from Ao Sapparot to Ao Thammachat pier, ฿90 and about half an hour, then a car to Laem Sok pier south of Trat, about 40 km with no public transport between them. A Koh Chang transfer agency quotes about ฿2,700 for a car for two from your hotel to Laem Sok, with the ferry included. From Laem Sok, Boonsiri sails to Koh Kood at 10:45, 13:15 and 15:45 for ฿550, an hour across.

Going back, Boonsiri leaves Ao Salad pier at 11:00 and 14:45 and lands at Bang Bao at 12:30 and 16:15, for ฿900. It calls at Koh Mak on the way, 30 minutes out (฿400), and Koh Mak to Koh Chang is ฿550 on the 11:30 or the 15:15. From June to September only the 11:00 runs.

In high season the Kai Bae speedboat leaves Koh Kood at 11:00 and reaches Kai Bae at about 13:00 for ฿1,200, picking up from most resort piers. If you're heading straight on to Bangkok instead, Boonsiri's Koh Kood boats connect with its own buses to Khao San and both airports, and our Bangkok to Koh Kood guide has those times in its section on the trip back.