Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta

Both 09:00 boats leave from Pattaya Beach, where the speedboats wait at floating platforms off the sand, so be at your operator's check-in half an hour early and expect a short longtail ride out with your bags. Tigerline's is the quicker of the two, landing at Saladan at about 11:30. Bundhaya's runs the island route, calling at Koh Kradan, Koh Mook and Koh Ngai before Lanta, and lands at 12:00. It's also the one with a fixed season on its own booking system, every day from mid-October to 20 May.

If you'd rather sleep in, Satun Pakbara leaves at 10:30 and lands at about 13:30, and from November to early May Bundhaya's 12:00 and Tigerline's 12:30 land at about 15:00. In early May only the morning boats are left, and from 5 May Bundhaya runs only the 09:00. The ride is open sea, so on a windy day keep your passport and phone in a dry bag and take something for seasickness if you need it.

Going north, Bundhaya's 09:00 calls at Koh Kradan at about 10:50, Koh Mook at 11:00 and Koh Ngai at 11:30, and its 12:00 at 13:50, 14:00 and 14:30. A ticket from Lipe to Kradan or Mook costs ฿1,400 and to Ngai ฿1,600, so a night or two on the way to Lanta costs little more than going straight through. From the islands, the next day's southbound or northbound boat, or a hop between the islands for about ฿300–400 a leg, takes you on.

Koh Kradan has the best beach of the three, Koh Mook has the Emerald Cave and a real village, and Koh Ngai is the quietest. Our guides to each have where to stay and when the boats land.

Landing at Saladan by midday leaves time to keep going. Minivans leave Lanta for Krabi airport about every hour until about 16:00, for about ฿380–540, and take 2 to 2.5 hours, so a 09:00 boat from Lipe and an early-afternoon van make an evening flight from Krabi workable. I'd still leave a few hours of slack for the sea. For Phuket, Bundhaya's through boat carries on from Saladan at 13:00 and reaches Rassada at 14:30; the Koh Lipe to Phuket guide has it. For Phi Phi, Bundhaya's speedboats leave Saladan at 13:00 and 15:30.

From 21 May to mid-October no speedboat runs between Lipe and Lanta. The way is a speedboat from Lipe to Pak Bara pier, which runs all year at 09:30, 11:30 and 13:30, then a van north to Lanta with the car ferry at the end. In season the combined tickets from the 09:30 reach Saladan or a Lanta hotel at about 15:00 to 18:30 for about ฿1,440–1,883 on 12Go. It's the rainy season, so the crossing to Pak Bara can be rough, boats often leave from the Sunrise Beach side of Lipe, and many places on both islands close. Check your Lanta hotel is open before you book.

Going south, Bundhaya's speedboat leaves Saladan at 10:30 from mid-October to 20 May and lands on Lipe at 13:30, with a 12:30 from November to early May. My Koh Lanta to Koh Lipe guide has every operator from Saladan and the Trang island stops on the way south.