Koh Phangan Travel Guide

Yes, and not only for the party. Phangan has better beaches than Samui for the price, a wild interior of waterfalls and viewpoints, and enough variety that a party crowd, yoga students and couples can share the island without seeing much of each other. It's also an easy add-on, half an hour by boat from Samui.

What puts people off is the reputation and the roads. Haad Rin on a Full Moon night is loud, crowded and messy, and if you book there by accident the island won't feel like the photos. The hills are steep, the scooter crash rate is real, and the best beaches in the north take a bumpy ride or a boat to reach.

Koh Samui or Koh Phangan? Samui for comfort, an airport, big resorts and easy days. Phangan for wilder beaches, lower prices and the party or a retreat. Many trips do both, staying on Samui first and taking the boat across for three or four nights.

Ang Thong is the day trip to do if you only do one. The speedboats leave Phangan in the morning, stop for snorkeling and kayaking, climb to the viewpoint and the Emerald Lake, and get back in the late afternoon, for about ฿1,700–2,500 plus the ฿300 park fee.

The other good boat day is Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan, an hour north, for snorkeling and the viewpoint over Nang Yuan's three islets and their sandbar, where the island charges ฿250 to land. Bottle Beach is a boat trip of its own, by longtail from Chaloklum.

Partly. The Full Moon Party happens about thirteen times a year on Haad Rin's Sunrise Beach, on the night of the full moon or the night after when that's a Buddhist holy day. Tens of thousands of people come, entry is about ฿100–200, and the Halfmoon and jungle parties near Ban Tai fill the weeks in between.

Away from Haad Rin and Ban Tai, the island is quiet, and most visitors never go to a party at all. If you're coming for the party, book a room in Haad Rin weeks ahead and expect a minimum stay. If you aren't, check the date and stay on the west or north coast. The dates, costs and safety rules are in our Full Moon Party guide.

Five nights suits most people. That gives you a day on the Ang Thong boat, a day in the north for Bottle Beach and the Phasawan viewpoint, a day for the waterfalls and Than Sadet, a beach day on your own coast, and a night for the party or the Saturday market.

Three nights is enough for a taste if you're combining it with Samui and Koh Tao. Plenty of people stay a month or more on the west coast for yoga or retreats.

Phangan has no airport, so every route ends with a boat. The quickest from Bangkok is a flight to Koh Samui, about an hour, then a ferry from one of Samui's piers to Thong Sala in 20 to 50 minutes for ฿200–500. The Haad Rin Queen sails straight to Haad Rin from Big Buddha pier. Which pier to use, and every sailing, is in our Koh Samui to Koh Phangan guide.

The cheaper way is overland. Fly or take the night train or bus to Surat Thani, then a bus-and-boat ticket to Phangan in 2.5 to 4.5 hours, or take Lomprayah's coach and catamaran from Bangkok through Chumphon and Koh Tao. From the Andaman coast, Lomprayah sells one-ticket boat-and-coach trips from Phangan to Krabi for ฿1,200 and Phuket for ฿1,400, and the same routes run the other way.

There's no Grab, so the covered songthaew trucks that meet every boat at Thong Sala are the taxis. Shared rides cost about ฿100–200 a person to Haad Rin or Ban Tai (20 to 30 minutes) and ฿150–250 to Haad Yao or Chaloklum (30 to 40 minutes). Thong Nai Pan is 45 to 60 minutes and about ฿400–600 for the whole truck. Most resorts will meet your boat if you tell them the time.

Scooters rent for about ฿200–300 a day and are how most people get around, but I'd only ride one if you already ride at home. The hills are steep, many roads are unlit, the tracks to Bottle Beach and Thong Nai Pan are rough, and the island's hospital sees crashes every day. Serious cases go to Samui.

Phangan is one of the cheaper Thai islands. On my numbers, a budget day runs about ฿1,200 and a mid-range day about ฿3,200, roughly ฿400 a day less than Samui on a budget. Full Moon dates are the exception, when Haad Rin rooms can double or triple and want a minimum stay.

There are ATMs at Thong Sala pier, in the main villages and at Haad Yao. Carry cash for songthaews, longtails, park fees and Bottle Beach, which has no ATM.

January to April is the best time, with calm seas and little rain. February is the driest month, with about 64 mm at the Samui weather station, and April about 83 mm. December and January are the busiest and priciest, so book rooms early.

June to August is a good second choice, when the Andaman coast is in its monsoon and the Gulf gets showers rather than storms. October to December is the Gulf's rainy season, wettest in November with about 445 mm, when the sea can be rough. If those are your months, the Andaman islands, such as Koh Lanta, are the better bet from November.