Koh Samui to Phuket

Bangkok Airways flies Samui to Phuket nonstop about 6–8 times a day, roughly 08:00 to 19:00, and the flight is about an hour gate to gate. Seven a day in mid-October, six from the start of the winter schedule on 29 October, and eight in December. It's the only nonstop airline on the route, because Bangkok Airways built and owns Samui's airport and almost every flight there is its own. That's why Samui fares are high, the most common question about this trip. There's no low-cost competition. The upside is a checked bag in the fare and a short, easy airport at both ends.

Fares on the booking sites started at about ฿3,200 for October and November dates and ran past ฿5,000 for a December date, so book as early as you can for the peak weeks. Samui airport is 10–15 minutes from Chaweng and Bophut and about 30 minutes from Lamai. Phuket airport is at the island's northern tip, about 50 minutes from Patong and an hour from Kata. Some booking sites also list connections via Bangkok on this route that take five to ten hours, so check the flight is nonstop.

Every overland ticket is two or three legs on one booking. A car ferry or a catamaran crosses from Samui to Donsak on the mainland in 1–1.5 hours, and a bus or van takes it from there, about 290 km west across the peninsula and over the Sarasin bridge onto Phuket. The budget tickets use the big car ferries. Raja Ferry's combination leaves Lipa Noi pier at 09:00 and 11:00 and reaches Phuket Bus Terminal 2 at about 17:00 and 18:30. Phantip's ticket rides the Seatran ferry from Nathon at 10:00 or 12:00 and takes about 7 hours 30 minutes to the same terminal. At the operators' base price these run about ฿500–580; 12Go adds its fee, and the price with a drop at a Patong, Kata or Karon hotel is around ฿1,020.

Lomprayah's ticket is the tidier one. Check in at its Nathon pier office by 10:15 for the 11:45 boat, and the coach brings you to Lomprayah's office in Phuket Town at about 18:30 for ฿1,450 on its own timetable (there's a ฿150 charge for Patong hotel drop-off). The last ticket of the day is Songserm's speedboat and van at 13:10 from Nathon, arriving at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 about 19:00 for around ฿1,520. Hotel-pickup tickets collect on Samui from as early as 04:20 and drop at Patong, Kata, Karon, Kamala, Rawai or Phuket airport.

Expect a long, plain day. The bus leg is about six hours with a couple of stops at gas stations, and some buses have no toilet on board. Bus Terminal 2 is north of Phuket Town, so add a Grab or taxi to your beach, about 30–50 minutes to Patong or Kata. If you need to make a flight out of Phuket the same day, fly from Samui instead; the overland arrivals land between about 17:00 and 21:30.

The flights run the same way in reverse, and the overland tickets leave Phuket in the morning for the afternoon ferries from Donsak. The Phuket to Koh Samui guide has the departures from the Phuket side.