Langkawi to Koh Lipe

Pick the terminal by where you're staying on Langkawi. Telaga Harbour is on the northwest coast, 15 to 20 minutes from the airport, so it suits anyone flying in that morning or staying on the west side of the island. Kuah Jetty is in Kuah, Langkawi's main town on the southeast coast, which makes Bundhaya the easy choice if you're staying in town.

The timetables are close. In the peak months Telaga leaves at 09:30 and 14:30 and Bundhaya at 09:15 and 14:00, all Malaysian time, and both take about 90 minutes. The difference is the shoulder months. Telaga keeps two sailings until 15 April, while Bundhaya drops to a single 10:15 boat from 1 April, and from 15 to 31 October and after mid-April each runs one boat a day.

Telaga prices in ringgit, RM160 plus a RM10 surcharge and a RM3 booking fee, and its ticket includes the longtail from the ferry to the beach. Bundhaya prices in baht, ฿1,400. 12Go sells both, plus other operators' boats on some dates, and its prices include a booking fee.

Fill in Thailand's Digital Arrival Card online before the day you travel, and check your passport has at least six months left on it. Telaga stops selling seats six hours before each departure, so book the day before, and bring the booking voucher, printed or on your phone, because you need it to check in.

Get to the terminal an hour early. Check-in closes 30 minutes before the boat leaves, and you go through Malaysian exit immigration in the terminal before you board. On the boat, the crew collect everyone's passports and hand them to Thai immigration when you arrive.

Koh Lipe has no pier for the ferries. In season they stop off Pattaya Beach on the south coast, and a longtail takes you to the sand. Wear shorts and keep your bag light, because you may step off into shallow water.

Thai immigration is an office on Pattaya Beach. You wait there while your passport is stamped and handed back, which can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour when two ferries arrive together. Pay the ฿200 national park fee in cash, then walk or take a motorbike taxi to your hotel.

Going back, the ferries leave from Pattaya Beach, where you clear Thai exit immigration first. Telaga's boats depart at 10:30 and 16:00 Thai time from 1 November to 15 April and land at Telaga Harbour at 13:00 and 18:30 Malaysian time; in the shoulder months there's one, at 12:30, landing at 15:00. Telaga's Lipe departures leave from the Satun Pakbara ferry and immigration point at Varin Resort.

Bundhaya's boats to Kuah Jetty leave at 10:45 and 15:30 Thai time from November to March and land at 13:15 and 18:00 Malaysian time; at the start and end of the season there's one, at 14:15, landing at 16:45. Other operators sell seats on the same crossings through 12Go, about ฿1,400–1,600.

Fill in Malaysia's Digital Arrival Card before you travel, and allow for the hour you lose to the clock if you have a flight out of Langkawi that evening.

From June to mid-October the direct ferries stop, and there's no boat across from Langkawi. The way in is a ferry from Kuah to Tammalang pier in Satun on the Thai mainland, a van to Pak Bara and the speedboat out to Lipe, about 5 to 6 hours in all. The Pak Bara speedboats run all year.

The rainy season is quieter on Lipe and the sea can be rough, so if you're crossing in those months, check that your hotel is open before you book the boats.