Airport to island · Gulf of Thailand
Surat Thani Airport to Koh Samui
Surat Thani Airport is inland: the boats to Koh Samui leave from Donsak on the coast. One-ticket van + boat combinations leave from the airport; otherwise take a car to Donsak and one of the hourly car ferries.
- Drive 90 min
- Boat from 45 min
- Land by 16:30 for the last boat
- One ticket from €17.53
✓ Checked 3 Nov 2026 against the operators’ and partners’ own pages
Updated 3 Nov 2026 · Sources · How we check
Book Surat Thani Airport → Koh Samui
One ticket: van from Surat Thani Airport + boat, one ticket.
Tickets from €17.53 per person, seen 3 Nov 2026
- E-ticket on your phone
- 4 operators, 6 departures listed from Surat Thani Airport
- Quickest door to door 2h 15m
Loy Krathong, 24 Nov 2026 (Nationwide). Boats around these dates are busier than usual: book ahead. Events calendar
New Year's Eve, 31 Dec 2026 (Nationwide). Boats to Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and Koh Tao are very busy around New Year's Eve, which coincides with a Full Moon Party; book ahead. Events calendar
Songkran (Thai New Year), 13 Apr – 15 Apr 2027 (Nationwide). Ferries and boats are busy with Thai holidaymakers in the days around Songkran; book ahead. Events calendar
The short answer
The drive from Surat Thani Airport to Donsak Pier takes about 90 minutes; Kiwitaxi lists private cars from US$115 per car. Boats from Donsak Pier to Koh Samui take from 45 min, with 5 departures listed for 5 Nov 2026 (first 05:00, last 13:30) and fares from €7.07 per person. The last boat is at 19:00 (Raja Ferry and Seatran Ferry, hourly from 05:00, operator timetable): to make it, land by about 16:30. One ticket from Surat Thani Airport (van from Surat Thani Airport + boat, one ticket) is listed from €17.53, leaving at 08:30, 09:00, 09:30, 11:30.
Your trip, step by step
-
Step 1 · Land
Arrive at Surat Thani International Airport (URT)
Allow about 30 minutes to collect your bags and meet your driver or van. A pre-booked car meets you in arrivals; one-ticket vans name their meeting point on the ticket.
-
Step 2 · By road
Surat Thani International Airport → Donsak Pier
- About 90 min
- Private car from US$115 per car (≈ €103)
- Minivan 4PAX US$115 · Comfort US$125 · Minibus 10PAX US$146
Kiwitaxi’s fixed price per vehicle with meet & greet, read 3 Nov 2026 (“Taxi & Transfers from Surat Thani airport (URT) to Surat Thani pier”).
Pre-book a car -
Step 3 · By boat · Runs all year
Donsak Ferry Pier → Nathon Pier (Seatran, Lomprayah) / Lipa Noi Pier (Raja Ferry)
- from 45 min (route: 45m – 1h 30m)
- 5 departures listed, 05:00 – 13:30
- Fares from €7.07 per person
-
Step 4 · Arrive
On Koh Samui
- Combined bus + ferry tickets connect Donsak Pier directly to Surat Thani Railway Station (Phunphin) and Surat Thani Airport (URT)
- Nathon Pier is the administrative hub of Koh Samui with songthaew pick-up trucks to Chaweng and Lamai
Time and cost at a glance
| Option | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Private car to Donsak Pier | about 90 min | from US$115 per car |
| Boat Donsak Ferry Pier → Koh Samui | from 45 min | from €7.07 per person |
| One ticket from the airport | from 2h 15m | from €17.53 per person |
| Car + boat, two travellers | – | about €58.34 each |
Car prices are Kiwitaxi’s per vehicle in US dollars (converted at ECB rates); boat and one-ticket fares are per person as listed on our booking partner for the date shown. “Two travellers” is half the cheapest car plus the cheapest fare from that pier.
Which boat can I catch?
Boats from Donsak Pier listed for 5 Nov 2026. “Land by” = departure minus the 90-minute drive, 30 minutes through arrivals and 30 minutes’ check-in at the pier. Leave more if your flight might be late.
| Boat departs | Operator & pier | Crossing | Land by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05:00 |  Seatran FerryDonsak Seatran Ferry → Na Thon Seatran Ferry Pier | 1h 30m | 02:30 |
| 06:00 | Raja Ferry Donsak Raja Ferry → Lipa Noi Koh Samui | 1h 30m | 03:30 |
| 06:00 | Raja Car Ferry Donsak Raja Ferry → Lipa Noi Koh Samui | 1h 30m | 03:30 |
| 11:00 | Lomprayah Donsak Lomprayah Ferry → Lomprayah Nathon Pier | 45 min | 08:30 |
| 13:30 | Boonsiri High Speed Ferries Surat Thani Donsak Boonsiri Office Catamaran → Koh Samui Nathon Pier Catamaran | 1h | 11:00 |
Later boats run than this sample day lists: the last is at 19:00 (Raja Ferry and Seatran Ferry, hourly from 05:00, operator timetable on the route page), so land by about 16:30 for it.
One ticket from the airport
Van from Surat Thani Airport + boat, one ticket. Departures listed for 6 Nov 2026 (checked 3 Nov 2026); the ticket names the meeting point.
| Depart → arrive | Operator & from → to | Time | Fare | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:30 → 12:30 | Samui Tour Surat Thani Airport → Nathon Pier | 4h | €17.53 | Book |
| 09:00 → 12:15 | Raja Ferry Surat Thani Airport → Koh Samui Transfer | 3h 15m | €24.91 | Book |
| 09:00 → 14:30 | Raja Ferry Surat Thani Airport → Chaweng Walking Street | 5h 30m | €27.75 | Book |
| 09:30 → 14:45 | Samui Tour Surat Thani Airport → Nathon Pier | 5h 15m | €21.38 | Book |
| 09:30 → 11:45 | Lomprayah Surat Thani Airport → Lomprayah Nathon Pier | 2h 15m | €23.44 | Book |
| 11:30 → 15:15 | Boonsiri High Speed Ferries Surat Thani Airport → Koh Samui Hotel Transfer Shuttle Service Exclude Mountain Hotel | 3h 45m | €28.04 | Book |
See every operator, seat availability and the live price.
When to book
Book the boat when your flight is fixed
- Pick a boat that leaves after your “land by” time with room to spare: if your flight is late, a boat you booked may leave without you.
- Around holidays and island events, boats fill up: book a day or more ahead.
- Booking the car and the boat separately? Book the car for your landing time, and the boat with the buffer above.
Season and sea
The Gulf has a different weather pattern from the Andaman coast: services run all year, but the northeast monsoon can disrupt crossings around November and December, mostly on the open-water legs to and from Koh Tao and Chumphon.
Good to know
- Raja Ferry lands at Lipa Noi and Seatran Ferry at Nathon; Lomprayah’s catamaran also goes to Nathon.
- Nathon is Koh Samui’s administrative town, with songthaew pick-ups to Chaweng and Lamai.
- Raja Ferry adds extra boats at busy times and in the festival period (30 Dec – 30 Apr) when many vehicles are waiting.
Surat Thani Airport to Koh Samui: questions
How do I get from Surat Thani International Airport to Koh Samui?
Surat Thani Airport is inland: the boats to Koh Samui leave from Donsak on the coast. One-ticket van + boat combinations leave from the airport; otherwise take a car to Donsak and one of the hourly car ferries. The drive from Surat Thani Airport to Donsak Pier takes about 90 minutes; Kiwitaxi lists private cars from US$115 per car. Boats from Donsak Pier to Koh Samui take from 45 min, with 5 departures listed for 5 Nov 2026 (first 05:00, last 13:30) and fares from €7.07 per person. The last boat is at 19:00 (Raja Ferry and Seatran Ferry, hourly from 05:00, operator timetable): to make it, land by about 16:30. One ticket from Surat Thani Airport (van from Surat Thani Airport + boat, one ticket) is listed from €17.53, leaving at 08:30, 09:00, 09:30, 11:30.
How long does it take from Surat Thani Airport to Koh Samui?
About 90 minutes by car to Donsak Pier, then from 45 min on the boat, plus the wait for your departure. The quickest one-ticket trip from the airport listed 2h 15m door to door.
How much does it cost to get from Surat Thani Airport to Koh Samui?
A private car to Donsak Pier: from US$115 per car on Kiwitaxi (read 3 Nov 2026). The boat: from €7.07 per person (listed 2 Nov 2026). One ticket from the airport: from €17.53 per person (listed 3 Nov 2026).
What time does my flight need to land to reach Koh Samui the same day?
The last boat from Donsak Pier is at 19:00 (Raja Ferry and Seatran Ferry, hourly from 05:00, operator timetable). With about 90 minutes’ drive, 30 minutes through arrivals and 30 minutes’ check-in at the pier, land by about 16:30. Later than that, stay near the pier and take a morning boat. Times change by season: pick your date for live times.
Is there one ticket from Surat Thani Airport to Koh Samui?
Yes: 6 departures combining the road and the boat leave from the airport (Samui Tour 08:30, Raja Ferry 09:00, Samui Tour 09:30, Lomprayah 09:30), from €17.53 per person on 3 Nov 2026.
Sources and checks
- Surat Thani (Donsak) to Koh Samui ferry: operator, port and timetable sources listed on that page, departures and fares read on our booking partner (12Go) 2 Nov 2026
- Booking partner (12Go) public page for surat thani airport → koh samui, one-ticket departures read 3 Nov 2026
- Kiwitaxi public transfer page “Taxi & Transfers from Surat Thani airport (URT) to Surat Thani pier”: drive time and per-car prices read 3 Nov 2026
- “Land by” times and per-person totals are our arithmetic on those figures, as explained above.
Photo: Granite boulders and palms at Coral Cove on the east coast of Koh Samui, between Chaweng and Lamai (Fabio Achilli from Milano, Italy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).
🙏 Spotted something out of date? Tell us at sawadee@thaiferries.co and we’ll check it.