Bangrak Pier: Ferries, Timings and What to Expect

There is a pier at the western end of Bangrak Bay and it confuses people, because Koh Samui has several piers and they serve different routes.

If you have booked something that says "Bangrak Pier" and you are not sure what that means, this is the short version.

What it is

Bangrak Pier is one of Samui's working passenger piers, on the north coast, close to the airport and to the Bangrak beach road.

It is not a promenade or a viewpoint. It is a concrete jetty with a small terminal building, and its function is getting people onto boats.

Where boats go from here

Primarily north and east: Koh Phangan and Koh Tao are the usual destinations from this side of the island, along with the ferry routes that connect on towards Chumphon on the mainland.

Samui's other piers serve different directions. Nathon on the west coast handles the main vehicle ferries to Donsak on the mainland, and Maenam on the north coast serves some Koh Phangan routes.

The mistake people make is assuming all Samui-to-Koh Phangan boats leave from the same place. They do not, and turning up at the wrong pier is not a recoverable error when a boat leaves once every few hours.

Check the pier name on your ticket, not just the destination. Then check where that pier actually is.

Timings

Crossings to Koh Phangan are short, in the region of half an hour, and to Koh Tao considerably longer.

Departures are concentrated in the morning, thin out through the afternoon, and stop in the evening. If you are planning a day trip, the return options in the late afternoon are the constraint, not the outbound.

Book ahead in high season, particularly around the Full Moon Party dates when the Koh Phangan boats fill completely.

The sea

This matters more than the timetable.

The crossing is exposed and the sea state on this coast varies enormously with the season. In the calm months it is flat and unremarkable. In the wet season, particularly October and November, it can be genuinely rough, and services are cancelled more often than people expect.

If you are prone to seasickness, take something before you board rather than after. If a service is running and the sea looks bad from the shore, it will feel worse in the middle.

Check for cancellations the night before, not on the morning of travel.

Getting to the pier

It is at the western end of Bangrak, walkable from most of the beach road in fifteen to twenty minutes, though with luggage most people take a Grab.

From the airport it is under ten minutes. From Chaweng, allow twenty.

There is parking, and there are usually songthaews and taxis waiting for arrivals.

What is there

Not much, and this is worth knowing before you arrive with two hours to spare.

A ticket office, some seating, toilets, and a small number of food and drink stalls. It is functional rather than pleasant.

If you have a long wait, the Bangrak beach road is fifteen minutes away and has considerably better options. Flo Coffee Roaster opens at eight. King of Bread from seven.

Early morning at the pier

If you are on a first boat, you will be there at an hour when the rest of the island is asleep.

The compensation is that the walk to the pier along the beach at dawn is the best hour on this coast. The bay is flat, the light comes up over Koh Phangan, which is where you are going, and there is almost nobody about.

Allow the extra twenty minutes and walk it rather than taking a car. It is a better start to a day trip than a car park.

One thing to know if you are going to Koh Phangan

Whatever you have bought legally in Thailand under a prescription stays in Thailand, and that includes moving between islands with it. A prescription is issued by a specific practitioner and tied to a specific dispensary.

More importantly, and this is the one that catches people out: it does not leave the country. Not from Koh Phangan, not from Koh Tao, not from Samui airport, not in checked luggage. There is no permit for it and several of the countries people transit through on the way home treat it very seriously indeed.

Where we fit

We are on the Bangrak beach road, between the pier and the Big Buddha, and open from ten in the morning until two the following morning.

If you are on a late boat back and the rest of the strip has closed, we are the thing that has not.