Island hopping from Koh Chang to Koh Mak, Koh Chang to Koh Kood and Koh Mak to Koh Kood is an easy and inexpensive way to expand your holiday horizons.
The islands are not too spread out, 30 minutes only by the fastest speedboat to Koh Mak or 1 hour down to Koh Kood, so you can breakfast on one and lunch on the next with little or no effort.
Koh Chang, Koh Kood, Koh Mak and Koh Wai all have their own unique atmospheres, so hopping from one to the next, a few days at a time on each, gives you a excellent feel for the overall area.
Coupled with that, island hopping allows you to cater to all tastes, important perhaps when travelling with family or as a group. You could get stuck into lots of activities on Koh Chang, indulge in some proper partying too, before recovering over in Koh Kood, with some serious beach time and luxury getaway indulgence.
Island Hopping – November to April
From November to April, island hopping is very easy with the five companies, Bang Bao Boats, Nor Nou Kai Bae Huts Speedboat, Boonsiri, Seudamgo and Koh Kut Express, plying the waves daily.
We can book any of these services – payment upfront via Wise, Revolut or via PayPal invoice (with processing charges, go to them, not us). On payment, we issue vouchers to how either printed or on your phone.
- Boonsiri, out of Bang Bao, has the catamaran at 09.00, 600bt to Koh Mak, 1 hour and 900bt to Koh Kood, 1.5 hours. It’s 400bt from Koh Mak to Koh Kood. In reverse, times are at 14.00 from Ao Salat Pier, 14.30 from Koh Mak. Runs all year though may revert to speedboat June to September and if waves too dangerous, provides a replacement boat+road service.
- The daily speedboat from Bang Bao Boats leaves Koh Chang at 12.00 from Bang Bao Pier. It takes 30 minutes to Koh Mak (900bt) and 30 minutes from there to Koh Kood (700bt). Koh Chang to Koh Kood is 1,200bt per person, 1 hour. Going the other way, it departs from Koh Kood at 09.00. Stops Mid May to mid October (restart date varies each year)
- Kai Bae Nor Nou, out of Kai Bae Beach, operates its daily speedboat service at 09.00, an hour to Koh Mak (800bt), same again Koh Mak to Koh Kood (600bt). It also stops at Koh Wai, 600bt, 30 minutes. Koh Chang to Koh Kood is 1,200bt and takes 2 hours. Koh Wai to Koh Kood is 1,000bt. From Koh Kood, it leaves at 11.00. Stops end of April to early November (restart date varies each year)
- Bang Boat Boats‘ slower once a day wooden boat is at 09.00 from Koh Chang. It takes under an hour to Koh Klum and then Koh Wai (400bt), 2 hours to Koh Mak (500bt), 1 hour from Koh Mak to Koh Kood (400bt). From Koh Chang to Koh Kood is 700bt, 3 hours total. From Koh Kood, it leaves at 13.00. Stops Mid May to mid October (restart date varies each year)
- Koh Kut Express runs its mini catamaran between Koh Kood and Koh Mak, with times of 09.30 from Koh Kood and 12.00 back. It’s 500bt per person and takes 30 minutes. Stops end of May to end of September
- Seudamgo‘s mini catamaran also only operates between Koh Kood and Koh Mak – 13.50 from Koh Kood and 12.40 from Koh Mak, 30 minutes, 400bt in either direction. Stops middle of June to end of September
On Koh Chang, free transfer by share shuttle taxi between your resort and the departure is included in the price. Please note that Boonsiri’s shuttle taxi on Koh Chang is at 07.30 from most areas for the 09.00 boat. This is much earlier than the other 09.00 companies, which normally start pick-ups at 08.00 from White Sand Beach, the 1st collection area.
For Klong Son, home to Aiyapura and all the villas at Siam Royal View (Blue Haven Bay), add 100bt per person. Note Boonsiri does not collect at all from Klong Son, with you instead needing to get to the front of KC Grande in White Sand Beach by 07.30 (or they drop you there if coming to Koh Chang).
For the east coast, the standard policy to get to White Sand Beach (KC Grande) and meet the shuttle there.
For delivery and collection on Koh Mak and Koh Kood, see below
A complete price guide is here.
Arrival Piers on Koh Mak, Koh Kood and Koh Wai
The companies head to different piers on Koh Mak – Bang Bao Boats to Koh Mak Resort Pier, Kai Bae Nor Nou to Makathanee Pier and Koh Kut Express, Boonsiri and Seudamgo to Ao Nid Pier. It doesn’t make much difference to you as the island is small and if you call ahead, your resort comes and picks you up anyway. Failing that, there are cheap little songthaew taxis on hand, 50bt person, minimum charge 100bt.
On Koh Kood, both Bang Bao Boats and Kai Bae Nor Nou speedboats will drop you at your resort pier if possible. If not, then Bang Bao Boats will deliver you to the nearest pier and then provide a free share shuttle taxi to your resort. Kai Bae Nor Nou does not provide a share shuttle service. It either drops you at the nearest pier to your resort and you make you are own way or it takes you to its final docking point at Siam Beach Resort on Bang Bao Beach. You then either take a taxi or you ask your resort beforehand to collect you – note the resort may charge for this.
Bang Bao Boats wooden boat delivers you to your resort by share shuttle taxi from its arrival pier at Nam Luek (Ao Tapao). Koh Kut Express, Boonsiri and Seudamgo provide the same service from their arrival pier at Klong Mad or Ao Salat.
Koh Wai is tiny but its handful of resorts also have their own piers and the two boats running there – Bang Bao Boats’ wooden boat and Kai Bae Nor Nou’s speedboat – will drop you direct.
To travel in the opposite direction, the procedure is exactly the same, with free transport on arrival at Koh Chang to deliver you to your resort from either Bang Bao (Bang Bao Boats, Boonsiri) or Kai Bae Beach (Kai Bae Nor Nou).
Of course, you can throw in any variations you want between all the islands.
Island Hopping – May to October
From May to October, the rainy, green or low season depending on your preference, only the Boonsiri catamaran (or speedboat) keeps running. In the unlikely case of it stopping due to weather conditions, they will provide a replacement road/boat service.
We can provide the services below as an alterenative.
Koh Chang to Koh Mak
From Koh Chang to Koh Mak, you can either:-
- Use the local songthaew taxis on the island to the pier, hop on the ferry and then take another songthaew taxi on the mainland to Laem Ngop Pier (for Koh Mak). The price for the taxi on Koh Chang will be from 50bt to 150bt depending on where you are staying, ferry at 80bt per person and estimate 100bt for the mainland taxi from Centerpoint and 300bt from Thammachat.
- Or much easier, you can use a private transfer, prices at 1,700bt for the car for 2 adults with fast ferry tickets or a minibus for 4 adults with ferry tickets at 2,300bt.
Laem Ngop Pier, sometimes also known as Krom Luang, is about 20 minutes from Ao Thammachat Pier (fast ferry).
Koh Chang to Koh Kood
Koh Kood’s mainland pier is at Laem Sok, which lies some 40km away from those Koh Chang ferry pier in the middle of the back end of nowhere. There is no public transport.
- The best way to travel from Koh Chang to Koh Kood is to use a private transfer from your Koh Chang hotel, costing around 2,700bt for a car, 2 persons. This includes the ferry tickets from Koh Chang but not the boat tickets to Koh Kood, 350bt to 600bt.
- Or as above with Koh Chang to Laem Ngop, you take a songthaew taxi from your resort to the pier on Koh Chang, ferry and then, once on the mainland, another songthaew taxi to Laem Sok. The price for the hour long taxi to Laem Sok will be in the region of 1,000bt. Do also note that these are the open sided taxis, horrible bone rattlers so this method of getting there is really not for the faint hearted.
Koh Mak to Koh Kood
To get between Laem Ngop Pier and Laem Sok Pier, your options are
- A private car, with prices from 1,500bt for 2/3 pax in either direction excluding the boat tickets from/to Koh Kood, 350bt to 600bt or the boat tickets to/from Koh Mak, 450bt per person. A minibus is 1,800bt.
- A private speedboat (up to 15 persons) is 8,000bt to 8,500bt from Koh Mak to Koh Kood. This leaves from Ao Nid Pier and goes to Ao Salat Pier. You would ask your Koh Kood resort to collect you or we can organise a songthaew taxi (price on request). Please note speedboat prices are more expensive coming from Koh Kood to Koh Mak (10,000bt to 11,000bt).
- For the blue share songthaew taxis, the cost is around 700bt to 800bt from Laem Ngop Pier to Laem Sok Pier, all boat tickets separate. Note once again, this is, shall we say, not a luxury option.
Koh Wai
For Koh Wai, you follow the same process as getting to Koh Mak. The speedboat company, Koh Mak Ferry, can drop and collect from Koh Wai on its way to and from Koh Mak, with times currently at 11.00 from Laem Ngop and 08.30 from Koh Mak.
You should also always check whether your intended place to stay on Koh Wai is actually open during the low season.
Island Hopping – Final Thoughts
So island hopping is definitely worth throwing into the mix as you plan you holiday. Of course, you can pick one island only and have an equally fabulous time, but it does give you another exciting option. Tag on a trip to the temples at Angkor as well and you could be onto the holiday of lifetime.
UPDATED June 24
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