Koh Tao, Koh Phangan or Koh Samui? Diving in the Gulf of Thailand
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Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui are close together in the Gulf of Thailand, and on all three you dive from a boat base all year round. They differ mainly in the way to the dive site. On Koh Tao, most sites are 15 to 45 minutes off the island, and the boats run twice a day. From Koh Phangan, you travel in around an hour to Sail Rock. On Koh Samui, the base picks you up at the hotel, and the speedboat takes up to one and a half hours to the sites.
Koh Tao with short distances and two departures a day
The bases on Koh Tao go out twice a day, each time with two dives, and a guide leads at most four divers. The morning boat leaves between 6:30 and 7:20 a.m. depending on the base and is back between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., the afternoon boat arrives between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. About every other evening, Big Blue, Crystal Dive and Chalok Reef Divers offer a night dive.
To White Rock and the HTMS Sattakut, you travel 15 minutes after French Kiss, to Green Rock and the Twins 20, to the Chumphon Pinnacle and the Southwest Pinnacle 40 to 45. Two fun dives cost according to the bases usually 1,800 to 2,200 baht (€48 to €58) with rental equipment. At Sairee Beach, there is no pier in front of the bases, a longtail boat takes you to the big boat in front of the beach. Calypso has a house reef from the beach in Tanote Bay on the east coast, it drops gently to 12 m. The guides speak German there, at Sairee Beach Rainbow Fish Divers teaches all courses in German.
No airplane lands on Koh Tao. You arrive with the combo ticket from Lomprayah, bus from Khao San Road in Bangkok at 9:30 p.m. and boat from Chumphon, at 8:15 a.m. on the island. Or you fly to Chumphon or Koh Samui and take the ferry, from Chumphon it is 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes. All shipping companies arrive at Mae Haad.
Koh Phangan with Sail Rock
The Sail Rock is located in open water between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. The rock protrudes around 15 m from the water, below lies a sandy bottom at around 40 m, and through the rock leads a vertical chimney with openings at around 18, 12 and 5 m. From the Chaloklum pier in the north of Koh Phangan, the day boats usually leave at 8 a.m., take 50 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes and are back after two dives with breakfast and lunch on board around 2 p.m. This costs 3,200 to 3,500 baht (€85 to €93). Sail Rock Divers goes there every day, from Koh Tao the bases go there less often, Big Blue about every three days.
After Ang Thong and Koh Tao, it is 2 to 2.5 hours from Koh Phangan, therefore the bases usually go to these destinations once a week. At the beach of Haad Yao in the northwest, Haad Yao Divers has its house reef, 5 to 20 m deep, and dives in the evening from the beach. The guides also speak German there, and the base picks you up for free at the hotel, except on the east coast and in Haad Rin. The ferries arrive at Thong Sala pier, 12 minutes from Chaloklum.
Koh Samui with airport and hotel pickup
Bangkok Airways flies nonstop from Suvarnabhumi to Koh Samui, after the airport in 50 minutes, after the company in 1 hour 10 to 20 minutes. On this route, diving equipment counts as free baggage. Diving is done as a day trip. The base picks you up at the hotel, at Silent Divers between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m., the speedboat leaves at 9 a.m. at Bang Rak pier, and between 2:30 and 4 p.m. you are back at the hotel. To the Sail Rock it is around 50 minutes to one hour, to Ang Thong around 60 minutes, to Koh Tao and the Chumphon Pinnacle around 90. A day with two dives costs at Silent Divers 4,650 to 5,150 baht (€123 to €137).
Only from Koh Samui and Koh Phangan can you reach the Ang Thong National Park, 42 limestone islands around 20 km west of Koh Samui. The dive site there is Koh Yippon, 8 to 24 m deep and can be dived with the basic certificate. From November 1 to December 15, 2026, the park administration closes several beaches and islands to visitors. Dive sites are not on this list, whether the boats dive during this time, ask your base.
The three islands compared
The bases state prices in baht and usually without a date, the euro values are calculated according to the ECB reference rate of October 21, 2026. For Koh Samui, the prices of Silent Divers are in the table.
| Koh Tao | Koh Phangan | Koh Samui | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel from Bangkok | Bus and boat via Chumphon or flight and ferry | Ferry from Koh Samui, Koh Tao or Donsak | Nonstop flight |
| Boat from | Beach or pier in front of the base | Chaloklum pier | Bang Rak pier, with hotel pickup |
| Travel to the sites | 15 to 45 min | Sail Rock around 1 h | 50 to 90 min |
| Departures | twice a day, often also at night | one day trip | one day trip |
| Two dives | 1,800–2,200 THB | 3,200–3,500 THB | 4,650–5,150 THB |
| House reef from the beach | Calypso, Tanote Bay | Haad Yao Divers | none in the area |
What the monsoon means for each island
From late October to early January, the northeast monsoon brings the most rain, especially in November and December. Then the bases on Koh Tao go to the sheltered west side, Big Blue only dives there from December to mid-January. At the Sail Rock, trips are canceled in October and November, it is then the most exposed site in the Gulf. According to Silent Divers, Ang Thong often still goes when the Sail Rock is canceled, but not every day in November. In the southwest monsoon from mid-May, the boats on Koh Tao switch to the east side. Around Koh Tao, the base therefore finds a side that works for every wind.
According to the SSI app logbooks, the water has a median of 27 °C in January and 30 °C from April to July. Whale sharks come to the Chumphon Pinnacle, the Southwest Pinnacle and the Sail Rock. When the chances are best is stated in the article Whale sharks off Koh Tao.
Which island suits you
If you want many dives in a week, to do a course or to get back in the water in the evening, you live on Koh Tao. Several bases sit next to each other at Sairee Beach, and you can choose. If the Sail Rock is your goal or you want to live quietly at a house reef, Koh Phangan is right. Koh Samui is right if you want to arrive without a ferry, are looking for a hotel with pickup and also have a lot planned above water.
You can also combine the islands. From Koh Tao to Koh Phangan, Lomprayah takes 45 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes, from Koh Phangan to Koh Samui in around 30 minutes. Leave a buffer day between the last ferry and the return flight, because ferries are canceled in storms.
Two diving weeks with plan B in case of wind, one from Koh Tao and one from Koh Samui, the portraits of all sites and the bases with departure times are in the Koh Tao and Koh Samui Dive Atlas.