How to get from Phuket to Koh Lipe

Koh Lipe (Ko Lipe) is a small island in Satun province, near the Malaysian border and inside Tarutao National Marine Park. There is no bridge or car ferry: in season a speedboat goes straight from Rassada Pier on the east side of Phuket to Lipe, and out of season you travel by road to Pak Bara on the mainland and cross from there. Below are the operators’ own timetables and fares as seen on 13 November 2026, OSRM road distances and park fees from the national parks department (DNP).

All options in one table

Fares are for one adult, one way. The last two rows start on the mainland: you still have to get from Phuket to Pak Bara or Hat Yai, and we found no operator timetable or fare for that part.

Direct speedboat from Rassada Pier: 5 hours in season

Two operators sell this route on their own sites:

• Bundhaya Speed Boat. Two departures from Rassada Pier in its booking system for 20 November 2026: 08:30 arriving 13:30 and 10:00 arriving 15:30, 2,500 baht per adult and 1,800 baht per child. Times and fares were the same on every date we tried: 14, 16 and 20 November, 20 December, 20 January, 30 April and 4 May
• Satun Pakbara Speed Boat Club. One boat a day from Phuket at 08:30, arriving 13:30, 2,450 baht for an adult and 1,700 baht for a child. The same fare is listed with hotel pick-up: Kata and Karon at 06:30, Patong at 07:00, Phuket Town at 07:30. Its booking form counts a child as 3-9 years and an adult as 10 and over. The page gives no season for this boat, and the notes at the bottom still carry 2015-2016 dates, so treat its 2026/27 season as unconfirmed

The operators’ pages do not say where the boat stops on the way. The times line up with the Koh Lanta legs (Lanta at 10:00 or 11:30), so a call at Lanta is likely, but ask at booking whether you change boats.

When the direct boats run in 2026/27

Bundhaya’s booking system gives season windows without a year: 15 October to 20 May for the 08:30 boat and 1 November to 4 May for the 10:00 boat. What we saw for 2027:

• 4 May: both boats on sale
• 5 May and 20 May: only the 08:30 boat
• 21 May and 15 July: the system answers that the route is out of season and the next sale date is 15 October 2027

So from 21 May to 14 October there is no direct boat on Bundhaya. Return boats show the same pattern: on 20 May 2027 only the 09:00 one from Lipe is on sale.

The park has its own calendar. The DNP page for Tarutao sets a yearly closed season for the Adang-Rawi island group, which includes Lipe, from 16 May to 15 November, so the park’s sites reopen on 16 November 2026. An independent guide says Ko Adang stays closed until 31 December. The two disagree: if a snorkelling day around Adang is why you are going, call the park service centre on 0 7478 3485, the number on the DNP page.

Park fee, landing and the longtail question

Koh Lipe lies inside Tarutao National Park. DNP’s fee announcement effective 7 June 2022 puts Tarutao in the group that charges foreigners 200 baht per adult and 100 baht per child, and Thais 40 and 20 baht. An independent guide, thainationalparks.com, repeats 200 and 100 baht for children aged 3-14 as of June 2026. We found no official page on where the fee is collected on Lipe, and neither operator says it is included, so plan it as an extra.

Satun Pakbara Speed Boat Club names its Lipe check-in point: the office in front of Bu-Nga Resort on Pattaya Beach (the beach on Lipe, not the city near Bangkok). Neither operator’s public pages say whether the boat lands at the beach or you change to a longtail from deeper water, or whether that costs extra. Ask at booking and ask your hotel to meet you with the exact beach name.

Two tickets via Koh Lanta

Bundhaya sells Rassada Pier → Saladan Pier on Koh Lanta separately, and Lanta → Koh Lipe separately. On 20 November 2026:

• Phuket to Lanta. 08:30, 10:00, 12:00 and 14:30, 1 h 30 min, 1,500 baht (child 900 baht)
• Lanta to Lipe. 10:30 arriving 13:30 and 12:30 arriving 15:30, 3 hours, 1,700 baht (child 1,150 baht)

Together that is 3,200 baht against 2,500 baht for the through ticket, so split the trip only if you want to stay on Lanta. Connections work with the 08:30 and 10:00 boats from Phuket. The Phuket side is described in Phuket to Koh Lanta.

By road to Pak Bara or Hat Yai: the route for May to October

When there is no direct boat, the mainland crossing is the only way:

Calculated by the OSRM router on OpenStreetMap data on 13 November 2026, without traffic or stops. On 20 November 2026 and 15 July 2027 Bundhaya sells Pak Bara → Koh Lipe at 11:30 (arrives 13:00) and 13:30 (arrives 15:00), 700 baht for an adult and for a child, and its route list gives 1 hour 30 minutes and all year. A van from Hat Yai Airport to Pak Bara Pier is listed from 250 baht and 2 hours 30 minutes, and a through van and boat ticket from Hat Yai Airport to Lipe at 09:00 and 11:00 costs 950 baht.

We found no operator timetable or fare for Phuket → Pak Bara or Phuket → Hat Yai, and we did not verify a flight to Hat Yai, so we give no price for that leg. A private car to Pak Bara needs a very early start: with 338 minutes on the road and no stops, you would leave Phuket Airport at about 05:00 to make the 11:30 boat.

Getting to Rassada Pier and landing late

Rassada Pier is on the east side of the island, 34.7 km and about 44 minutes from Phuket Airport without traffic. It is not a stop on the Phuket Smart Bus lines listed on the operator’s timetable page. A private car from the airport to Rassada Pier is 700 baht for up to 3 people with Phuket Airport Limousine, whose counter the airport lists at Entrance 1 (price on the operator’s booking site, 13 November 2026), and Grab and Bolt show their fare before you book: the pickup points are in our Phuket Airport guide and Phuket taxi guide.

The first boat is at 08:30 and the second at 10:00. Our own estimate, not an operator rule: to make the 10:00 boat you need to land by about 07:30, and for the 08:30 boat you need a night in Phuket. If your flight lands in the afternoon or evening, book a hotel for the night and buy the next morning’s ticket. Satun Pakbara Speed Boat Club’s hotel pick-up from Kata, Karon, Patong and Phuket Town at 06:30-07:30 saves the ride to the pier if you stay on the west coast, see where to stay in Phuket.

Going back to Phuket

Bundhaya sells Koh Lipe → Rassada Pier at 09:00 (arrives 14:30) and 12:00 (arrives 17:00) for 2,500 baht on 20 November 2026. Satun Pakbara Speed Boat Club lists Lipe → Phuket at 10:30 with arrival at 16:00 for 2,450 baht. If you fly out the same day, add 44 minutes from Rassada Pier to the airport and leave a wide margin: the 12:00 boat reaches the pier at 17:00, and boat times depend on the sea.

Common mistakes

• Counting on a direct boat between 21 May and 14 October. Bundhaya shows none: plan the Pak Bara route and a spare day
• Reading 700 baht as the price from Phuket. It is the Pak Bara to Lipe boat only
• Booking the 08:30 boat after a morning flight. You will not reach Rassada Pier in time
• Forgetting the park fee. 200 baht per foreign adult is not in the boat ticket as far as the operators say
• Booking a same-day flight out of Phuket after the 12:00 boat. It lands you at the pier at 17:00

Where to go on Koh Lipe

The beaches, the monsoon months and what to confirm at the pier are on the Koh Lipe page. For a day out before or after the crossing, the Similan Islands from Phuket tour runs in the same season. If the long boat day does not appeal, Koh Lanta is the shorter trip: Krabi to Koh Lanta and Phuket to Krabi cover the way from the mainland.