Flying To Koh Lanta
The nearest airport to Koh Lanta is Krabi Airport. You can fly there from Bangkok with Thai Airways, Air Asia, Nok Air and Bangkok Airways. Use Skyscanner to compare prices of each airline to find the cheapest price on your chosen holiday dates. If you are bringing diving gear, be aware that Air Asia and Nok Air will charge for overweight bags – you should buy a bigger luggage allowance at time of booking.
Krabi Airport Transfers to Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta is an island, and at the moment there are no bridges to the island. That means all transfers either have to be by speedboat or by car ferry to cross the water.
Express Transfer From Krabi Airport to Koh Lanta
The easiest and most expensive way to get from Krabi Airport to Koh Lanta is a Koh Lanta express speedboat transfer. This is a 45 minute minivan ride, then a 15 minute speedboat trip across the water to Koh Lanta, and then a 15 minute ride from Saladan port to your Koh Lanta hotel (about 90 minutes door to door). The price is charged per person on the speedboat transfer, and there needs to be a minimum of two people booking.
Private Minivan Transfer From Krabi Airport to Koh Lanta
The alternative, which is a cost-efficient choice for groups of three or more, is a Koh Lanta private minivan transfer. This takes up to 6 people for a single price. Like all vehicles going to Koh Lanta, the minivan needs to make two car ferry crossings to get onto Koh Lanta. Total travel time is around 2.5 to 3 hours to your hotel depending on the ferries.
It’s also possible to buy a ticket for a place on a public minivan on arrival at Krabi Airport – these minivans can be quite cramped but if you are travelling light and on a budget they are fine. The public minivan also takes around 3 hours to get to Koh Lanta.
Phuket To Koh Lanta
If you’re coming direct to Koh Lanta, it’s possible to get a transfer from Phuket Airport to Koh Lanta but it’s much easier and cheaper to travel from Krabi Airport instead. However, if you want to spend time in Phuket first, here are some options
Express Transfer From Phuket Airport to Koh Lanta
It’s also possible to get a Phuket Airport express transfer to Koh Lanta but this journey is quite long, involving a 3 hour drive from Phuket to the Krabi speedboat pier, a 15 minute speedboat crossing to Lanta, and then a 15 minute transfer from Saladan port to your Koh Lanta hotel.
A lot of people ask why there is no speedboat direct from Phuket across the water to Koh Lanta. The reason is that this journey takes about 2 hours by speedboat and can be very bumpy as it’s across open ocean where there can be big waves. From the airport to the Phuket speedboat pier it’s about a 1 hour transfer. As such, taking the Phuket Airport to Koh Lanta express transfer is actually almost as fast as a direct speedboat and a lot more comfortable.
Private Minivan Transfer From Phuket Airport to Koh Lanta
You can also get the Phuket Airport Private Minivan transfer to Koh Lanta which uses the car ferries to cross to Lanta – total journey time is around 5 hours door to door from Phuket Airport to your Koh Lanta hotel. The minivan takes up to 6 people for a single price.
Ferries to Koh Lanta
You can get a ferry from Krabi to Koh Lanta – travel time around 3 hours. You can also get a ferry from Phuket (travel time around 4 hours) and a ferry to Koh Lanta from Koh Phi Phi (travel time 1 hour). See Koh Lanta ferry times for full information.