First Visit to Samui

[ianwheldale]

Looking for a bit of guidance. Leaving my home in CM for a few days to visit Koh Samui. Taking the plane to Surat Thani then bus, ferry to Lipa Noi Pier. I should arrive at 9 pm on the coming Friday and need to get to Fisherman village. I've booked no transport. What would be the best, cost-effective way to get from the pier to my hotel. I can book a transfer through Agoda where I booked my hotel but am assuming the price may well be over and above what I would pay if I just found something on my arrival. Thanks in advance for any pointers.

[huberthammer]

install NAVIGO to your phone and use it like you would usd Grab in CM. It works, it is reliable and it is fair. However, it is not CM prices, you don't pay the inflated Taxi prices but still pretty high fares. Grab is also available on the island but very limited cars and seems quite a bit more expensive than Navgio

[pikao]

If you haven´t booked your bus and ferry ticket yet, you could take Lomprayah (highspeed ferry), they take 750 THB from Surat Airport to Samui, incl. transfer. The advantage of this is that they go to Nathon and bring you to any point on the island for an additional 150 THB. Lipa Noi - Fisherman`s is quite far.

[khunPer]

8 hours ago, ianwheldale said:

I've booked no transport. What would be the best, cost-effective way to get from the pier to my hotel. I can book a transfer through Agoda where I booked my hotel but am assuming the price may well be over and above what I would pay if I just found something on my arrival

What is the Agoda-price..?

 

Apart from the great advise of using the Lomprayah catamaran service and minibus transfer, there will be taxis – or cars – available at Lipa Noi pier. There use to a sign with fixed prices – unfortunate I don't have a photo of the sign – and I would not count on finding transport for less than that. Lipa Noi is a bit off track. Song thaew (baht bus) service stops at 6pm, and I even doubt they drive from Lipa Noi Pier. Taxi, or car, from Lipa Noi to Fisherman Village would be in the area of 800 baht to 1,000 baht.

 

The Lipa Noi Pier transfer service here, charge 990 baht to Bo Phut (Fisherman Village).
Raja Ferry's page "Van Transfer Lipa Noi Pier To Hotel in Samui" don't say anything.

[huberthammer]

5 hours ago, khunPer said:

Taxi, or car, from Lipa Noi to Fisherman Village would be in the area of 800 baht to 1,000 baht.

 

The Lipa Noi Pier transfer service here, charge 990 baht to Bo Phut (Fisherman Village).
Raja Ferry's page "Van Transfer Lipa Noi Pier To Hotel in Samui" don't say anything.

Navigo shows around 650 Baht right now. this seems in line with how much cheaper they generally are compared to the regular taxis.

[crazykopite]

Mini bus ! by the way the rainy season has kicked in expect rain every day ☹️

[PoorSucker]

9 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Mini bus ! by the way the rainy season has kicked in expect rain every day ☹️

Rain every Day, but not all-day.

30 minutes showers.

2011 it rained for three days, but that was in March,dry season.

[khunPer]

21 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Mini bus ! by the way the rainy season has kicked in expect rain every day ☹️

"...rain every day ☹️"

Not really, but there can be some days with heavy rain during November and December, which are the monsoon-season on Samui and her sister islands.

 

A good source, apart from the pinned link above with local weather forecast, is Ventusky – the link is set for rain on October 24th, which is the only day this coming week with heavy rain forecast (at posting time), just change the day, or slide the time, to check downpour, wind and waves...????

[ianwheldale]

 

Sorry, my 3BB internet was down for 3 days hence lack of response. Car via Agoda was about 1500 baht. Found a minivan service which was 990 baht and nearly booked but wondered what would happen if I was delayed. Turned out to be an inspired thought as the plane left CX nearly an hour late. HOWEVER, when I went to get my ticket for the bus/ferry transfer at the Air Asia desk at Surat Thani they were offering a service to anywhere on the island for 150 baht. It was a shared minibus, but that wasn't a big deal for me. So anybody else using the route I did, there's a cheap way of getting to your hotel from Lipa Noi pier.