Ferry and flight to Ko Samet

Ko Samet, including all of the good parts, is a national park and has an entry fee 400 baht . If your ferry arrives at the main pier and you take a songthaew to the beaches, there will be a stop at the main ticket checkpoint. If your ferry arrives at one of the beaches, an officer will collect the fee as you step out of the surf.

Note that there is plenty of foot traffic in and out of the park to the 7-Eleven, ATM or other shops and restaurants and if you have no bags you can nonchalantly walk into the park without anyone checking your ticket. (There is a road via the temple, take that andyou won’t get near the checkpoint.

The 1st class bus from Bangkok’s Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekamai) to BanPheusually takes just over 3 hours, costs 276 baht, and terminatesopposite the ferry piers (there’s no direct service to Ban Phe from MohChit – nearest alternative is to Rayong, from there you can take a SongThaew to Ban Phe).

If you take a regular bus from Pattaya or Sattahip,you’ll need to take a songthaew or charter a tuk-tuk to the ferrypiers. Minibus services go straight to the piers.
Ferries from BanPhe to Ko Samet take around 30 to 45 minutes.

Only buy a one-way ticket, as there’s no discount on round-trip tickets and you won’t haveto worry about losing it. The ticket sellers may also offer to sell youthe national park ticket – don’t bother.The nearest airport fielding commercial flights is U-Tapao, just east of Sattahip – about 45 km from Ban Phe.