Pattaya to Koh Larn Ferry 40 Baht

Thailand travel costs are rarely stretched as far over one short crossing as they are between Pattaya and Koh Larn. The island sits about seven kilometres offshore. The public passenger ferry charges 40 baht. A speedboat tout at the same pier wants 200 to 400 for the same water, and a Coral Island day tour sold from a hotel desk runs 800 to 1,500 baht a head. Same beach, same afternoon, prices more than twenty times apart.

This budget travel guide prices a Koh Larn day honestly for October 2026: the ferry fare that quietly rose in April and that most guides still get wrong, the baht bus to Bali Hai pier, the songthaew fares on the island, sunbeds, lunch and the water sports that quietly eat an afternoon's budget. At about 33.42 baht to the US dollar, two people can do the whole day — boats, island transport, beach chairs and a meal — for roughly 840 baht, around $25 between them. Booked as a tour, the same day costs about 2,000.

Thailand travel costs: every way across to Koh Larn priced

Read the unit column before the price column. The boats at the top are charged per person; the charters near the bottom are per boat, and that single difference decides whether a group of six should be anywhere near the public ferry queue.

The arithmetic here is the one that runs through most Thailand travel costs: the shared option is roughly a tenth of the private one, and the penalty is measured in minutes. Two people cross and return on the public boat for 160 baht. The same couple on a shared speedboat pays 800 to 1,600, and on a tour 1,600 to 3,000. The speedboat buys back about half an hour each way. Where the charter starts to make sense is at six or more people with a fixed return time — a 3,000-baht return boat split six ways is 500 each, which beats paying 300 a head twice and waiting for the thing to fill up.

The 40-baht ferry, and why half the internet still says 30

The Pattaya–Koh Larn passenger boat fare rose from 30 to 40 baht on 10 April 2026, its first increase since 2010, confirmed by the operators' association after an earlier attempt was paused by the Chonburi governor. Sixteen years of a frozen fare means a great many guides, blog posts and hotel printouts still quote 30 baht. It is a ten-baht error, not a disaster — but it is a useful signal. Thailand travel costs move in small, badly publicised steps like this one, and a page that has not noticed a fare change from six months ago has probably not checked its songthaew prices or its ferry times either.

Two practical points. The booth takes cash and nothing else, which is true of most of the island too, so draw money before you go rather than at a pier ATM: the standard foreign-card fee in Thailand is 220 baht a withdrawal on top of whatever your own bank charges, and that single fee is five ferry tickets. A counter rate at an exchange such as SuperRich Thailand or a comparable shop typically beats a hotel desk by 0.8 to 1.2 baht per dollar, so a lazy $300 Thai baht exchange costs you 240 to 360 baht — the whole day's boats for a couple.

The other is the 18:00 boat. Miss it from Na Baan and your options are a speedboat at whatever the remaining drivers decide the evening is worth, or a night on the island. Be at the pier by 17:15 and the question never arises.

Koh Larn songthaew fares and what the island charges

The ferry lands you at Na Baan, the island's village, and the beaches are a ridge away. Shared songthaews wait at the pier and run when they have a load. They are numbered, licensed and priced by destination, so there is less improvisation here than on the mainland — but the shared fare and the charter fare are two different conversations, and a driver who assumes you want the second will quote it.

Scooter hire looks like the budget move and often is not. At 200 to 300 baht it only beats two shared songthaew rides if you actually ride all day, and Koh Larn's hills are steep, the road surface is patchy and renters hold your passport. Two people visiting one beach pay 120 baht in shared fares, there and back. Two people visiting three beaches pay about 240. The scooter wins at roughly the fourth stop, not the first.

Worked example: two people, one day, two ways

Same island, same beach, same lunch. Only the booking method changes — which is where most Thailand travel costs are won or lost.

The self-booked day costs about 1,160 baht less, roughly $35, and the gap is almost entirely the boat. What the extra buys is real but small: a speedboat instead of a 45-minute ferry, a snorkelling stop, and somebody else keeping the schedule. What it also buys, on most tours, is a stop at a gem shop or a latex factory and a steady stream of water-sports upsells, because the margin on an 800-baht ticket is thin and the parasailing is where it is made back.

Thailand travel tips: where a Koh Larn day actually leaks money

Island pricing is the quiet line in your Thailand travel costs. A supermarket beer at 50 baht on the mainland is 80 to 100 in a beach bar; a plate of food that is street-stall cheap in Pattaya is 120 to 180 at Tawaen. Bring water, sunscreen and snacks from a 7-Eleven before you get on the boat and you have saved more than the ferry cost. Sort connectivity before you travel too — a local SIM card Thailand-side from a provider shop or a convenience store is roughly half the airport counter price for the same 30-day data package, and coverage on Koh Larn is fine for maps and messaging.

The last leak is the pier itself. Bali Hai is where every speedboat driver in Pattaya is standing when you arrive looking uncertain, and the public ferry booth is not the loudest thing in sight. Walk to the booth, ask for Na Baan, pay your 40 baht, and the hard part of the day is over.

💱 Changing cash before an island day? Our money exchange finder shows the counters nearest you and whether the rate on the board is worth the walk.

Bottom line: your Koh Larn savings summary

• The public ferry is 40 baht per person each way. It rose from 30 on 10 April 2026 — ignore any page still printing the old fare.
• Buy at the pier booth, in cash. There is no online booking and no card machine.
• The last boat back from Na Baan is 18:00. Be there by 17:15.
• A shared speedboat is 200 to 400 baht for the same crossing — worth it only if half an hour matters that much.
• Charter only from about six people. A 3,000-baht return boat split six ways finally beats shared seats.
• Island songthaews are 20 to 50 baht shared, 200 to 400 chartered. Say which one you want before you get in.
• Skip the scooter for a one-beach day. 200 to 300 baht only pays off from roughly the fourth stop.
• Budget about 840 baht for two people, all in — against about 2,000 for the packaged version of the same day.

Koh Larn is the cheapest island day in Thailand that is still worth doing, and the money is made or lost in the first ten minutes at the pier. If you are costing a Pattaya trip properly, our breakdown of Pattaya baht bus fares after the April increase covers the 15-baht rides that get you there, and Bangkok to Pattaya after midnight prices the run down from the capital. For the Andaman equivalent, Phi Phi ferry costs and pier fees does the same arithmetic on a longer crossing. Then put your own dates into the Thailand trip budget calculator and see what a week of day trips really comes to.

Pattaya to Koh Larn on a budget: quick answers

How much is the Koh Larn ferry in 2026?

Forty baht per person each way on the public passenger boat from Bali Hai pier. The fare rose from 30 baht on 10 April 2026, the first increase since 2010, so older guides still quote the lower figure. Tickets are sold at the pier booth in cash on the day, there is no online booking, and the crossing takes about 45 minutes to Na Baan village or about 40 minutes to Tawaen Beach.

Is the speedboat to Koh Larn worth the money?

Only if time is tight. A shared speedboat seat costs 200 to 400 baht against 40 on the public ferry and saves roughly half an hour each way. A private charter is 1,500 to 2,500 baht one way or 2,500 to 3,500 return, whatever the number aboard, so it starts to make sense at about six people with a fixed return time. For two people, the ferry costs 160 baht return against 800 to 1,600 on shared speedboats.

How much are songthaews on Koh Larn?

Shared songthaews from the pier to the beaches charge 20 to 50 baht per person depending on distance, and the trucks are numbered and licensed. Chartering the whole vehicle costs 200 to 400 baht per trip, which only beats shared seats with four or more people. A motorbike taxi hop is 40 to 60 baht, a guided island tour by motorbike about 400 baht per person, and a scooter for the day 200 to 300 baht with your passport or ID held as deposit.

What does a Koh Larn day trip cost in total?

About 840 baht for two people doing it themselves: 30 baht in baht bus fares to Bali Hai pier, 160 baht in return ferry tickets, 120 baht in island songthaews, 100 baht for two sunbeds and around 400 baht for lunch and drinks at beach prices. A packaged Coral Island tour with speedboat, hotel pickup and lunch runs 800 to 1,500 baht per person, so roughly 2,000 for the same couple — about 1,160 baht more, or $35.