Koh Tao, “Turtle Island” is an island in Thailand located 65 km north of Koh Samui and about the same east of Chumphon. Koh Tao was named by its first settlers for the island’s turtle-like geographic shape. Coincidentally, the island is an important breeding ground for Hawksbill turtles and Green turtles.
The coastline is fringed with coral reef and the beaches and bays are surrounded with boulders and rocky coves. Inland the landscape is dominated by coconut groves, boulder outcrops and forested hills.
The island is well known for scuba diving and snorkeling, lots of water sports and offers also some hiking. The biggest and busiest beach is Sairee Beach on the West coast, which has a white sandy beach of 1.7 km interrupted only by a few huge boulders.

Koh Tao is serviced by ferry services from Surat Thani (4 hours day boat, 9 hours on overnight boat), Chumphon (1.5 to 3 hours), Koh Samui (approx 2.5 hours). All ferries dock at Ban Mae Haad. Journey times vary due to the different boats used by the various ferry companies. Ticket prices are almost the same for all companies, however, the boats themselves differ greatly. The two main ferries are Lomprayah and Songserm, with Seatran also offering services between the islands and mainland. Lomprayah offer the quickest service on the newest boats, and also have VIP lounges where passengers can watch movies in an air conditioned lounge.

Please have a look at timetablethe to see when the ferries are leaving.