Samui at full tilt: a private boat to Ang Thong and dinner on the rocks

Ko Samui, Ang Thong

1. 7:45 am1

   Breakfast at Fisherman's Village before the pierKo Samui

   Every price on this day is for two people — read it that way before it frightens you. Eat properly now: the boat lunch is not until 13:00 and the crossing out is 90 minutes of open water.

   8 min by train or taxi · 2.3 km
2. 8:55 am2

   Board the private speedboat at Bang Rak PierKo Samui

   A private speedboat to Ang Thong runs roughly 30,000–35,000B for the boat, not per head — obscene for two, entirely sane for eight, so this is the day to find another couple at your hotel. What the money buys is the timetable: you leave at 09:00 instead of 08:00 with two hundred people, and you choose when to leave each island. Book a fortnight ahead in high season and check the captain has enough English to renegotiate the day at sea.

   4h 8m by train or taxi · 547 km
3. 9:35 am3

   Crossing to Mu Ko Ang ThongAng Thong

   300B a head national park fee, cash, taken at the ranger station on Koh Wua Talap. Forty-two islands and a 90-minute run each way, which is why the day starts early — and why it is a poor bet in the late-year monsoon, when the park closes at short notice and charters are not refundable.

4. 11:15 am4

   The Emerald Lake and the stairs above itAng Thong

   A saltwater lagoon sealed inside a collapsed limestone crater. You cannot swim in it — you climb wooden stairs to look down into it, fifteen minutes up and brutal in the middle of the day. The private boat's real advantage is arriving at 11:15, after the group boats have gone to lunch and before the afternoon ones land.

5. 1 pm5

   Seafood lunch cooked on boardAng Thong

   Order the seafood set when you book rather than the standard Thai one: about 500B a head for crab, prawns, whole fish and tom yum against 300B for fried rice and noodles. It is the cheapest upgrade of the entire day by a long way, and it has to be requested in advance.

   14 min by train or taxi · 14 km
6. 2:20 pm6

   Kayak the lagoons off Koh Wua TalapAng Thong

   Kayaks come with the charter, so nobody offers them — ask. Go left out of the beach into the mangrove channels; the caves at the far end are only enterable near low water and the captain will know today's answer, which no schedule can.

   4h 14m by train or taxi · 559 km
7. 5:45 pm7

   Back at Bang Rak, and an hour to become presentableKo Samui

   Dining on the Rocks has a smart-casual line and after nine hours on a boat you are nowhere near it. Build the hour in deliberately: the drive north-east from Bophut to Six Senses is about 30 minutes, and the last stretch is a steep private road.

   8 min by train or taxi · 3.5 km
8. 7:30 pm8

   Dinner at Dining on the Rocks, Six Senses SamuiKo Samui

   Terraced timber decks bolted to the cliff at the island's north-east corner, 270 degrees of Gulf underneath you. Book weeks ahead and expect a 500B-per-head deposit to hold it. The 18:30 sunset slot goes first; 19:30 gets you the same food under stars with the sea invisible, which is the other good answer. Ask for deck one at the outer rail — anywhere else and it is only a very good dinner. Tasting menu plus wine lands around 12,000B for two.