The White Lotus Boat Trip from Koh Samui

There is one boat day from Koh Samui that puts you in a place from the show, and it goes to Ang Thong Marine Park. The limestone islands there sit behind the new guests as they arrive by boat in episode one. The best day we can point you to for it is a kayak trip: about ten hours, hotel pickup, the park fee included, from $83 with a 4.7 rating over 855 reviews.

Check dates for the kayak day

Before you book, two things the day does not do. It does not pass a filming set, and the park usually closes from 1 November to 15 December.

What were the show’s boat scenes?

There are two, and they were shot on opposite coasts of Thailand.

The arrival in episode one is the Samui one. Condé Nast Traveler and the location guides put Mu Ko Ang Thong behind the guests’ boat. The sequence is cut together with footage from Ya Nui Beach on Phuket, so not every frame of it is Ang Thong. One Samui boat company says its 78-foot yacht, the Red Dragon, carried the guests. That is the seller’s own claim and we have not seen it confirmed.

The yacht scenes later in the season are the other coast. Gary’s yacht was moored at Phuket Yacht Haven Marina, and a Phuket charter operator places the sequence in Phang Nga Bay. Either way that is the Andaman Sea, and no boat from Samui gets there. You will also read about a Ratliff family boat day in Ang Thong. We found no source for it.

What an Ang Thong day from Samui actually is

The park is 42 islands about 20 km west of Samui. You can only go in with a licensed operator, the park is open 08:00 to 17:00, and foreign adults pay THB 300 to enter, children THB 150 (Thai national parks figures as of May 2026). Some tours include the fee. Others collect it in cash at the pier.

Most days follow the same pattern: a boat out of Nathon or Bophut, a kayak or snorkel stop, lunch, a steep climb to the Emerald Lake on Koh Mae Ko, and an afternoon on Koh Wua Ta Lap, the main island, with another steep climb to the viewpoint over the whole park. The difference between the tours is the boat, the crowd and how much time you spend paddling.

The kayak day

Run by Blue Stars Kayaking, and the one we recommend for most people. The listing does not print clock times, so here is the order of the day as the operator describes it:

• Pickup from your hotel and about an hour by van to Nathon pier.
• Light breakfast on board while the guide briefs the day.
• Koh Tai Plao, the kayaking stop: rock overhangs, tunnels, small caves and a hidden lagoon. Dry bags are provided, so the camera can come. Swim or snorkel from the boat after.
• Lunch on board, cruising on through the park.
• Koh Mae Ko, and a short but steep climb to the platform over the Emerald Lake.
• Koh Wua Ta Lap. Kayak round the small island next to it, or climb to the viewpoint, or walk to Bua Bok Cave, or stay on the beach.
• Fruit and a snack on the way home.

The park fee, kayaks, snorkel gear, lunch and insurance are all included. It is not for children under five, for anyone over 70 or 115 kg, or for people with a low level of fitness, by the operator’s own rules. A reviewer in August 2026 said the boat carried around 40 people and that kayaking came first, before the other groups arrived.

The speedboat day

From $66, 4.7 over 2,116 reviews, run by Discover Thailand. Faster, and back on Samui around 4 pm. The crossing is about an hour each way and can be bumpy at the front in waves. Up to 43 people a boat. The park fee is extra, THB 300 an adult. The speedboat listing has the full stop list.

The big boat

From $37, 4.4 over 5,232 reviews, run by Highsea Tour. The cheapest and the most reviewed. The boat leaves Nathon at 8:30 with pickups from 7:15, and the crossing is about an hour and a half each way. Kayaking is an option you choose when booking. Park fee extra, in cash at check-in. One September 2026 reviewer called it the best value boat trip on the island and warned that the snorkelling water was murky.

The sailing named after the show

“Koh Samui: White Lotus Sailing to Ang Thong Marine Park”, from $148 for about 9.5 hours. It is a new listing with no reviews yet. The operator’s summary promises the 42 islands, sea-cave kayaking, snorkelling and a hike to the Emerald Lagoon. The name is the operator’s own; it is not an HBO or Four Seasons product, and its published itinerary is too thin for us to say it stops anywhere the others do not. Book it for the sailing, if a sailing is what you want.

Which boat suits you

Prices, ratings and review counts from our October 2026 data check; operators use seasonal pricing, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

If you want more operators side by side than we list, angthongtourreviews.com goes through the park’s tours and what reviewers say about them.

When to go

The park usually shuts from 1 November to 15 December, depending on the weather. That is the height of the Gulf’s wet season, which runs October to December and peaks in November; rough seas in those weeks also cancel ferries. January to April is the driest stretch, and May to September is mostly dry. October is still open season for the park, but the wet months have started; keep a spare day in case a trip is called off for weather, which the operators do when the sea is unsafe. Every operator above refunds in full if you cancel 24 hours ahead.

What no boat shows

A boat day to Ang Thong is a day in the scenery of one sequence. It is not a tour of the set, and nothing on it does the following:

• Take you inside a villa or onto the hotel’s pool deck. Those are at the Four Seasons, a hotel on land; here is how non-guests get in.
• Land you on the Four Seasons beach. During the shoot, the general manager said, security turned boats and drones away.
• Show you the lobby or the jewellery shop. Those are at Anantara Bophut, also on land.
• Reach Belinda’s wellness centre or the yacht water. Both are on Phuket and the Andaman Sea.

Whether you can pick out the Four Seasons from the water on the way out from the west coast, we do not know yet. We would rather photograph it than claim it.

The hotel itself, for what it is worth, sells its own Ang Thong excursion and an overnight on its boat in the park. We could not see a price. The full list of where everything else was shot is in the filming locations guide, and the homepage has the kayak day’s calendar.

Tour details, prices and reviews come from the operators’ listings on GetYourGuide, read October 2026. Park fees and the closure from thainationalparks.com and the park’s own site. Scene attributions from Condé Nast Traveler and the location guides.