- Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park has 42 islands, but a day tour stops at four to six of them at most.
- Koh Mae Ko (the Emerald Lake) and Koh Wua Ta Lap (the viewpoint and park headquarters) are on every tour.
- Koh Wao is the main snorkeling stop, Koh Sam Sao is the kayaking stop on the VIP tour, Koh Phaluai is the lunch and village stop on the VIP and private tours.
- Only two islands in the whole park have people living on them: Koh Phaluai (a fishing village) and Koh Wua Ta Lap (park staff).
- Which islands you see depends on which tour you book, not on the park: check the route on each tour page before deciding.
Stand on the boat deck on the way out from Koh Samui and someone will ask the guide "which island is that one, and that one, and that one." The honest answer most of the time is that it does not have a stop on today's route. Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park has 42 islands, and any single tour, however long, works through a handful of them.
This is not a shortcoming, it is how the park is designed to be visited. Most of the 42 are bare limestone rocks with no beach, no trail and no reason to land. The islands that do get a stop earn it: a lake, a viewpoint, a reef, a village. Below is the real list of ang thong islands names you will hear on a tour, and what each one is there for.
How many of the 42 islands does a tour actually visit?
On a normal day tour you land on or stop at two to four islands, and see a handful more from the boat. Even the longest tour in the park, the VIP speedboat with six stops, is still six out of 42.
That is not a sales trick, it is geography. The park covers around 102 km² of sea with islands scattered across it, and most of them are small, steep-sided limestone humps with no beach to land on and nothing built for visitors. A handful have a stairway, a trail, a lunch spot or a reef worth the stop, and those are the ones every operator in the park uses.
In short, across the whole park the stops people actually use break down into a few categories:
- Two islands that every tour visits: Koh Mae Ko and Koh Wua Ta Lap
- One island mainly for snorkeling: Koh Wao
- One island mainly for kayaking: Koh Sam Sao
- One island mainly for lunch and village life: Koh Phaluai
- A couple of quieter beach-only stops on longer routes: Tamarin Beach and Song Pee Nong
- Roughly 35 or so islands you will only ever see from the deck
Koh Mae Ko: the Emerald Lake island
Koh Mae Ko ("mother island") is where the Emerald Lake is, and it is on every single tour that runs to Ang Thong. Its limestone walls hide Thale Nai, a green saltwater lake connected to the sea only through underground tunnels, so it rises and falls with the tide without any visible inlet.
You reach the viewpoint above the lake up a steep stairway with handrails. Swimming in the lake itself is not allowed, which surprises some people: you look down on it, you do not get in. Our separate guide to the Emerald Lake covers the climb and the legend behind it in more detail.
Koh Wua Ta Lap: the park headquarters and the big viewpoint
Wua Ta Lap ("sleeping cow") is the park headquarters and the second largest island in Ang Thong, and like Mae Ko it is a stop on every tour. It has a ranger station, a restaurant, bungalows, a campsite and a long white beach where families of dusky langurs come down from the trees.
The main draw is the trail to the top viewpoint, about 500 meters of steep path that gets you the classic postcard shot of the archipelago. It is genuinely harder than the Emerald Lake stairway, so if your group has small children or anyone with bad knees, staying on the beach is a completely fine choice. More detail on the climb, the cave and the wildlife is in our Koh Wua Ta Lap guide.
Koh Wao: where the snorkeling happens
Koh Wao is a small rocky island in the north of the park with a shallow reef just off its shore, and it is the usual snorkeling stop on the speedboat, VIP and private tours. Masks and life jackets are handed out on the boat and the guide gets in the water with the group.
The reef here is shallow enough for people who have never snorkeled before, and parrotfish, sea urchins and rays are common sightings, with turtles possible on a good day. It is not a dive site, it is a gentle introduction, which is exactly what most people on a day tour want.
Koh Sam Sao: the rock arch and the kayak island
Koh Sam Sao, sometimes called Tripod Island, is known for a natural stone arch curving out of the cliff into the sea, and it is the kayaking stop on the VIP speedboat tour. On the other tours you usually see it from the boat between stops rather than landing.
The water along its cliffs is calm enough for kayaks to pass close under the arch on a good day, and there is a shaded beach and a reef running along the shore for about a kilometre. If kayaking is the reason you are booking a tour, this is the island that makes the VIP route worth a look, and our kayaking guide breaks down which tours paddle where.
Koh Phaluai: the only village in the park
Koh Phaluai is the largest island in Ang Thong and the only one with an actual village, a small fishing community in the south while the northern half stays inside the protected park. It is the lunch stop on the VIP speedboat tour, and on a private charter you can arrange lunch at the fishing village itself.
It is a different mood from the cliffs and viewpoints elsewhere in the park: boats in the bay, a few hundred people living an ordinary fishing life, some of the best mangroves in the park along its shore. If you only picture Ang Thong as empty limestone islands, Phaluai is the exception.
Which islands do tours actually stop at? The comparison
Here is the practical version, island by island, matched against which tour includes it.
| Island | What you do there | Tours that stop |
|---|---|---|
| Koh Mae Ko | Climb to the Emerald Lake viewpoint | Speedboat, VIP, Big Boat, Red Baron, Private |
| Koh Wua Ta Lap | Viewpoint trail, beach, langurs, Bua Bok cave | Speedboat, VIP, Big Boat, Red Baron, Private |
| Koh Wao | Snorkeling on the reef | Speedboat, VIP, Private |
| Koh Sam Sao | Kayaking along the cliffs and the rock arch | VIP (landed), others pass by |
| Koh Phaluai | Buffet lunch, fishing village | VIP, Private (lunch by arrangement) |
| Tamarin Beach | Buffet lunch and kayaking | Speedboat |
| Song Pee Nong beach | Free time on a quiet beach | VIP, Private |
Everything else in the 42 is seen from the deck, if at all. That includes dozens of unnamed rock islets that make for good photos on the way between stops but have no landing and no official stop on any tour we sell.
Which tour sees the most islands?
If seeing as much of the archipelago as possible in one day matters to you, the VIP speedboat covers the most ground with six stops, while the standard speedboat covers four and gets you more time at each one because the crossing is faster. The big boat is slower and simpler, built more for comfort than coverage, and the Red Baron trades stops for the experience of a full day under sail.
A private charter is the only way to actually choose your own islands rather than follow a set route, useful if you want to skip Mae Ko's stairs with young kids or spend the whole afternoon at Sam Sao instead of moving on.
If you are watching the budget or travelling with people who get seasick easily, the big boat is worth a look instead, it is slower but far steadier on rough days, and still gets you to Mae Ko and Wua Ta Lap. For a boat of your own with no fixed timetable, the private charter is the one to check.
Getting there and when to go
None of this matters if you cannot reach the park in the first place. There is no public ferry to Ang Thong: every visit starts with hotel pickup on Koh Samui and a boat ride that runs from around 40 minutes by speedboat to about an hour and a half on the big boat, all laid out on our how to get there page.
One date matters more than any island choice: the park is usually closed every year from 1 November to 15 December, and no tours run in that window at all. January to September is generally the calmer, clearer stretch for snorkeling and kayaking; October and late December can be choppier, and the captain may rework the stops on a rough day.
Before booking, it is worth a quick read of the terms and conditions and the cancellation policy, mainly so you know what happens if the sea turns bad on your date rather than finding out on the day.
Questions and answers
How many islands are in Ang Thong National Marine Park?
There are 42 islands in Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park. Only two are inhabited: Koh Phaluai has a small fishing village, and Koh Wua Ta Lap has the park headquarters staff.
What is the main island in Ang Thong?
Koh Wua Ta Lap is the park headquarters and the stop with the most to do: a viewpoint trail, a beach, a cave and resident langurs. Koh Mae Ko is the other essential stop, home to the Emerald Lake.
Can I visit more islands by booking a longer tour?
Yes, to a point. The VIP speedboat tour stops at six islands instead of the usual four, but even that is a small fraction of the 42; a private charter is the only way to choose islands outside the standard routes.
Do any tours land on islands other than Mae Ko and Wua Ta Lap?
Yes. The speedboat and VIP tours also add Koh Wao for snorkeling, and the VIP tour adds Koh Sam Sao for kayaking and Koh Phaluai for lunch.
Is Koh Sam Sao worth seeing if my tour does not stop there?
You still see the island and its rock arch from the boat on most routes, which is fine for photos. If kayaking under the arch matters to you specifically, book the VIP speedboat, which actually lands there.
Why don't tours visit more of the 42 islands?
Most of them are bare limestone rocks with no beach, trail or safe place to land, so there is nothing to stop for. The islands used by tours all have something specific: a lake, a viewpoint, a reef or a village.
Which island has the fishing village?
Koh Phaluai, the largest island in the park. The VIP speedboat tour stops there for lunch, and it is the one place in Ang Thong where you see ordinary daily life rather than cliffs and beaches.
Facts checked against our tour pages on 17 October 2026. Prices and days can change: your manager confirms them when you book.
