Staying in Mae Haad: hotels, hostels and guesthouses in Koh Tao's pier town

58 accommodations

Mae Haad (also Mae Hat or Ban Mae Hat) is the pier town of Koh Tao, on the west coast at the point where the island is narrowest. Every ferry from Chumphon, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Surat Thani docks here, and everything the island needs to run is within a ten-minute walk of the pier: the government hospital, the hyperbaric chamber, the banks, the police, the post office, the pharmacies, the ferry offices and the taxi stand. It is a working village of about one square kilometre rather than a resort strip, quiet in the evenings and busy around the boats, with a small beach split in two by the pier. On this site the Mae Haad zone also takes in the coves immediately south of the town, Jansom Bay and Sai Nuan, which are reached from here on foot or by water taxi.

Is Mae Haad a good place to stay?

Mae Haad is the practical choice. Anyone with an early boat, a late arrival or a two-night stop between islands sleeps here and saves the taxi fare. Divers on a budget choose it because several schools are based in the village and the hostels are the cheapest on Koh Tao. Travellers who do not want a scooter like it because the town is flat and walkable, Sairee is fifteen minutes along the shore path and Chalok ten minutes by taxi. It is not the choice for a beach holiday: the beach is small, boats use the southern half, and the swimming area on the northern side is roped off and shallow at low tide. The coves to the south make up for it. Jansom Bay, ten minutes' walk, is a private bay with three resorts and a snorkelling reef, open to day visitors for a fee; Sai Nuan, twenty to thirty minutes along the coastal path or a short water-taxi ride, is a pair of small beaches split by boulders, with a handful of old-style bungalows and good shallow snorkelling off the rocks. Both are calm from November to March.

Hotels, hostels and guesthouses in Mae Haad

The 58 properties listed here are the budget heart of the island. Hostels are the largest group, fourteen of them, most within two hundred metres of the pier, with dormitory beds at about 250 to 700 THB and private rooms from 800 THB; several double as dive centres or bars. Guesthouses, small hotels and apartments in the village charge about 900 to 2,700 THB for an air-conditioned double, and a few aparthotels rent by the week or the month to long-stay divers and remote workers. Resorts here are small: garden bungalows behind the beach at 1,000 to 2,500 THB, a couple of beachfront places on the northern side of the pier, and the boutique and upscale resorts of Jansom Bay and the hillside above the town at 3,000 to 6,000 THB. The Sai Nuan bungalows are the cheapest sea-view rooms on Koh Tao, fan rooms from about 500 to 600 THB with no road and no shop. Most rated properties carry two or three stars, and the listings state how far each is from the pier and whether it is on the flat or up the hill.

How do you get from the pier to your hotel?

If your hotel is in Mae Haad you walk: nothing in the village is more than ten minutes away, and the lanes are flat. Hillside villas and Jansom Bay are a short taxi ride (about 330 THB per vehicle to Jansom) or a fifteen-minute walk uphill. Sai Nuan is reached on foot along the coastal path in twenty to thirty minutes, or by long-tail water taxi from the pier for a few hundred baht, which is the sensible option with luggage. For the rest of the island the pick-up taxis wait at the pier and charge per vehicle: about 440 THB to Sairee or Chalok Baan Kao, 550 THB to Tanote or Sai Daeng, 770 THB to Hin Wong; scooters rent from about 150 THB a day in the village. Ferries leave from several jetties along the waterfront, so check which company uses which one the day before: Lomprayah and Seatran on the main pier road, Songserm at the end of its own road, and Boonsiri, new in 2026, from its own landing.

What is there to do in and around Mae Haad?

Mae Haad is where errands get done, but it is not without interest. The northern side of the beach has a marked swimming area and, off the southern rocks, a snorkelling reef and a small wreck. The Rama V rock and shrine by the water commemorate King Chulalongkorn's visit in 1899, the only royal monument on the island. The morning market and the stalls along the main road are the cheapest meals on Koh Tao (about 60 to 100 THB), and the village has the island's banks, a couple of supermarkets, several dive schools, a freediving school and the Ocean Medical Clinic with its hyperbaric chamber, which every diver hopes never to need. The John Suwan viewpoint and Freedom Beach are fifteen minutes away by scooter towards Chalok, Sairee's sunset bars fifteen minutes along the shore path, and long-tails leave from the beach for Koh Nang Yuan (100 THB landing fee, cash) and the snorkelling coves of the east coast.

When to stay in Mae Haad

Mae Haad is on the sheltered west coast, so from November to March its beach and the coves of Jansom and Sai Nuan are calm even when the east coast is rough; in November, the wettest month, boats are cancelled and the village fills with people waiting for the sea to settle, so book a room rather than counting on walking in. From February to April the water is at its clearest. Hostel beds are scarcest around the mid-December to February peak and in July and August; the cheapest weeks are late May to June and November to early December. Because nothing in the village depends on the beach, Mae Haad is the part of Koh Tao least affected by the season.

Frequently asked questions

Can you swim in Mae Haad?

Yes, on the northern side of the pier, where a roped area keeps the boats out; the water is shallow at low tide. Jansom Bay and Sai Nuan, ten to thirty minutes south on foot, are the better swims.

How far is Mae Haad from Sairee Beach?

About 1.5 to 2 km: fifteen to twenty minutes on foot along the shore path, five minutes by taxi (about 440 THB per vehicle).

Are there ATMs and a hospital in Mae Haad?

Yes: the island's banks, several 7-Elevens with ATMs, the government hospital with 24-hour emergencies and the hyperbaric chamber are all in the village, within a few minutes of the pier.

Is Mae Haad noisy?

No. It is the quietest of the three villages at night; the bars are few and close early. The only noise is the morning ferry traffic on the pier road.