Now I think majority of travelers have either heard about or been to Thailand’s Full Moon Party. At least for me it was probably the only thing I had really known about Thailand and was a bucket lister for me so I completely organized the trip around the date. The Full Moon Party happens one night of each month but don’t let that fool you because they have a whole week of activities and parties leading up to the big night. We stayed for a total of 5 nights because that’s the minimum some places require when you book during this busy time. I am going to be honest and say we did not take advantage of anything else on the island besides drinking and making friends in our hostel so this page will be dedicated to those want to come here and party!
Getting Here
We arrived via ferry from Koh Samui, which is not a long ferry ride at all, roughly about 30-45 minutes. The best advice I can give is to BOOK IN ADVANCE. I cannot stress that enough because so many people are trying to get to the island for the Full Moon Party. We departed from Big Buddha Pier from Koh Samui which provides the shortest ferry ride so this departure point is extremely popular, book in advance! There is another pier departure on the west side of the island but its quite far.
When we arrived at the pier the place was absolutely jam packed and the ticket attendant said it was a good thing we bought in advance because they were completely booked out for the next 3 days! I had planned this entire trip back in November so I actually booked our ferry tickets then, but I am sure you don’t have to buy them that soon just make sure to do it right when you decide to go.
Once you arrive, you can take a tuk-tuk to your accommodation. The thing to note here is that no matter how far or short your drive is, there is flat rate of 100baht.
- Cost: $50 roundtrip
Accommodation: Blue Dream Hostel
As mentioned before I booked this entire trip back in November and because the Full Moon Party was a bucket lister for me I knew the exact dates I wanted to go so I booked accommodation immediately to make sure there was availability. I highly advise this to avoid the stress leading up to the party, but we had friends who just booked as they went and they managed to find accommodation the week before.
The party is located on the southern tip of the island in Haad Rin so if you want to be super close to all the partying then feel free to stay there. Personally for us we wanted to be away from it all, even though we pretty much went to that area every night anyways. This hostel was by far one of the coolest we stayed at. It had an open layout in the front complete with pool, ping pong table, pool table, huge lounge area, TV room with play station, another lounge area with a projector screen playing sports, and full kitchen and bar. We pretty much didn’t leave this place simply because it had everything we needed plus we needed to cure our hangovers to get ready for the next night. The place was clean and the rooms were decent size with average beds. Needless to say it got the job done. They had really fun parties and happy hour deals every day, an overall great place to chill out, meet new people, and have some fun.
- Cost per night: $15
Food
Amsterdam Bar – we didn’t make it very far past our own hostel for food since it was cheap and decent but I definitely recommend making it to Amsterdam Bar. Now this place is known for being 420 friendly but even if you are into that or not, it makes for a fantastic view for sunset since it’s located on the top of a hill. They’ve got a pretty basic menu but we ordered pizza which was actually quite nice.
Nightlife
So as I mentioned earlier, the Full Moon Party isn’t just one night it’s a whole week of festivities leading up to the event and even some after. We didn’t go to all but just checked out a few, because let’s face it I’m getting older and my body can’t quite hang like it used to:
1. Coral Bungalows Pool Party
This happens 2 night before the Full Moon Party so if you want to take in the festivities leading up to the party then make sure to book accordingly. We arrived around midnight thinking it would be packed, but honestly it was dead. We had heard so much about this epic pool party and honestly it was a dud. However, things did start to get pretty crowded by 1am and as we left we saw a massive rush of people go in, so maybe we missed the peak of the party. The partying is all night here so makes sense that things don’t start getting wild til about 1am anyways.
2. Jungle Party
This party is always the night before the Full Moon. It’s basically a neon party in the jungle where they play trance music and have neon buildings that are pretty cool to look at. It’s definitely worth it to go once in your life and check it out but I probably wouldn’t do it again simply because they charge quite a bit.
- Cost: 600 baht
3. Full Moon Party
Okay, this is IT! The long awaited Full Moon Party! Now there’s no real “way” to go about this then just wander and enjoy and dance the night away. But there are some things that I should highlight.
- Arrive early. We arrived onto the beach at 7pm and things were starting to pick-up. I don’t think there’s an official time it starts but if you arrive later in the night I can tell you that getting a tuk-tuk will be a nightmare.
- Get painted! There are artists that line the streets who can do a better job than maybe you can but expect to pay a bit of money to get one done. They also have stations along the road where you can paint on your own for much cheaper or you can purchase your own set of neon paint at one of the convenience stores up the road or from a street vendor.
- Get a bucket. DOI! We are at the Full Moon Party and you want to last so get that damn bucket!
- Make it to sunrise. Now I consider myself to be a bit older but it was a goal of mine to dance til the sun rose and it’s definitely a beautiful site to see the sun coming up over the ocean horizon. There are plenty of other people too who will still be dancing the night away so you won’t be alone. If anything you might even forget how quickly the time went.
- Cost for entry: 100baht
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