Full Moon Party Checklist: 20 Things to Sort Before You Go

A Full Moon Party checklist comes down to four things: the right date, enough cash, sensible shoes and a clear plan for getting home. Sort those and the rest of the night takes care of itself. It is the moment at 3 am, standing on the sand with a flat phone and one friend missing, when you find out whether you did.

I have sent a lot of guests from Koh Samui to Haad Rin, and the ones who have the best night are rarely the most organised in general. They just sorted a few simple things before leaving the hotel. Here are the 20 that matter, in the order you will need them.

Before the day: what should you sort first?

Start with the date and the way there, because everything else depends on them. The party is not always on the exact full moon, so check the official dates before booking flights or hotels.

1. Confirm the party date. The next one is on 27 October 2026 (Tuesday), then 24 November 2026 (Tuesday). The full list is on the Full Moon Party schedule.
2. Decide where you sleep. Haad Rin bungalows are often booked out around the party and minimum stays are common. Many people stay on Koh Samui and go over for the night.
3. Plan the crossing. Regular ferries from Koh Samui stop in the early evening, before the party starts, and there are no regular ferries back at night.
4. Book the transfer early. Booking is free and you pay at the pier, so there is no reason to leave it until the afternoon.
5. Tell your bank you are travelling and check that your card works in Thai ATMs, in case you need cash on Koh Samui.

Who should skip the trip from Koh Samui and sleep in Haad Rin instead? Mainly people who want to stay well past sunrise and sleep it off nearby. For everyone else, a hotel on Koh Samui with a pool, a quiet room and breakfast the next day is the more comfortable choice, and the guide on staying on Koh Samui or Koh Phangan for the party weighs it up honestly.

The one decision people regret most is leaving the way back to chance. There are no regular ferries back at night, so if you sleep on Koh Samui you need a speedboat ticket.

What to pack for the Full Moon Party

Pack light: you will dance on sand for hours in a crowd, so everything you carry should fit in a zipped pocket or a small bag worn on the front.

1. Cash in small notes. The entrance is 200 THB per person in cash, and most food and drink stalls take cash only.
2. Shoes you can lose and not cry about. Closed or strapped sandals are best. Bare feet on a party beach are a bad idea.
3. A charged phone and a small power bank. Turn off apps you do not need so the battery lasts into the early hours.
4. A copy of your ID on your phone or on paper, and leave the passport in the hotel safe.
5. Clothes you do not mind ruining. Neon paint and spilt drinks will find them.

Rather than repeat it here, the guide on what to wear and bring to the Full Moon Party covers outfits, bags and what to leave at the hotel in detail.

On the day: pickup, pier and timing

On party day, the most useful thing you can do is eat a proper meal and be in the hotel lobby on time. Minivan pickups from Koh Samui run in slots from late morning to late evening.

1. Pick your pickup slot. The table below shows them. An early slot gives you the sunset and a quieter start, a late one gets you there for the busiest hours.
2. Eat before you leave. A full stomach is the best protection against a long night of drinks.
3. Bring cash for the transfer. You pay in Thai baht at the pier, and that is where you get your ticket badge.

My pick for a first visit is a slot between 4 and 6:30 PM. You arrive in daylight, find your bearings in the village, eat, and walk onto the beach just as it gets dark and the main party begins at about 7 pm. Going over at noon makes for a very long day, and it is easy to be tired by midnight, exactly when the beach is at its best.

Prices for the transfer are fixed: ฿890 one way or ฿1290 round trip per person, and ฿1190 or ฿1490 for the New Year party. The speedboat from Bangrak pier to Haad Rin takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on the sea, and every passenger gets a life jacket.

The transfer from Koh Samui picks you up at your hotel or villa, takes you to Bangrak pier and over to Haad Rin by speedboat, and it is booked online with nothing to pay until the day.

At the party: what to sort in the first hour

The first hour on the beach decides how the rest goes. Do the boring things while you are still sober and the beach is still walkable.

1. Pay the entrance and keep the wristband on. It is 200 THB in cash at the beach entrance.
2. Agree a meeting point and a time. Pick something fixed and easy to find, not a bar you think you remember. Tell everyone, out loud.
3. Save each other's numbers and turn on location sharing in a group chat, but do not rely on it alone.
4. Know where the water and toilets are. Buy water early and keep buying it.

The fact that decides most nights here is simple: phones die and signal drops in a crowd of thousands. A regular party draws around 20,000 people, so a meeting point at a set time is worth more than any app. Keep away from the water's edge after drinking, and stand back from the fire shows.

One more habit worth adopting: take a photo of your meeting point and send it to the group chat with the agreed time. When someone is lost at 2 am, a photo is much easier to follow than a description shouted over the music. If a friend stops answering, go to the meeting point at the agreed time rather than searching the whole beach.

Getting home: how do the boats back work?

With a round trip ticket you do not book a return time. Return boats leave Haad Rin pier every hour from 0:00 to 6:00, so you walk to the pier when you are ready and board the next one with your ticket badge.

1. Keep the ticket badge safe all night. A zipped pocket, not your hand and not your drink.
2. Decide your rough boat time together. If one friend wants to leave at 2 am and another at 5 am, agree it before the drinks start.
3. Know the way to the pier from your meeting point before it gets crowded.

On Koh Samui you are put on the transfer list and a minivan takes you back to your hotel. Waiting at the pier at 4 am is not glamorous, but there is a seating area and everyone is in the same state. More about how it works is in the guide on getting back to Koh Samui after the party.

What first-timers usually forget

The things people forget are almost never the big ones. Here is the short list I hear most often from guests the morning after:

• Cash for the entrance, because they assumed cards would work at the beach.
• Where they agreed to meet, because they agreed it after the second bucket.
• Sun cream for the afternoon, if they went over on an early slot.
• A spare top for the boat, because a wet, paint-covered shirt is cold in the wind at 5 am.
• Water. Always water.

If this is your first time, my honest advice is to go over in the late afternoon, eat in Haad Rin village, watch the beach fill up at dark and aim for a boat somewhere between 3 and 6 am. For a broader picture of the night, read the first-timer's guide to the Full Moon Party.

Your 20-point checklist at a glance

Screenshot this before you go:

• Before: date, where you sleep, the crossing, the transfer booked, your card checked.
• Packing: small notes, strapped shoes, phone and power bank, ID copy, old clothes.
• On the day: pickup slot, a proper meal, cash for the pier.
• At the party: entrance paid, meeting point, numbers saved, water and toilets found.
• Getting home: ticket badge safe, boat time agreed, way to the pier known.

That is all it takes. The music, the fire shows and the sunrise do the rest.

Transfer facts checked on 25 October 2026. Prices and party dates can change: the booking form always shows the current ones.