Covers Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, Bali, Palawan, the Maldives, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Zanzibar, with visa and park rules checked at the source.
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February is the closest race of the year among Thailand's islands. The Andaman coast is in the middle of its dry season, and the Gulf coast has just come out of its rains. All four islands score 9.0 or better for February weather, so the order comes down to everything else.
Phuket wins at 8.34 out of 10, with 89°F (32°C) highs, an 85°F (29°C) sea and just 1.6 inches (41 mm) of rain. Koh Samui is a tenth of a point behind at 8.23 and actually has the better weather. If you would rather swap beach towns and day trips for cooler afternoons and a quieter resort strip, pick Samui. The cards below show the full order.
Score = 55% this month's weather + 45% the island's other five factors. How we score
| # | Island | Score | High °F | Sea °F | Rain (in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phuket | 8.3 | 89 | 85 | 1.6 |
| 2 | Koh Samui | 8.2 | 83 | 84 | 2.4 |
| 3 | Koh Lanta | 7.7 | 91 | 85 | 2.2 |
| 4 | Koh Phi Phi | 7.7 | 89 | 84 | 1.6 |
1Phuket wins February by a tenth of a point. Its weather is excellent, a 9.6 with 89°F highs, an 85°F sea and only 1.6 inches of rain, its driest month. What puts it ahead of Samui is the rest of the scorecard: 8.5 for things to do and a 10 for value, with a well-reviewed Patong 4-star at $76 in mid-January. Kata and Karon are calm for children now. Expect peak-season crowds in Patong.
2Samui has the best February weather of the four, a 9.8, with 83°F highs, an 84°F sea and 2.4 inches of rain. It finishes second by 0.11 points because it has less to do than Phuket (7 against 8.5) and costs a little more, $84 for a well-reviewed Chaweng 4-star in January. If heat bothers you, it is the better pick this month. February starts Samui's long good season, which lasts into September.
3Lanta is third. Its February is dry, 2.2 inches of rain, but its Krabi weather data runs hot at 91°F, above the 88°F where our score starts to drop, so it rates 9.0. The sea is 85°F and the west-coast beaches are calm, good for young children at Klong Dao. Lanta scores 5.5 for things to do and loses 0.4 points as a dry-season-only island. Its 4-star rooms started at $84 in mid-January.
4Phi Phi shares Phuket's 9.6 February weather, 89°F highs and only 1.6 inches of rain, and still ranks last. It scores 5 for things to do and 6.8 for value, with the cheapest well-reviewed 4-star at $187 in mid-January. February is a fine time for the crossing and for Maya Bay, at $12 (400 baht) per foreign adult. One or two nights is the right length; solo travelers will find group boat trips easy to join.
In this guide
Each island's score is 55% its February weather score and 45% its year-round score for everything except weather: beaches, things to do, access, value and crowds. Islands our own pages rate as worth it only for some travelers lose 0.4 points. The weather score rewards daytime highs between 81°F and 88°F (27°C to 31°C), a warm sea, low rainfall and sunshine. The full method is on how we score islands.
Weather is read at the gateway airport, so Phi Phi carries Phuket's numbers and Lanta carries Krabi's.
Phuket, Phi Phi and Lanta face the Andaman Sea. Their rainy season is the southwest monsoon, which the Thai Meteorological Department dates from about mid-May, with rain peaking in September. Samui sits in the Gulf of Thailand, where the rain comes later in the year: heaviest from mid-October to early December, with the southern east coast's peak running into January.
By February both are behind you. Samui's weather score (9.8) edges Phuket's (9.6) because its afternoons are cooler, 83°F against 89°F, while rain is low on both. But Phuket leads by half a point on the rest of the scorecard, mostly things to do (8.5 against 7) and hotel value. February is the last month Phuket wins: from March to October Samui's weather lead grows and it moves to first. See April for the switch.
You can also split a February trip between coasts. The coasts face opposite seas, so it means a domestic flight; Samui's airport is owned by Bangkok Airways, which flies in from Bangkok.
We price two dates for every island, January 13 and July 14, 2027, so February is not priced separately. January is the closer guide, since both fall in the dry season. The cheapest well-reviewed 4-star hotels on Kayak for January 13 were $76 in Patong, $84 in Chaweng, $84 on Lanta and $187 on Phi Phi Don, taxes and fees in.
On top of rooms: Maya Bay's park fee of $12 (400 baht) for foreign adults, and a Phuket to Phi Phi speedboat that one operator listed at $21 (700 baht) one way. For Lanta, shared vans from Krabi airport were listed at $11 to $13 a seat for the 24-mile (38 km) ride.
There are no US nonstops to Phuket, Samui or Krabi. Phuket connects through Bangkok, Singapore, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei; Samui through Bangkok or Singapore.
Since September 15, 2026, US citizens get 30 days visa-free in Thailand, down from 60. Your passport needs 6 months of validity, and you must file the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card within 72 hours before arrival. A $13 (450 baht) entry fee has been proposed but was not being collected on October 20, 2026. See the passport rules guide, and the world February ranking for other warm options.
Lunch and snorkel gear are included; the national park fee is only included if you pick that option. Expect a crowded, fast day; Maya Bay closes for August and September.
Rating as shown on GetYourGuide
Transfers from the main beaches, lunch and entrance fees are included.
Rating as shown on GetYourGuide
Pickup, guide, kayak and lunch are included; calm water, good for beginners.
Rating as shown on GetYourGuide
Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.
It is one of the best. Both island coasts are dry: Phuket's February data shows 1.6 inches of rain and Samui's 2.4 inches, and all four Thai islands rate 9.0 or higher for February weather.
They are nearly tied. Phuket scores 8.34 and Samui 8.23. Samui has slightly better weather, with highs around 83°F against 89°F in Phuket; Phuket has more to do and cheaper rooms.
In our data, February highs are about 89°F in Phuket and Phi Phi, 91°F on Koh Lanta and 83°F on Koh Samui. The sea is 84°F to 85°F on all four.
Yes. It falls in the November-to-April dry season on the Andaman coast, when the west-coast beaches are calm and the island is busiest. Phuket counted 13.0 million overnight tourists in 2025.
Yes. It is closed only from August 1 to September 30 each year, plus occasional rough-weather days. Foreign adults pay $12 (400 baht), and swimming is limited to a marked zone.
Further reading
