After some colder weather in Vietnam, we headed back to Thailand for some beach time! We had a flight to Phuket, connecting in Bangkok. Check in at the Hanoi airport was quick and easy, and the flight was about 1.5 hours. Even with a 45-minute delay, the connection was no problem. In Bangkok, since we were connecting within Thailand, we passed through a separate customs area. Getting stamped only took about 30 seconds! After another 1.5-hour flight, we were in Phuket!
We planned to spend our 30-day visa island hopping in the Andaman Sea. Based on reviews of Phuket, it didn’t seem like the island for us – the nicer accommodation and beach locations were too expensive for our budget (probably great for a honeymoon!), plus we were looking for more isolated, less tourist-filled beach spots. Since we had 30 days to explore, we figured we would just make our way south, eventually crossing into Malaysia. After some research, we decided on Koh Yao Yai for our first stop! However, we did have one night in Phuket and we made the best of it.
We picked a hotel that was only about a 10-minute walk from the airport so we could save money on cab fare. Also, a lot of the more popular spots further south on Phuket were not as convenient to Bang Rong Pier (on the west side of the island, to get to Koh Yao Yai) so it didn’t make sense to travel further anyways. We stayed at Wong Muang Hotel. It was very clean and had good air conditioning. We dropped our bags off and walked about 15-20 minutes to Nai Yang Beach for the afternoon/sunset. We weren’t sure what quality of beach to expect, but to our pleasant surprise, it was very nice! Little to no trash at all! We walked for a while and then picked a restaurant, The Beach, for happy hour (still a little pricey). The sunset views were so great that we ended up ordering dinner here as well. A wonderful introduction to the Thai Islands!
The next morning, we got smoothies down the street for breakfast and then hopped into a Grab to head to the Bang Rong Pier (cost us 538 baht, not cheap, but there wasn’t really another convenient option). At the port, we had to pay a “tourist tax” fee of 10 baht per person. Just another way to take advantage of tourists. The next boat to Koh Yao Yai was at 10:40 am and cost 300 baht each. Since it was a speedboat, we arrived on Koh Yao Yai around 11:15 am at Klong Hia Pier. This pier was very quiet (there is another pier further east) and there was only one songthaew. Our hotel was located in the center of the island, so we had no choice but to agree to his price (400 baht). We had booked a few nights at the Green Mountain Hotel, which we ended up extending because we loved the place and the island so much! It is a new homestay and very well constructed – everything was very tight, so there were no bugs and the bathroom was very nice. There are three bungalows, each with their own large decks, which are great for sitting out in the mornings and evenings. Plus, the owners gave us fresh fruit every day from their land!
We absolutely loved our time spent on this island. While the beaches are not the famous white sand beaches, the island is very laid back. Plus, there are very few tourists here, so we were often alone on the beach. To fully appreciate and explore this island, you need your own transportation (unless you choose to plop down at one of the few resorts). We were able to rent a motorbike from our hotel, which was very convenient. Most of our time on the island was spent eating, drinking, and sitting on the beach! The beaches we explored are listed below along with the restaurants. Note that Koh Yao Yai is a majority Muslim island, so access to alcohol is limited.
While exploring the beaches on the northwest side of the island one day, we (very) unexpectedly ran into one of Patrick’s friends from high school and college! We were motorbiking towards Son Bay Beach and he was motorbiking the opposite direction. Crazy coincidence! Patrick hadn’t seen him in over 12 years, so we all went down to the beach to catch up. We also met back up for dinner later that night. He was only here for one day, so the fact that we ran into him was unbelievable.
Koh Yao Yai Beaches
- Laem Had Beach – located at the northeast corner of the island. You can see Koh Yao Noi from this beach. It’s a beautiful beach with views of Koh Yao Noi just to the north and palm trees that provide good shade. However, it is not a swimming beach, especially at low tide when you can walk out on the mud flats a long way. There is also a beach bar here, so you can enjoy the views with a drink in hand!
- Loh Paret Beach (and Monkey Beach Bar) – a popular beach located on the west side of the island. There are a few resorts that back up to it; however, if you drive down a sandy/dirt narrow path to Monkey Beach Bar, we had the beach all to ourselves aside from the bartender and monkeys. One day, there was a huge group of probably 100 monkeys that passed through, and another day, one monkey came down and ate bread at the bar. This is a great swimming beach, plenty of shade trees, and a beautiful sunset spot. We ended up spending several days at this beach!
- Son Bay Beach – located on the northwest side of the island. We took the extremely difficult, long road in, starting along a dirt road just north of the Ban Lo Po Noi Mosque. DO NOT GO THIS WAY. It was a very rough, steep, unmaintained dirt road for long stretches. I often got off the motorbike and walked while Patrick navigated the terrain. The easier way to get there is up and around the north side of the island on the paved road, which is how we got back to our hotel later. This is a great beach, with plenty of shade and soft sand. At low tide, the water recedes a long way, but you can still swim! Another good spot for sunsets.
- Loh Jak Beach – located on the west side of the island, south of Loh Paret. The sand was white and the water color was a beautiful blue, but it was rocky starting at the water’s edge. Since we couldn’t swim here, we didn’t end up staying long.
- Glow Elixir Resort – located on the west side of the island, south of Loh Jak. We had to park our bike a little up the street since this is a private resort. We walked through the restaurant area to get to the beach (not sure if non-guests are technically allowed?). Similar to Loh Jak Beach with good sand, but too rocky for swimming.
- Ao Muong Beach – located on the west side of the island, south of Glow Elixir Resort. Access is via a sandy/dirt road, but not too difficult to navigate. A smaller beach with nice sand and plenty of shade. However, there were already several people there when we arrived and again, it was too rocky to swim, so we didn’t stay.
- แหลมนกออก – located on the east side of the island. The road into this beach is VERY rough. Similar to our journey to Son Bay Beach. If you pass the garbage dump, you’re headed in the right direction. We actually never made it down to this beach as we ran into a couple on their way out. They indicated that the last stretch of “road” was very steep and since it was near high tide, there was practically no beach. Plus, it was rocky at the water’s edge, so not great for swimming.
- Ao Sai Beach – located on the southeast side of the island near the Fisherman’s Village. The beach was nice here, but too rocky for swimming. Not sure if that changes during low tide. Good for lying out though! And there is a bar/restaurant here as well (from reviews, this bar owner may be a bit pushy at times for you to buy something).
Restaurants
- The Family Store – a small convenience store on the north side of the island that sells alcohol. There is also an ATM in front.
- 7 Eleven – two on the island, one north and one south. We stopped here for ice every day (used our dry sack as a cooler for our beach days). Note that 7 Eleven does not sell alcohol on the island.
- Laem Had Beach Bar – plenty of seating space here, right on the beach. Happy hour deals and live music when we visited!
- Monkey Beach Bar – super laid-back bar at Monkey Beach. The owner is very friendly and chatty. Plus, visits from monkeys.
- Dang Paradise – a small restaurant located near Laem Had Beach and Chong Lard Pier (different pier from where we came in). Great food, great prices. If there are a lot of people there, it could take a while to get your food. They provided bug spray while you waited, which was a nice and necessary perk!
- Dr. Fishballs – small restaurant and menu, but delicious food! Located on the road that leads towards Laem Had Beach. This was the cheapest restaurant we found on the island, and we ate here a couple times.
- Mama Thai – located across the street from the 7 Eleven (south side). Great, cheap food!
- Gu Restaurant – located across the street from the 7 Eleven (south side). Good food and decent prices.
- Hinkong Restaurant – owned by our homestay host’s brother. Decent food, but pricey.
Ultimately, we stayed on Koh Yao Yai for five nights. We considered going over to Koh Yao Noi for a few days instead of five nights here. However, we had read that the islands were similar and since we loved our housing on Koh Yao Yai, we figured we would just stay on Koh Yao Yai. We both would seriously have considered spending our entire month here because we loved our setup so much, but, we wanted to experience some of the other islands. After a bit of research, we decided to check out Ko Lanta next because apparently there were some amazing white sand beaches here.
