Island Hopping — Amy Cerys

After our time in South East Asia, we decided to head further down South to island-hop around the Thailand islands.

I know only a few people who have travelled here before so didn’t really know what to expect. Would it be busy? Quiet? What was there to do there other than the beautiful beaches? And where do we stay?

Without much of know we asked our friends who had already been to the islands to help us.

Luckily for us, they loved their time there and gave us a lot of information to help us plan our journey on the islands.

We settled on two and a half weeks to explore five different islands. We originally thought about visiting seven islands but unfortunately, money got in the way and we couldn’t justify them this time. But we were fully happy with visiting the five islands, Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Phuket and Koh Phi Phi, spending 3 or 4 nights in each.

First stop Koh Tao:

After a 3-hour ferry ride from Surat Thani (mainland), we arrived on our first island, Koh Tao. For this, we stayed in a hostel. Location wise it was ok, but it was at the top of a big hill so walking back up in the heat was sometimes a struggle after a hot day on the beach. The room itself felt like a hotel room, so that was a bonus.

Koh Tao has a small selection of shops, restaurants and bars in a little town along the beach. We found so many good places to eat, I looked forward to each mealtime getting to try yet another Thai restaurant. The beach was beautiful with clear blue sea, golden sand, palms trees and wondering dogs all along the beach... paradise. I was actually just sat in the sea minding my own business when some dogs just came and sat by me. Obviously you have to be careful with the dogs here because they’re either stray or just aren’t cared for very well, unlike us in England who treat our dogs like royalty!! But there I was sat in the sea with two dogs just by me, one sat so close to me he was almost sitting on me! I just wish I could take them all home to look after!

The highlight in Koh Tao was sitting on the beach, on a bean bag with a Chang beer in hand watching the sunset.. that was a perfect moment (and the company wasn't bad)!

Koh Phangan

When we first arrived in Koh Phangan we didn’t think much of it. However, we were greeted at the pier by two ladies who gave us a ride to our hotel on their motorbikes. Our hotel was really nice, big room, swimming pool and friendly staff. After settling in we went for a wander, finding a food market (which we ended up going to every evening for dinner) also a few cafes and shops along the road. There wasn’t a whole lot around so we were slightly concerned what we’d end up doing for the next few days here.

Luckily the hotel staff were super helpful and recommended a tour around the island and for only 500 bhat for a full day it seemed perfect. We went the next day, visiting all the local sights, snorkelling at two beautiful beaches, swimming in a waterfall, stopping for lunch with an incredible view of the island and also the last stop being at a 360 bar viewpoint.. a great way to end the day around the island.

I’m so glad we did this tour as we saw so many things we didn’t think were even on this island! I think sometimes when travelling it's hard not to judge a place by first impressions but I've definitely learnt throughout travelling that you definitely shouldn't do this. In some destinations, you just need to search a little further to find the best spots! And luckily, in this case, this is what happened and it was a lot better than we first thought it’d be.

Koh Samui

Just a short (30min) ferry ride from Koh Phangan we arrived at Koh Samui, one of the more popular islands known for the full moon parties, beaches, elephants and boxing.

With a small airport on the island combined with where we were staying, we could hear and see the planes flying regularly. Seeing the planes fly a few times a day is pretty cool when you’re just sunbathing on the beach, to then having planes fly straight over your head!

The way to get around on the islands is on motorbikes but after a failed attempt from us (trying but not feeling safe and giving up), we decided to book another ‘budget’ day trip taking us to all the main sights on Koh Samui. We went to multiple temples, including the Big Buddha, also seeing the Mummified Monk (which is slightly odd) and ending at a waterfall. Another good day exploring, seeing more of the island’s sights that were dotted all over the place.

We ate a lot of good food here, having so much choice each lunch and dinner, in so many different restaurants, including a local food market. It’s hard though because you walk down the street and the locals are all trying to cox you into their restaurant but you’ve just got to pick your luck and chose one.

One evening after dinner we ended up playing four in a row with a local whilst enjoying some beer. She saw me boasting to Andy about how good I am at connect four (honestly I’m good) and came over to try her luck. And well she didn’t need any luck because she was brilliant and had all the tricks, moves and tactics. After two games I called it a night!

Now it was time to head to the party island... Phuket

Phuket

So before arriving I actually thought Phuket was a separate island.. turns out it’s actually connected to mainland Thailand (I can only say that my geography skills are improving)!

I’m not sure what I was expecting Phuket to be like but it was a lot bigger than I thought it’d be. Feeling more like a city, loud, busy with souvenir shops along every possible road. We explored the area, staying in a great central location.

The beach was nice but compared to the other beaches we had seen in Thailand, this one felt overcrowded and more touristy. There were a lot of water sport activities going on and everyone was scrambling to find some shade under the trees near the back of the beach so there wasn’t much personal space that you would ideally like whilst relaxing on a beach (And it was just too hot to stay out in the boiling sun all day). When we were in Koh Tao the beach was quiet with plenty of shade to escape under when you needed a break from the sun. We only spent a few hours one day on this beach as it just wasn’t what we were wanting but we did see some beautiful sunsets there.

We, of course, visited Bangala street which can only be described as some type of Ibiza strip! It was crazy. Bars, clubs, boxing arena, ping pong shows, massages.. everything you’d expect to be on this street. It was cool to see and you could definitely see that you’d have a good night out here if you were with your mates or on a stag/hen do.

Whilst being away Andy and myself have felt in the sort of ‘in-between age’. We’re not in our teens anymore so partying every night isn’t our go-to and plus we’ve been travelling for a few months so coming away to party just isn’t the priority. But also we’re not at that age where we’re not full-grown ‘adults’. It’s an odd middle age where you're not sure wether to shuffle on the dance floor holding a bucket of vodka mixer or head to the quieter spots, have a few drinks whilst playing cards! We just try and balance this out…

Phuket was good to see but it hasn’t been my favourite place. I was looking forward to heading to a quieter island... Koh Phi Phi. That being said I’m glad we’ve seen what Phuket is like as it’s all an experience at the end of the day.

Koh Phi Phi

As soon as we arrived in Koh Phi Phi I knew I was going to love it. Walking through a cute, small-town to our hotel with restaurants, bars and of course souvenir shops (similar to Koh Tao) For our stay here, we stayed in a hotel but in individual shacks. I really enjoyed this as it was around locals so you could see how they live, almost feeling like a homestay. Lucky for us our shack still had air con, a tv (not that we ever used it) and decent shower. We were even greeted one morning by monkeys climbing on the roof and going through everyone’s rubbish bins outside.

We went to our first beach in Koh Phi Phi which was beautiful but the sea smelt a tad and wasn’t the cleanest which I was surprised about. We visited the other beach on the other side of the island another day which was perfect and it only took about 30mins to walk from one side of the island to the other. This beach was quiet so was much preferred than the other one, plus the sea was a lot cleaner this side which I don't understand how or why.

We also climbed to the viewpoint at the top of Koh Phi Phi which had some stunning views and even witnessed a proposal at the top (super cute, Andy even managed to capture the moment he was down on one knee which he then sent to them later)! An extremely sweaty walk but definitely worth the views at the top.

Koh Phi Phi (pronounced; Koh Pee Pee!) had the perfect mixture of a good atmosphere around the island but also having the quieter spots where you could really relax. We actually stayed during their celebrations for the Thailand New Year too which consisted of a mass water fight around the town. (After getting water poured down our backs we were glad we actually knew why this was happening)! There was such a great atmosphere around, people with buckets, water guns and water bottles, both the tourists and locals all joining in to celebrate this time for Thailand, it was fantastic.

Out of the five islands we visited, Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi were definitely my favourite islands. They were the smaller ones, with cute little towns, beautiful beaches and weren’t overpopulated with tourists. I would definitely recommend to others to visit these two islands as a priority. Of course, the other islands were beautiful in different ways but these two had the perfect balance for a relaxing island experience (which is what we were looking for).

After visiting these islands I’m already thinking I’d love to come back and visit some of the other islands, the ones that we didn’t get to do. Exploring the islands is a great way to see how the locals live and the simplicity of living they hold, with of course all the amazing beaches.

I'm going to miss island hopping, walking around in bikinis, laying on a beach, reading my book, swimming in the crystal clear sea, seeing monkeys in the wild, having sand EVERYWHERE and seeing some amazing sunsets!

Next stop Bali...

Amy x