KOH SAMUI & KOH TAO, THAILAND

Nina's Travels

Apr 4, 20196 min read

Updated: Jun 11, 2019

Hello, hello everyone !

Five month I've been missing I know, but I am coming with such an amazing trip I have to tell you all about it.

I am about to divide those two amazing weeks of fun into three distinct articles, otherwise it would've been too long to read in one shot. I hope you like watching pictures cause this article might own more pics than written lines ! haha

Let's start with the first part !

Koh Nang Yuan viewpoint

We really wanted to visit Asia in 2019 to visit our good friend Andrea who lives in Singapore but were hesitating between Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. We ended up thinking Thailand was the most appropriate for us now and booked our flight tickets right after the decision was taken. We flew from Paris to Bangkok on the 16/03, direct flight with Thai Airways (we booked it through Jet Broad) and paid about 615€ per person. Companies such as China Eastern Airlines or Jet Airways were offering flight tickets much cheaper but with very long connexions and not sure they are reliable companies (if you ever flew with one of them, let me know your opinion about it !)

Thai Airways is from afar the most beautiful plane, the most on time, the most serviable and professional team I have ever flown with.

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport

After 12h flight, we took a plane from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport to Koh Samui airport with Bangkok Airlines which is perfect for short flights.

KOH SAMUI

We spent only 2 days in Koh Samui but here are the attractions I would recommend doing if you're ever around.

When we landed, the hotel had sent a driver to pick us up from the airport.

We reached Kirikayan Hotel in 25 minutes and received a very warm welcome.

Kirikayan is a very cute hotel in the middle of the jungle, so quiet and peaceful. The service is perfect and I would recommend everyone who looks for calm to go there. The room is sooo clean and so big (100 m2), the hotel offers a gym, a beautiful pool and a restaurant, so you'll really feel very comfortable there. The only disadvantages are breakfast is a bit poor and shuttles to the center are not frequent enough, so you might have to pay a cab every time you want to go downtown (circa 350 baht).

Kirikayan pool in the jungle

Bathroom in the room

In Koh Samui, you shouldn't miss the great food market on Mondays and Wednesdays in Fisherman's village. In general, Fisherman's village is so worth visiting, full of attractions, restaurants, boutiques, spas ... we got our first thai massage at the Cyan Spa in Fisherman's village !

Fisherman's village

Having dinner on the Bophut Beach at sunset is so fun and romantic.

We fell in love with a place called Coco Tam's, which was so well decorated, nice atmosphere with good music. Food was super good but a little pricy.

Coco Tam's vibes

Another thing we just loved discovering was Wat Plai Laem Temple which is compound of three different Buddhas, were the color and the design are gorgeous and very unique.

Wat Plai Laem Temple - Koh Samui

As long as you're around, pay a visit to Big Buddha's Temple called Wat Phra Yai and its market, you can even go have a drink at Sunset by Angelina café in between both visits.

Sunset by Angelina café

I just need to precise that visiting Thailand between January and March is best because the weather is so nice and you'll barely see the rain BUT it is also super hot and humid (between 30°C to 36°C daily) so be ready to sweat a lot along temples visits haha !

Feel free to order fresh coconut everywhere you go in order to refresh !

There is a go out you can do around Koh Samui (or Koh Pha Ngan), apparently awesome, but we sadly didn't have time for it. It is a very popular excursion called Ang Thong National Marine Park, a day trip inside 42 virgin islands around Koh Samui. Heard it was worth going !

Bophut Beach

KOH TAO

I think I can tell once the trip's over that Koh Tao has to be one of the place I loved the most.

We took a speed boat from Koh Samui - Nathon Pier with Lomprayah boat company (very professional and not too expensive) to Koh Tao.

From Koh Samui to Koh Tao

The hotel had, once again, planned a shuttle from the port.

We arrived in Haad Tien Beach Resort and there, we entered the dream.

Haad Tien beach

We knew that the Shark Bay is the most beautiful beach of the island and guess what ? Haad Tien owns it. So basically, you wake up in a dream. The hotel offers two swimming pools, two restaurants (Thai and Italian food), kayaks, scuba diving licences, shuttles to downtown, private taxi service .. in a word, almost everything.

Our kayak ride

We slept in a small wooden shed in front of the pool and the beach with a mosquito net princess bed. Breakfast and dinner are delicious in Haad Tien though I'd recommend to eat downtown if you feel like going out.

Our cute shed room

Shark Bay

Haad Tien's pools

At night, the best district is Sairee. You'll find so many nice places to eat, have a drink, do shopping, get massaged, dance, or even sleep.

To me, Sairee is such a great place to watch sunset, either sat down on the beach or in one of the cool bars of the sea shore.

Sunset on Sairee Beach

If you like spicy food, you can have dinner in Su Chilly, otherwise Chaba Tapas Restaurant is a nice option too. You can definitely just stay at the hotel and enjoy a delish' dinner there (a little expensive compared to downtown's restaurants prices).

View from Haad Tien's breakfast room

Haad Tien's restaurant

We got very good massages at Impress Massage (right on the beach) and Seashell spa in Sairee town.

Every night, you can watch fire shows at the Lotus bar, while sipping a cocktail on their beach pillows.

On the third day, we did a must go-out in Koh Tao that is the visit to Koh Nang Yuan. This is a small island attached to Koh Tao and considered as one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world !

The simplest to reach the island is to take a taxi boat from Koh Tao port or from Sairee beach (from the port, the price is more or less 400 baht go and back) and set with the taxi captain the return, so you make sure someone picks you up at the end of the day.

Taxi boat ride

Koh Nang Yuan is a preserved place so you won't find anything on it except a diving hotel and a restaurant. Good ecological news : every one-time-use plastic container is forbidden at the entrance ! The island is opened to tourists from 10am to 5pm. The must-do there is the walk till the top of the hill to admire the most beautiful viewpoint ever.

Koh Nang Yuan's viewpoint

Don't forget your snorkelling attire cause if you're lucky enough, you'll see little sharks as we did ! We spent the entire day there and felt like a heaven bubble out of time. Be careful with jellyfish stings though !

Koh Nang Yuan at during low tide

Last but not least, we decided for our last night in Koh Tao, to watch the sunset from John Suwan viewpoint. It's a little hike (15 min maximum) and the price to enter the protected area is around 50 baht. But let me tell you the result is worth every penny ! If you go to the viewpoint in the morning or in the afternoon, you can then enjoy the Freedom Beach right under which is also very pretty and cosy, resting and tanning after hiking ! hihi