We fancied visiting Koh Phangan on this trip as we had watched a few videos showing off the beauty of the place, rather than it just all being about full moon parties. First we had to get there though. From Samui there are a number of companies that travel to Koh Phangan and from Bang Rak there were 2 options- the Haad Rin Queen that takes slightly longer and heads to Haad Rin pier for 200B pp (at present either 10.30am or 3.30pm) or Lomprayah at 12.30pm that travelled to Thong Sala pier for 350B pp. We were staying closer to Thong Sala pier but to try and keep costs down we took the Haad Rin boat. We had been advised that a taxi from Thong sala would be about 150 Bpp to our accommodation or from Haad Rin would be 200B pp, so even with a slightly higher taxi cost we should save ourselves some money.
We had a nice easy morning before walking in the heat for 10 minutes to get to the Haad Rin pier. We bought tickets for the boat at the office there and then joined everyone else waiting for the boat. Thankfully there was some shade there as it was so hot! We all bundled onto the big boat and sat on the wooden benches, feeling the fresh air of the openness of the boat. All the luggage was piled in the middle of us, with a few of the staff sleeping on top. The journey over to Koh Phangan was really pleasant, beautiful calm blues waters and impressive sceneray of both Koh Samui as we were leaving, some islands and Koh Phangan in the foreground. After arriving at Haad Rin pier there were various taxis waiting. The shuttle was going to be 200B as expected so no need to hunt around and we were on it in a matter of seconds.
After dropping some others off first we managed to locate the area our airbnb was with the driver and he dropped us on the side of the road. Unfortunately there was no sign and no one there to meet us, I didn’t have check in instructions so we wandered around where we thought it was for a while being quite confused. Eventually a french guy on a scooter rocked up, just visiting someone there and he helped call the owner and locate our bungalow, which was open and the keys were inside. It had got us a bit flustered, and then we had a bit of an issue with the wifi and there was confusion over there being a very battered scooter with key out front with no helmets that we thought the owner had organised for us. As the airbnb was a bit out of town we really needed a scooter to get anywhere and we weren’t near any rental shops that we could see without walking for ages. Eventually we got hold of the owner who had forgotten her phone, and we managed to get on the wifi and she gave us the number of someone who could organise to drop a scooter off for us for 200B a day, we did have to give 5000 B deposit though so that we didn’t have to give a random person Dave’s passport. All sorted and we could finally appreciate how nice the airbnb was and it was good to have a bit more space with our own small kitchen (not that we used this), lounge area with desk, seperate bedroom with comfortable bed and a terrace. The property did also have a shared pool.
We were in need of food after all this so we went a few hundred metres down the road to a local street restaurant for some lunch, where we both had delicious thai basil chicken and rice (60B each). Then we picked up some supplies family mart for the bungalow. Finally we were all sorted. It was quite late in the afternoon, 4pm, we were knackered but ready to get on with the day. We headed out on the scooter to drive through the local Thong sala area to get a lay of the land before heading to a nearby waterfall- Phang noi. Unfortunately when we pulled up it was already closed (closes at 4pm) and we hadn’t realised that it was 100B pp as as well as parking as it was in a national park. Instead we took some of the beautiful roads around Phangan and made our way to the beach. It was a bit difficult to find where to park/ get onto Haad Yao beach. Eventually we pulleed down a road, parked behind some bungalows and walked through their garden area.
Haad Yao beach itself was stunning. It was a long stretch of golden sand lined with trees/ various acommodations and restaurants and the sea was crystal clear and inviting. There was hardly anyone on the beach as there was no shade and it was a bit too early before sunset. We took advantage of that though and went for what was basically a bath in the warm clear waters. There area lots of beaches along this area all in separate coves and all perfect for sunset. As it was quite early though and the road here had been very twisty and up and down we thought we would head to a different beach for sunset, closer to the bungalow.
Again we had initial difficulty finding the turning off for the Zen beach parking, driving past it a couple of times as it wasn’t sign posted and meant we were basically off roading for a good few hundred metres. We found our way to the beach, which was not as beautiful due to the tide being up and the waves being choppy, but it had a very relaxing zen vibe with chilled music playing from the restaurant and a lot more people that had come to watch the sunset. The sunset was nice to start with but then got covered by lots of cloud so before it got fully dark we made our way back to the bungalow to freshen up. In the evening we headed back into town to the Phantip night market. There were only a few stalls there but there were 2 food courts either side of it so we found food and a place to enjoy it there. Pad see ew and crispy pork and rice (60/70 B each).
We were ready to explore more in the morning, being refreshed with a good night's sleep. After breakfast on the terrace, we drove through the island to the other side to Chaloklum bay, to see how long it would take us as we were headed there tomorrow for a day trip. The island is not that big so it only took us about 15minutes and the roads are great with some great views of the national park jungle and various bays. We came back on ourselves a bit to head to Paradise waterfall. The road up to the parking was atrocious so I hopped off but Dave managed to slowly wind his way up there. It was a 30B entrance each but we got free water each, and is said to go to sorting out the road! It was worth it though, the large pool at the bottom was fantastic for swimming in and gave fantastic views up to the varying levels of cascading water. There is a small hike up next to the waterfall where you can get a view down too. There weren't many people here when we visited (possibly due to the road putting people off!) and we made the most of swimming and cooling off in the water.
From here we navigated our way back down to the main road before heading to Mae Haad beach. We again had to navigate a bit of a potholey and sandy road and then park at a resort and walk through it to the beach. Our initial plan had been to swim/snorkel in the lovely waters of Mae Haad/ Koh Ma island which you can walk to on the sandbank however it is low tide season and the water was only a few inches for a few hundred metres. Instead we walked along the sandbar of Koh Mah, appreciating the beauty of the place before getting to hot and heading back to the scooter. We also attempted the same at Haad Salad beach, which had a very steep hill to get down to it. It was also absolutely beautiful but it was also very low tide and not possible to swim at that time of day. Instead we just enjoyed driving around the island roads appreciating the views.
For lunch we drove to a place I had found on google marked- pork leg restaurant. The place was very busy and served us delicious stewed pork leg for 50B. As we hadn’t had much luck on the beaches we made the most of the swimming pool at our place to cool off and read for a while before getting on with some blogs/ editing. In the evening we went to head to secret beach for sunset but when we stopped at a family mart on the way found a place that looked nice by a harbour. This actually lead us to walk around to the beach next to zen beach and we sat having a beer watching the sun go down. For dinner we headed to Friendly Milk restaurant as we had seen it lit up the night before. We had a cheap meal in a nice setting (70 B each) and also had some iced milo drinks (35 B each).
We were up early the next day so that we could get to Sail Rock divers for 7.15am to register and sort equipment out. There are limited diving companies/ boats on Koh Phangan and we had booked in advance to visit Sail Rock. This is a premium dive site that Dave didn’t manage to visit from Koh Tao last time and with this company I could also snorkel it. The guys there were nice and gave Dave a bit of a refresher/test both on the boat and in the water when we got there as it had been 5 years since his last dive. The boat ride out was about 1 ½ hours to the dive site and quite choppy. I was ok on the way there but Dave did not feel great. As it turned out I was the only one snorkelling. With the water being quite choppy, not being great in the ocean and being on my own I opted for a life jacket for easy but hopped in in fins after the divers. It was strange watching them all descend below me and streams of air bubbles coming up. As the water was quite choppy I only stuck to one side of the rock where it was calmest and not too far away from the boat. It meant I couldn’t swim around the rock but there was still plenty to see with the rock teaming with life. After about an hour Dave and the rest of the divers resurfaced from their first dive. Very happy with what they had seen and Dave enjoyed his dive a lot. I think I had taken on a lot of sea water and as we tried to eat a very average lunch on a bouncing boat I did not feel well. Having seen a lot in the morning I opted to stay on the boat whilst the divers went back in for their 2nd dives. The journey back was a bit rough and I didn't feel well until we were back on solid land. Brilliant place for snorkelling and diving though if you get the chance, so much to see, and quite often it is a place to see whale sharks although we didn’t get that lucky.
After freshening up at the bungalow we found some lunch at Phangan food court where I opted for a plain omlette and rice after feeling nautious all morning (50B), Dave had a very nice Pad See Ew though. We were both tired from the morning so spent time back at the bungalow relaxing and doing some work. Our scooter was due to be collected at 7pm but we did message for them to come and get it earlier so we might get a chance to walk and see the sunset from the nearby canal. After a text saying 10 minutes from the guy, they still didn’t arrive until 7pm anyway. It meant we missed the sunset but we did get our 5000B deposit back. There was a good 10 minutes after they had taken the bike back and said they would come back with our money where we weren’t sure that we were going to see them again, but it all worked out. We headed to the local restaurant again for some cheap food before packing up our stuff ready to journey to Krabi the next day.
We both really enjoyed Koh Phangan. It has great roads, a lot of access to cheap food, beaches and things to do like waterfalls and hiking, that Koh Tao doesn't have but it isn’t as commercial or busy as Koh Samui. Definitely a place I would recommend and would come back to for a longer time!
Next time we journey to Ao Nang in Krabi.
Thanks
Alex
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