💎 Hidden gems remaining: 9
Famous for its full-moon parties and photogenic beaches, Koh Phangan is one of three islands in the Surat Thani district. However, depending on your location, it can get pretty lonely off-season. Yet, the nicely warm sea and enjoyable Thai massages make it worthful to visit this touristy island.
The best thing about booking a ticket is that you don't have to worry about gazillion connections to reach your destination. In our case, this was needed indeed: we took a minivan from Khao Sok to Surat Thani Phantip Office where we hopped onto another minivan. In the middle of nowhere (around 2 km away from the port), we changed our vehicle once again – this time for a pickup truck. This was not the end of the journey yet: a ferry transported us over the sea to the isle of Koh Phangan where we (after a meal) took a songthaew to the (northern) part of the island. We bargained hard to reach our best (not so good) deal.
Very spacious
Yet, we still had to walk a few minutes to the accommodation while the tuk-tuk driver laughed at us panfully, saying: "This is what you get for 400 Baht, hahahahahaha!!!!"
We didn't mind, though, as we already sat for the whole day and needed to stretch our legs. To your surprise, the first thing we did when arriving was to visit the beach. You sure did not expect this, did you?
Despite the beautiful beach, our location had a major flaw: only one open restaurant (even though Google said there should be 5 open in our street) and similarly, only one little mini teeny-tiny market (which at least sold postmarks).
, this is probably a no-brainer. Enjoy the warm sea (this time, even Marko agreed it was just the right temperature!) while squatting. Should you want to swim, you will have to try harder – the sea here is very shallow. Let us give you a hint: the Malibu beach.
If you are into snorkelling, this is a place for you – be surprised by coral reefs all around the island (but be careful not to step on them!) with rich marine life.
A tip for you: there are no showers on beaches. To avoid being and , bring a bottle of tap water to desalinise youself.
Maehaad beach
After weeks of travelling with two backpacks on your shoulders, some relaxation and massage might release your muscle tension. Take your comfortable elephant trousers and visit a massage saloon. Keep in mind, though, that masseurs are of different quality, so choose wisely!
As Koh Phangan is an island, it is encircled by sea. You can find diverse beaches all around the isle. The nearest one may satisfy you, but if you feel more adventurous, take a walk along the coast and find surprises. We visited the Malibu beach, which offered warm water deep enough for swimming. There was also a very shallow beach nearby – have we not left our camera at home, Žan would have some new profile pictures while walking on the surface of water!
Jokes aside, this beach was one of a kind among those visited. It was the sole one that was actually deep enough to not only soak our feet, but also swim. After days of crawling in the water it was a much needed change indeed.
Malibu beach was half an hour of walk away
Coconuts here are green in colour and have a hexagonal shape. Tasty transparent juice is enclosed by juicy white meat. Sip the coco juice from the and enjoy a windy sunset.
Due to spatial and temporal factors, there was only one open restaurant in our walking distance. This means we didn't need much rumination about our eating destinations – we ate there every day, multiple times. Since there was no proper shop in the neighbourhood either, we couldn't make breakfast for ourselves, hence we visited the friendly woman every morning as well.
To distance ourselves a bit from the noodles and rice we consumed daily, we tried something very new that caught our eyes: No name. It reminded us of some salty version of Croatian "fritule" with a taste similar to spring rolls.
The last evening, we dined at the beach some tasty Pad See Ew while sipping a fresh coconut.
No name. No comment.