Ko Samet - a super holiday getaway for beach lovers

Robinson Crusoe and seagoing Schumacher revisited!

Every evening is a delightful sight when the sun sets. 

I read an article in the London Sunday Times Travel section about Ko Samet and decided that it was a place one had to see. It created a vibe in me that it might be as unusual as my trip to Flower Island in the Andamans in 1977, when my wife and I were rowed across in two local six foot dugouts, from Port Blair, with a baby on my back - there was not a soul around and the whole approx 15 - 30 foot wide beach was full of varied shellfish just crawling around the beach in their shells. It is a round island with cacti and snakes in the central section - totally impassable. One just went there to sit and picnic on the beach and see the crystal clear waters deep down. An unforgettable experience. 

Ko Samet turned out to be a trip full of surprises - some good, some bad. Most important, it a place where you must go with a partner / friend and not solo. You need that company. Getting there is not easy and it takes time to reach. Luckily  I travelled light on this rare occasion and nobody had told me that one arrives Robinson Crusoe style at Ko Samet!  

Map of the island showing the beaches

Often mistaken for Ko Samui, a more famous and well known beach near Pukhet, the exclusive Ko Samet is an idyll of beaches and a forest reserve. Located about seven kilometers from the main land, the beaches here are amongst the best in Thailand – with Krabi, it vies for the top spot. Ko Samet is around 220 kms south east of Bangkok (BKK) in the Gulf of Thailand and is pretty small, I am told around 13 to 14 sq kms in size and the main part still remains a forested area. The beaches are essentially on one side only. Ko Samet is blessed with 14 white-sand beaches, ranging from beautiful to great; just half a day’s travel from Bangkok – hence its popularity with locals and especially foreigners. The island is unusually dry (it misses the worst impact of the monsoons) and hence arriving on a weekend, you may be hit with 100% rate hikes at hotels. Most of the tourists are Scandinavians and Russians in large groups who obviously find the quiet surroundings idyllic.   

Too many distractions

Arriving at Souvarnabhoomi airport Bangkok, you take the internal bus to the local coach terminal or a cab. The coach route to Rayong is very scenic especially after Pattaya, a two hour ride. Lots of coconut plantations en route. Bus costs B 180; cab costs B 2,500 but the bus takes an extra hour. Rayong is a large town, no skyscrapers, widely spread out. It’s the local regional capital. We then go on to Ban Phe, a distance of 25 kms on a super highway. We talk of making Mumbai roads equal to Shanghai but let’s at least try for Ban Phe quality!! 

Ban Phe jetty

From Ban Phe, you can get to Ko Samet only by boat. The hotel boats leave Ban Phe at 10.00 am when tourists have not even arrived – so unknowingly one is forced to hire speed boats, which is expensive, to reach earlier; else wait for a general ferry. Ferries costs B 70 and leave from Ban Phe between 08:00 and 18:00, and from Ko Samet every two hours between 08:30 and 16:30. If you want to travel any other time, it's possible to charter a speedboat. The cost for this should be B1,000 -1,200 which can work out to be fairly affordable if you get a group together.

Each of the ferry or speedboat offices has a small section for their gods.........gods of every persuasion to look after them!  I realised the value of this when I got on board the speedboat. 

Getting on board is easy; its the long run to your destination and holding on tight to the guard rail that surprises you. As soon as you leave the jetty, the boat is at full throttle until quite near the beach. Spray comes into the boat when it weaves across the waves. The speedboat drops you off in knee deep water and you wait.. and wait, until you are told.. This is it, please get off and walk.... carrying your own bags through the churning surf to your beach. You then ask for directions to your resort and check in! The fastest and best way to reach one’s destination.
Keep your shoes tied round your bag or round your neck if your hands are full ! If you travel by ferry, it’s a little better in that you walk into the sea for a short distance and sit in a very large flat bed boat, like an amphibian, which then takes you further up to a ferry where you transfer mid sea. The luggage being loaded for you by ferry boys.

Distance between the beach and the boat

At Ko Samet, Nam Da is the main ferry point at the tip of the island but then one is isolated as all beaches are further south. The boats off load pax from the top of the island and do beach hopping till the last beach, en route picking up passengers. The main single road across the island is a total disaster – full of serious mountainous terrain with no even surface, lots of potholes, steel bars visible in the road. The island itself has a rather hilly terrain which limits road access from one beach to another and therefore transportation around the island is generally by speed boats, ferries and motorbikes and of course on foot. No traffic in evenings as boats don’t operate at night so basically one is isolated. 

The Yamaha engine makes the locals into Schumakers!

Speedboats’ Yamaha V 6 200 HP engines are very fast and with totally lunatic drivers who behave as if they are Michael Schumacher’s of the boat world, hitting every wave possible. An experience worth trying just once to  get the feel of what hitting the waves at full speed and head on feels like! Do it for 30 minutes and you are still shaking for a while on dry ground………….Parkinson syndrome without having it! 
A suggestion - stand / sit as far upfront as you can so that there is greater stability for you. 

Ao Wai's pristine beach

As you go from the north to the south, the beaches become quieter and more isolated in their services. Most of the nicer beaches are located on the east coast closer to the Nan Da Public Pier and Ko Samet Village including Ao Phai, Had Sai Keaw (also spelt Sai Keo or Diamond Beach), the bays of Ao Wong Duen, Ao Wai, and Ao Kua Na Nok towards the south. On the west coast, there is only one beach of note, and that is the cove of Ao Prao. You will initially get confused with the different spellings for each beach but eventually one gets the gist of where the beaches are. Thai pronunciation also doesn’t help as it is tonal with multi tones.

Ao Wai beach 

I had reserved a cottage at Ao Wai beach ¾  of the way down the island – it’s a half moon shaped small beach, very pretty, no activity at all except only the beach, ideal for couples and families. After the long journey from BKK, I just could not wait to get into the warm waters. The sand is pure white, very soft and the waters divine – deep blue turning to light green.

the view from my room 

The hotel’s one restaurant serves excellent food. The cottages are functional, very clean, with a/c and a private balcony for each cottage. Breakfast everywhere is standard – fried eggs, sausages, Thai style rice dish, Thai soup, toast/jam, papaya / pineapple slices, coffee / tea. 

This property, like many others, had a lot of construction work going on – building new cottages inwards way up hill, so long walk to the beach. The resort has two beaches – only Ao Wai is sandy, the other has rocks. It’s an incredible sensation when one sits alone on the cottage balcony, watching the reflections bounce off the sea and hearing the gentle lapping of the waves on the beach interrupted by the occasional loud slap of the big wave hitting the surf.

The next day I decided to go exploring the island. At first I hired a motorbike but leaving the property, I saw the state of the road full of potholes with a 60 degree incline and decided discretion is the better part of valour. I found the best way was to take the ‘sǎwngthǎew’ or Toyota pickup truck which operate as taxis as only these hardy vehicles can negotiate and last on the dirt track. I went across the east side looking at various resorts and beaches and their facilities. 

The first thing one sees is that whilst you traverse up and down the hilly road, the beaches and resorts are dotted along the right side with few markings except those by the owners.

Ko Samet main street

Right at the top is Ko Samet village with its police post, the information booth and many shops selling tourist memorabilia. There are resorts lining the beach from here on. 
In one of my earlier avatars, I was in the travel business and even though it was so long ago, I still take detailed notes. I am always interested in what each resort really offers, so bear with me with the details of what I saw at each place!

     Sai Kiew Villas - concrete structure, rude staff, small dingy rooms along the top of the structure. Below rooms are as bad and no windows!!  There is some atmosphere but basically the beach and the restaurant are the main attractions – for low end tourists. The villas are really nonexistent.  Internet facility nearby.

Sai Kiew  resort

·         Sai Kiew resort – yet another example of similar names piggy backing each other. More up market cottages lined along each other, no spacing right across the road from Sai Kiew Villas. Reception near main gate.  Bamboo style frontage on each cottage. Inside well furnished. Owners must be sharing the same supplier as toilets are similar in design and equipment. Worth staying if you get cottage nearer beach but generally these are for family use.  The singles in most places are the least favoured. Too many trees, too many cottages in a line and not enough space to move – the beach should convey space.

·         Samed Villa – well designed and nicely furnished cottages for up market tourists from Europe and Russia. But too closely spaced to each other and often on top of each other - one set of cottages upper level had a view of the roof of another cottage! Receptionist not fluent in English, far too many people crowding around. To get to this resort, you had to go through the front of White Sands, another resort on the beach. The road side access is not used or not there. 

·         Ao Phao Huts – small cottages, hilly terrain, just off main road. Each hut at different heights. Path not even and slippery. Rooms basic.

·         Malibu resort – entry is at the end of the road way and then you go through a path and land up on the beach. From there again you cross over to Malibu from some other property. 

Malibu Resort

     The beach is shared by six or seven resorts. The Malibu and other resorts are only visible from the beach and not the road side above – the resorts are way down below and the road is at a higher level and mountainous.  Cottages are well designed, construction is solid and the trees and garden well laid out. Lots of space and privacy. Own swimming pool.

Malibu's cafe

Restaurant serves food all day long and even dinner though there are shacks along the beach. The restaurant overlooks the beach front and the beach chairs so service is fast and friendly. Scandinavians and Russians mainly. I stayed here for a few days before leaving for BKK as I felt isolated at the other place. I think one needs company or the 'feel of humans' at times! Here, I had a lot of people doing there own thing and different restaurants to choose from. 

·         Most resorts have massage ladies at each end of the resort on a raised platform – 3 to 4 of them  giving massages which are basically power packed without technique – these are middle aged women with solid muscles so don’t get any ideas! They are untrained and unlike the professional masseurs who have undergone training in Thai massage in the Buddhist temple. 

·         Many European men come with Thai escorts – most of them of questionable background out for a few days ‘good time’. Very few are pretty and know how to apply makeup. Only the younger ones do. It’s sad as many don’t speak fluent English and I suppose that is not a qualification which is really important!

·         When the group comes, food service is as per their requirements and local cuisine is stopped. I found this at my resort when we had a large Russian group, so I went and ate outside.  

·       

Note the water level in the evenings!

  The shacks on the beach start putting up their tables by 5.30 pm as soon as the sun starts going down or when its less hot. The whole business depends upon the groups and tourists. First day saw a long row of shacks but next day as the tourists had reduced, hardly 6 or 7 shacks served food.  Food service is of two types:

• Where you choose the sea food from the display and it gets cooked , or
• You just order from a menu where the item is listed or in picture form

Ko Samet is a great place to relax for a week but not more unless you are a full grown beach junkie. I prefer greenery rather than the beach so for me it was time to move on. 

Ko Samet - Beaches - a few of them for you to mull over -

Hat Sai Kaew

Hat Sai Kaew (or Diamond Beach) is the longest and probably the most popular beach in Ko Samet. It is situated in the northeast and it is 780 meters long. This is the destination you should choose if you want to have some people and activities around you, but also live next to an almost paradise-like beach. The sand is almost snow-white and the water is invitingly green-blue.

Awaiting guests 

You will find a number of cozy restaurants and also a few beach bars here, as well as high class accommodation along the beaches. If you get tired of sunbathing, there are other activities available here such as: windsurfing, jet skiing, snorkeling or riding a banana boat after a motorboat, maybe followed by a refreshing fruit juice drink or cocktail in one of the beach bars.

Ao Vong Duan

Ao Vong Duan is a 500 meter long, crescent moon shaped beach which offers a fabulous sunrise. The sand is as inviting as on Hat Sai Kaew and the calm atmosphere here is really pleasant. Ao Vong Duan is the second longest beach on Koh Samet. Along the beach you find many different and first class seafood restaurants which also offer a stunning view, overlooking the Gulf of Thailand.

Vongdeaun Beach 

Vongdeaun Resort 

Vongdeaun Resort

Ao Prao

The only beach on the west coast of Samet is a real beauty and only a few hotels are located here. This was my favourite. The beach is about 200 meters long and very pleasant. Since the number of tourists is still finite, Ao Prao is a real world class destination if relaxation is an important factor during your holiday. The sunset seen from Ao Prao, on a clear night, is a memory that probably will last for a lifetime.

Entering the destination - From Ko Samet Ferries (one way/return 50/100B) return to Ban Phe from the pier in Na Dan hourly from 7am to 5pm – buy your ticket at the pier. There are also three scheduled ferries per day from Ao Wong Deuan (one way/return 70/110B; 8.30am, midday, 4pm).

Bus   Air-con buses leave Bangkok's Eastern (Ekkamai) bus station every hour, 05:00–20:00 daily. Buses do the reverse trip from 04:00 to 19:00. Tickets cost 157B. The journey takes three and a half to four hours. Buses drop passengers in the centre of Ban Phe, right across from Nuanthip Pier where you can catch a ferry to Ko Samet. There is no direct bus route from Pattaya to Ban Phe. Buses do run from Pattaya to Rayong town, and from there you can jump on a Ban Phe-bound songthaew for 20B.

A regular minibus service is available from Ban Phe to several popular tourist destinations. Minibuses bound for Laem Ngop (for Ko Chang) depart at 09:30 and 12:00, costing 250B. The minibus to Bangkok and Khao San Road also costs 250B and departs at 10:00 and 14:00. Ban Phe minibuses to Pattaya leave at 10:00, 13:30 and 17:00 and cost 250B. For other destinations, songthaews to Rayong cost 20B and leave frequently throughout the day.

Boat  Boats to Ko Samet leave from the pier throughout the day, supposedly on an hourly schedule, but since boats simply leave when full, it's not followed closely. The ferry costs 50B one-way, and is a fairly comfortable 40-minute ride. The ferry will take you to Nadan village on the north coast of Ko Samet -- from there, it's a 20-70B pick-up taxi ride to anywhere on the island.

 















 The speedboat will drop you off on whichever beach you'd like -- but be prepared to wade to shore. It takes only 10 to 20 minutes to get to anywhere on the island by speedboat from Ban Phe. 

Note: the rates stated are given for reference only.These were as of two years ago. 

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