When it comes to travel, can you be selfish?
Can I keep special certain places to myself, or is it even more immoral because I am a travel blogger? Don’t I have to share everything; the good, the bad and the ugly?
On the beach, Koh Yao Noi
Well, I have often wondered this and in the case of the Thai island Koh Yao Noi I have concluded to share. I have decided to do this because after careful consideration I believe it will stand the test of time and an influx of travellers. The island itself is hardly a secret thanks to it’s location less than an hour by boat from Phuket and yet it remains a quiet, mostly unspoilt and undeveloped traditional Thai island. I would even go so far as to call it sleepy and peaceful.
House, Koh Yao Noi
Koh Yao Noi, which literally means Little Long Island, is the most developed and populated of the Koh Yao islands, with Koh Yao Yai (Big Long Island) being mostly over run by wild rainforest. The accommodation options on each reflect this, with only a handful of very basic and homestay options available on Koh Yao Yai. Koh Yao Noi has more beds to offer ranging from a few luxury resorts to cheap and cheerful beach bungalows.
The main hub of the island, if you can call a crossroads and less than twenty shops a hub, is found a couple of kilometers inland from Koh Yao Noi’s main pier, Suka Pier. What is telling about Koh Yao Noi’s status as one of Thailand’s inexplicably best-kept secrets is that it is not catered for tourists, yet. Not all the shops have signs in English, there are relatively few shops selling Singha vests and there are even fewer bars. At the centre of the crossroads is the French-Danish owned restaurant Je t’aime which serves local and international dishes with a Thai smile.
Town of Koh Yao Noi
The beaches are varied with the best to be found on the south of the island. Koh Yao Noi looks out across a number of small, uninhabited islands and rocks making for enticing views and enjoyable sunset and sunrises. The tide can vary considerable on Koh Yao so if you are planning on doing any kind of kayaking or other aquatic activities you would be wise to check the times of low and high tides. Most accommodation options will have a list of these.
Sunrise on the beach, Koh Yao Noi
The number of roads stretching up, down and across the island can be counted on two hands and don’t be surprised if they suddenly turn into a rocky dirt track snaking through the island’s numerous rubber plantations, particularly in the north of the island. Rubber is one of the island’s main source of income with families working their own plot of rubber trees and using traditional methods to catch, stretch and finish the rubber. Fishing is another family business on the island and so there should be no excuses for an unfresh fish supper on Koh Yao Noi.
Rubber Plantation, Koh Yao Noi
During our time on Koh Yao Noi we stayed at Koh Yao Bay Pavillions, a small boutique style resort that sits very comfortably in the middle in terms of both cost and location but still offers a very unique and personal approach to holiday makers; the whole resort has an approximate maximum capacity of 20 and meals are cooked virtually in front of you in a homely communal “sala” (outdoor living area).
With this unspoken mutual desire to maintain a quiet and traditional way of Thai life, comes an obvious lack of extensive entertainment options; there’s no Crazy Golf to be found here. However, kayaking, diving, and snorkelling are all possible and long tail boat drivers will be only too happy to take you to a nearby uninhabited island for snorkelling or exploring. If you’re after a bigger thrill hire a mountain bike and attack some of the off-road roads or explore the rest of the island which is easily done within a day. You can also keep an eye out for the island’s few water buffalo.
Water Buffalo, Koh Yao Noi
So there you are. I’ve gone and done it now. Spilled the beans on perhaps one of the last few easily accessible sleepy Thai islands and thus the exodus commences. Or maybe not. There is something about Koh Yao Noi which makes me think that a change is not gonna come and that the proudly traditional and unassuming families who welcome tourists but are not desperate for their numbers to increase will keep their home as quiet, calm and quaint as it is now for as long as they can.
Hi Bird!
Glad you liked Koh Yao Noi, I stayed on Koh Yao Yai with my boyfriend and it was so quiet we only saw a handful of other tourists that came on a boat and left the same day.
Not even sure anyone else was staying on the island!
I love staying in desolate places. It gave us a chance to relax and with no internet we just read and stayed in bed. Ha.
Hi Mica,
Thanks for your comment. Interesting to hear your experience of staying on Koh Yao Yai, which we were very tempted by. Sounds as if it was exactly how I imagined it would be – quiet and oh so relaxing… Sadly we’re also slightly dictated by the internet thanks to the work we do on the road but I think Koh Yao Yai will be a definite maybe for the next break we take where we can afford to be offline for a while.
Bird x
Sounds lovely. I love it when there are these awesome, relatively undisturbed places right next to the super popular spots, nice to know they can co-exist. I found some nice, sleepy islands in Thailand as well and also in Greece.
I agree Gabriel. One of the reasons this place was such a find is because it was so close to Phuket and relatively easy to get to…. It’s had plenty of time to succumb like only too many other Thai islands but genuinely and happily don’t think that Koh Yao will change much, at least not in the near future and as long as visiting travellers respect that – fingers crossed!
Really loved reading this review, made me really want to visit the place! Next time I’m in Thailand I’m definitely going to check it out!
This place sounds gorgeous. I came across a couple of places that I’m still not sure if I want to share but some secrets are too good too keep all to yourself. I can’t wait to go back to Thailand and check out some of the islands I haven’t been to yet, this one will definitely be at the top of the list.
Come on Monica, where are these amazing places! I want to know! So secret Thai island? Actually I doubt there are many secret Thai islands… maybe some off Cambodia…maybe
I’m not sure anywhere is secret anymore and I’m really not sure if we’re allowed to keep them a secret anyway as the good, honest and open travel bloggers we aim to be.
However, special places to stay, special people to meet and special experiences to enjoy can all be kept a secret even by travel bloggers…
But if you’re sharing these secret places Monica – gladly do so in my direction 😀
Thanks Paul! If you want accommodation tips/directions be sure to ask me or alternatively ask the very helpful tuk tuk taxi drivers who meet you off the boat – they’re the ones in the know!
Yeh usually places are special for me due to the people and experiences you have there!
Would love a holiday to Thailand right now!
One of my favorite Greek isles is the next one past Santorini, called Anafi. Same thing, Santorini is jam-packed with tourists, you go one more stop on the ferry and there’s this great little island with almost nobody on it, and spectacular beaches you can sleep on.
We stayed here as part of our honeymoon and loved it…. Total change from Bangkok and away from the hassle and hassle of Phuket! A very chilled laid back island paradise…. Don’t tell too many folk!!
Shhh I still need to visit here! Hope it doesn’t get spoilt 🙁
You CAN keep things to yourself, I certainly understand you wanting to, but I’m glad you haven’t 😉
True, I really want to head here myself! Soon hopefully!