Travel to Koh Samui

[Big Boy]

Thanks joelle, but too late for Surat Thani. It looked decent, has 2 recommendations and said it was the last available room. The marketing worked - I booked it there and then, just in case they were telling the truth.

Any recommendations for Koh Samui please?

[joelle]

Thanks joelle, but too late for Surat Thani. It looked decent, has 2 recommendations and said it was the last available room. The marketing worked - I booked it there and then, just in case they were telling the truth.

Any recommendations for Koh Samui please?

When we went to Ko Samui in December 2017 we stayed at Deva Beach Resort Samui which was a very nice place and wheelchair friendly (if I remember right), situated in less touristy north east part of the island.
Last time we stayed at "100 islands" was Oct 2019 and they just changed ownership so it's probably been refurbished.

[Big Boy]

At this point, I need to thank everybody for their assistance. With your help, I have got things booked for next month, so it's too late to change things now. I will write a trip report afterwards, so we'll see how good or bad my decisions were then.

I'm still interested in things to see and whilst there

[Big Boy]

BTW joelle, it was same old story. Deva Beach Resort was sold out on my dates

[Big Boy]

Thanks joelle, but too late for Surat Thani. It looked decent, has 2 recommendations and said it was the last available room. The marketing worked - I booked it there and then, just in case they were telling the truth.

Any recommendations for Koh Samui please?

FFS The exact same room that I took on Agoda because it was the last room for my dates, is now available 300฿ cheaper.

I thought great, now its time to use the Best Price Guarantee clause - you need 10 bookings in 2 years to qualify. As I've not been anywhere during Covid, they just stick 2 fingers up at me.

[Big Boy]

Koh Samui Trip

Firstly, I need to state my objectives:

• Most importantly, I needed a break from Hua Hin after 2 years of Covid confinement.
• I needed to test the waters to see if I could still travel with my wife’s medical needs.
• I wanted to go somewhere I’d never been before.
• We wanted some R&R.

Foreign travel was out of the question due to my wife’s potential medical requirement, and self-drive was the best option. We chose Koh Samui, an island neither of us had really fancied going to before (no real reason, just didn’t fancy it).

What we didn’t need (all of which was available in spades on Koh Samui) was:

• Bars.
• Elephant shows.
• Snake shows.
• Monkey shows.
• Crocodile shows.
• Tourist shopping.
• Beaches.
• Strenuous activities.

Getting there was quite straight forward. We stopped at the 100 Islands Hotel in Surat Thani en-route, which was an ageing but clean and cared for hotel. Importantly, it was wheelchair friendly. However, the restaurant was closed for evening meals, which was not mentioned in the advertising, in fact quite the opposite. The last thing we wanted was to go searching for food after the journey.

Next morning it was a trip into the unknown, getting a ferry to Koh Samui. I had been advised no need to book, just buy a ticket and get on the next ferry. That advice was sound at the Donsak departure point. The journey went as smooth as can be, and we arrived at our destination safely.

Driving on Koh Samui was a pleasure. Fairly slow speed limits, and no hot heads trying to break that limit, apart from a few Farangs on scooters (probably their first time on a scooter, and they hadn’t found the brakes yet). Roads were well maintained as well.

Our chosen accommodation was the Samui Garden Home Resort. I immediately lost it with this hotel, which was advertised as Wheelchair Accessible i.e.

• To check in you had to climb 6 steps.
• The road had newly laid stone chippings – try propelling a loaded wheelchair across that.
• The bungalow had 5 steps to get inside, a further 3 steps to get to the bedroom plus you had to go up 2 stairs, and down 1 to get into the bathroom.

However, once I saw the accommodation, I mellowed a lot. Usually when booking something off Agoda, what you get is often nothing like the photos. This time, what we got was so much nicer than the photos. For the silly price, it was incredible value. I would go as far as saying it was probably the nicest accommodation I’ve ever booked in Thailand. Fortunately, Mrs BB is not totally disabled, and can manage a few steps.

Koh Samui itself I did not like. In fact, my wife’s first words, which repeated several timed during her stay was “Koh Samui is very dirty.” That was coming from the mouth of a girl who was born and bred in deepest Isaan. She even suggested her home village, which I hate, Baan Nong Seng was nicer.

We were staying in Lamai, but we did travel the entire island. We did find a couple of nicer places, but even then, the beaches were quite dirty, and when the tide was out, there were always a lot of underwater obstacles. If I was there for the beach, I would not have gone into the water.

Yes, we found some beautiful parts on the island, but nothing that can’t be found closer to home.

I actually considered driving inland one day, but I saw a brochure, and it put me right off. It was obviously trying to emphasis the adventure part, but it was talking about driving through rivers, going up switchback mountain roads, with sheer drops, and the need to do 3 point turns to get around some of the bends. I didn’t believe it, but wasn’t going to risk it all the same.

The homeward journey was not much fun. I drove to the ferry port, and tried to buy a ticket. The people there said you can’t buy tickets here, you have to go back out of the port, turn left, and the ticket office is not far from there. OK I found it, buying the tickets was easy, but then I had to queue there.

I was 12th in the queue. 1st ferry took 8 cars, 2nd ferry took 2 cars, and I got on to the 3rd ferry. To the people who said don’t book in advance – thank you very much – I fell for that one, hook line and sinker. It seems most people book online, and they get priority over cash customers.

Would I go back – no, not really. My objective was met with a high degree of success, and we had an OK time, but nothing to make us want to rush back.

[tonychang]

Is there anywhere else along this route that you’d recommend stopping (worth visiting) other than Surat Thani for a tourist whose never been before?

[Scout]

So how was the ferry ride ? Did you stay in the car or go sit on the boat ? As I said above, the only time I bought tickets in advance was when I wanted to depart the island on a particular ferry (the first one of the day in my case as I had a lot of miles to drive that day). I’ve always recommended not getting advance tickets when traveling to the island as it’s a bit harder to predict exactly when you’ll arrive at the ferry terminal. But leaving the island it’s easier to be at the ferry terminal on time so probably best to buy in advance to make sure you’re not delayed. Do you think this is sound advice or would you have different a recommendation ?

[GeeLuv]

You can buy the SeaTran ferry tickets for cars at 7-11 in samui. I always buy the day before I want to leave the island when I know the time I want to depart. I think the cutoff time is 3 hours before departure at 7-11 but not for sure. It definitely saves time wasted waiting for the ferry. Passenger tickets are always available at the ferry gate.

[Big Boy]

Yes, going to Samui, buying on arrival was a doddle. Returning to the mainland, definitely buy in advance - joining a queue of 11, I thought this won't take long. How wrong was I?

They would not let people stay in their cars for the journey, although once set sail, there was nothing to stop you returning to your car.

One thing I didn't mention was boarding the ferry at Donsak, we got to a checkpoint, where we had to wind windows down. Mrs BB had an exchange of words with the guy, and the next thing I knew, she walking away from the car, shouting back to me that she'd see me on the boat. Only drivers were allowed to board with the vehicle. I was quite worried/angry that this had happened as it was quite a walk to the boat, and walking is what she struggles with. If I had realised in good time, I would have objected. However, I'm not sure what was worse, a slow walk to the boat, which she handled OK, or the climb from the car deck to the passenger lounge.

On the way back, I told her to object due to her medical condition. The guy checking could see the oxygen bottle between her legs, the stick beside her and the wheelchair in the back. She did tell him, and was allowed on board with me in the car.

[brianks]

Hard to me to read of your experiences at this touristy resort Island. Save the ferry trip and continue on east past the ferries to Khanom where real Thailand is available to you. Water at the multitude of beaches may not be pristine but there is certainly no congestion on any of them. A real Thai experience here.

[Big Boy]

I don't think I'm saying there was any congestion, apart from trying to get a ferry home. Yes, there were a few foreigners, mainly German, but not enough to make anywhere busy.

Plenty of real Thailand, but I've been doing/living in Thailand for 35 years, so nothing new to me. Mrs BB kept on saying we'd have been better off going to Isaan (not my views ). She has been repeating that to all of her friends since our return also. So yes, it is quite authentic, but I didn't need to travel that far for authenticity. As I said in my opening, we were not looking for beaches. In our short time there, we went all of the way around the island. I was surprised/shocked at the state of the beaches - I thought they'd be much better, but I guess its Thailand, and nobody really cares. That isn't 100% accurate, the restaurant we ate at most nights had a beautiful little beach, but I never saw that one without the tide in. We also stopped at the Coral Cliff Hotel for lunch one day, and they had a lovely little private beach, which was obviously manicured to be in that state, even with the tide out - very nice.

I can understand why some people love it, if all they've seen is e.g. Pattaya. It must seem so laid back. I actually wish we could import the standard of driving on to the mainland.

I am not criticising Koh Samui at all. As I said, it was not a place neither I nor Mrs BB had ever fancied visiting, but it was somewhere new, and my objectives were not normal. I think my only criticism was the ferry home, and hopefully, other people will not make my mistake.

[Scout]

You might try Koh Chang next time, it’s similar but without all the western tourist stuff

[Big Boy]

Yes, it's on my list