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The Best Kept Secret of Thailand

Updated: Dec 8, 2017

My second trip to Thailand is what made me fall in love with the people, the culture and the beautiful scenery of the country.



Koh Yao Noi is one of the best kept secrets of Thailand. The population of the island is just under 4500 people, and with a single figured crime rating, is one of the safest islands in Thailand. The boat ride from the marina in Phuket is about 25 minutes, where you'll be able to soak in all the beautiful surrounding islands, and turquoise water.


Where to stay? We stayed at Paradise Koi Yao, and it was just that, absolute paradise. The beach is at your front door and the cocktails can keep on flowing all day long. This remote island is a complete get away from the craziness of Phuket and everyday life. The staff are mostly made up of local employees, and honestly have the best service I've encountered anywhere! They have a brilliant system in place, where no money is used on the island, instead, room key and signage is shown and a tab is created. This goes for everything, from dinner, cocktails, massages and even guided tours. This helps to take out the stress of making sure you're carrying money around at all times. The resort has everything you need, they offer a few different restaurants, and a few chilled bar area's and the most epic swing. This is the sort of place you go to chill with family and friends (or make friends) have a drink and eat delicious food. The bar area's are made up of bean bags, have complimentary bar snacks and have cheap happy hours every day (Try the Koh Yao Delight!).



This is the link to their Facebook page, where you'll be able to see a full preview of what the island has to offer.

https://www.facebook.com/ParadiseKohYao/


If the beautiful gardens, pool area or having the beach at your foot step, isn't enough to keep you busy, Koh Yao Noi offer a range of different activities for all ages. They have cooking classes, traditional painting classes, yoga on the beach, the best massage experience you will ever encounter or even day trips to surrounding islands on traditional long tailed boats.

The best part of going on tours from Koh Yao Noi is the flexibility, and one on one tours you will receive. We previously did a tour around the islands from Phuket, and were on a tight time frame of how long we could spend at each island, and were crammed into the boats. The coolest thing about the tours from Koh Yaoi Noi, is the limited people and being able to navigate through the islands on the traditional long tailed boats. The flexibility of the tours was awesome, we arrived at one spot that was jam packed with tourists, and the tour guide gave us the option to go to another local beach that was even more beautiful. We splashed around in the water, and the tour guides, set us up lunch and let us swim until everyone was ready to move on. The tour guides were very knowledgeable in the best times to go to certain places, and allowed us to enjoy each place without big crowds.

The tour guides interacted with us, letting us know about the culture of their island, the fishing industry and insightful knowledge into their life styles. We loved the tours we went on, one of my favourite moments was when we were kayaking through caves and had to squeeze through tiny spaces to get to the middle of this island. We were rewarded when we got to the middle, witnessing a family of monkeys all diving into the water, fishing for small marine life. It was moments like this, where a small tour group, allowed us to get up close and witness nature unfold.


IF the personal tours to secluded beaches aren't enough to persuade you, perhaps the beautiful rooms will. There are plenty of different styles of room, some that offer plunge pools, full length pools, standard rooms and a deluxe suite that is massive and has a beautiful infinity pool. Hayden and I opted in for the plunge pool, which you could either have heated or at room temperature. These rooms had everything you needed, a beautiful shower that overlooked the lush greenery, a generous sized bathroom and the comfiest bed. Every day the rooms were cleaned, and it was a beautiful place to retreat to at the end of the day.



Not only do these restaurants have beautiful food, they also offer a 5 course dinner that can apparently be organised at the front reception. Hayden organised this sweet little dinner set up, and as we walked along the beach, I was wonderfully surprised with this sweet gesture. The dinner was incredible, we had an array of fresh seafood, and the team all looked after us so well. The care and effort they put into the set up and service that night, made it an unforgettable experience.

The care, exceptional service and relaxation that Paradise Koh Yaoi provide, is something I haven't found anywhere else. It's a great place for family and friends and the best place for total relaxation. Tipping isn't something that is expected or sought after in any way, and the team are so genuinely happy to be there and have conversation with you. We however, tipped people that really did an outstanding job as a little gratitude to say thank you, so if you can spare it, they will appreciate it so much.

If you get a chance to go into the town centre, the markets are very limited but offer some real unique and beautiful items. We came across some cute souvenirs and clothes that we hadn't seen in the huge markets in Phuket, and loved that we could browse without being hassled.



Be sure to plan your trip for the best time of year, we went on an off peak time and had days were the beach was all to ourselves! So see if you can make travel amendments to get the ultimate level of relaxation, and the best experience the resort provides.

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