Finding Our Perfect Tropical Island Beach Getaway on Koh Phangan, Thailand

Travelling to Thailand during the off season has many advantages, however the biggest disadvantage is that it rains…a lot…and while island hopping around Southern Thailand in search of our perfect tropical island beach getaway, we had so far had no luck with the weather at all. Although Koh Lanta on the Andaman Coast was beautiful, we were rained out the entire time, and so we thought that we would try our luck on the opposite coast, and visit Koh Phangan.

After arriving in Krabi the day before, the journey to Koh Phangan took a good part of the day starting from around 10:30am. The journey comprised of a minivan ride from the guest house to the bus station, a bus ride to Surat Thani, another mini van ride to the pier, and then a ferry ride to the island via Koh Samui. When we finally got to Thongsala pier on Koh Phangan , we managed to team up with a German couple and get a Songtheaw to the Haad Yao side of the island, which we heard was quieter and away from the chaotic partying on Haad Rin.

By the time we arrived at our guest house it was around 6pm, and the sun was just setting. We had booked a bungalow at Benjamin’s Hut on Ao Chao Phao beach, as it was cheap at only 500Baht per night, and it sounded like a nice quiet area. We made a great choice, and although it is basic with just a bed, mosquito net and private bathroom with cold shower, the bungalow was exactly what we were after, it was clean and it was right on the beach.

Our bungalow

So far the weather looked ok, but as we sat on our veranda, we watched a storm roll in towards the island, and we thought we must have brought the bad weather with us. All we could do was cross our fingers and hope that our luck would change the next day.

Watching the storm roll in from our bungalow

The next morning we awoke to beautiful blue skies, with not a sign of the storm from the night before. We quickly made our way down to the beach, and it was beautiful. The lovely coconut palm fringed beach gently sloped down to calm turquoise waters, and there was hardly a soul on the beach. This was exactly what we were after.

Our beautiful beach, just a few steps from our bungalow

The tide was out in the morning, and even when it was in the water was only shallow, but it was enough to float around in the beautiful warm tropical water. We quickly made friends with a local dog who would accompany us on our walks along the beach and out exploring the rock pools while the tide was out. And when we weren’t swimming or walking, we would just laze on the beach or in our hammock with a book. A relaxing beach break doesn’t get much better than this.

Our new friend exploring the beach

Looking towards our bungalow and beach bar from the beach

In the evening we sat at the beach bar with a drink and watched the incredible Koh Phangan sunset. We had finally found our tropical island paradise.

Watching the sunset on Koh Phangan, Thailand

*Note: Benjamin’s Hut had nothing to do with this post, I just really enjoyed my stay there and wanted to recommend them.