Koh Samui Thailand Holidays {Travel Planner}
Post Last Modified – April 30, 2023 ¦ gr8traveltips.com
Enjoy Holidays On The Beautiful Island of Koh Samui in Thailand
Table of Contents
On our first visit to Thailand a few seasons ago, we left the bustling City of Bangkok and made our way to the beautiful tropical island known as 🏝 Koh Samui.
Situated in the Gulf of Thailand, this island has quickly become a favorite among tourists, arriving from all parts of the world!
This lovely tropical get-a-way is just perfect. It’s not too big and not too small, making for that perfect relaxing holiday.
Yet, there’s still lots to see and do, and filled with hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars and so much more!
Koh Samui Thailand Holidays – A Brief Look
The Beautiful Koh Samui Airport
Situated just 35 kilometers from Thailand’s mainland, Samui is the second largest island in the country. Yet, it’s still small enough to enjoy that feeling of escaping to a 🌴 tropical vacation paradise.
It has an area of under 230 square kilometers, and a local population of well under 75,000 people.
Tourism and 🥥 coconut export are the island’s main source of income.
Koh Samui has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years. More 🏨 beautiful resorts, restaurants and other tourist attractions are popping up throughout the island, due to tourist demand.
As well and what makes Koh Samui so special, is that it is surrounded by approximately sixty other islands. There’s also the stunning 🌴 Angthong Marine National Park,just a short boat ride away.
The Island has the most beautiful private 🛬 airport that I have ever seen, making access to the island by air very easy. You can easily find 🛫 flights to and from;
These are just a few of the many other destinations you can catch flights to Samui, quickly and easily.
Regular ⛴ ferry service is also available for more budget minded passengers traveling to and from the mainland.
Where To Stay On Your Koh Samui Thailand Holiday
One of Many Magnificent Resorts in Koh Samui
Today, the choice for accommodations in Samui vary greatly!
Choose from ⭐ 5 star luxury resorts, to simple inexpensive hostels geared for adventuresome back packers. Select your meals from the countries very popular inexpensive food carts, to find dining prepared by world class chefs.
The choice is enormous and sure to fit most anyone’s 💰 budget!
Koh Samui now hosts over 1.5 million tourists year round, now making this one of the most popular vacation destinations, next to Phuket.
The Weather In Koh Samui
A Beautiful Tour Boat Docked in Koh Samui
Koh Samui is a 🏝 tropical island and inland, parts of the island have dense 🌴 tropical forest.
Do expect some rain at anytime in any month of the year. The 🌧 rainy season is typically {October through to mid December}. This is when 🌧 rain can be very heavy at times and continuing for days on end.
The ☀ dry season runs from {December to March}, making January and February ideal months to visit Thailand.
We visited Thailand at the end of January to mid February and the weather was perfect! We experienced a couple of heavy, but very brief 🌧 rain showers, during our 3 week stay.
Average daily temperatures during our stay ranged from {28 to 30 degrees} celsius, with high humidity at all times.
The dry hot season usually runs from {April to September or early October}. This is when one can expect very warm temperatures and very high humidity!
The Choice Is Yours For Your Koh Samui Holiday
Lovely Choengmon Beach
You have a few options available for getting to and from the 🏙 City of Bangkok to 🏝 Koh Samui.
You can take a 🚌 bus and ⛴ ferry, or take the 🚂 train and ⛴ ferry. Both options are the cheapest way, but also take the longest time. You can also fly directly to the island quickly, which we chose to do.
Depending on your time, schedule and budget, the choice is yours!
Be sure to check out my previous post about our flight from ✈ Bangkok to Koh Samui, ✈ and the other options for getting to and from this beautiful island.
Discover The Beautiful Beaches Of Samui
From small pristine coves, to large stretches of sandy beaches lined with; resorts, bars and restaurants, you’re sure to find your perfect holiday hide-a-way on this wonderful island.
If you prefer a more quiet setting to relax and just get away from it all, or you want to be where the action is, it’s all here for you to enjoy!
We tried to visit as many of the more popular 🏖 beaches on the island during our stay and each of us, had our own favorite. Be sure to take a look at my other posts and 📸 pictures on my blog here, on the various beaches located throughout the island.
Why not check out my favorite – 🌅 Lamai Beach to get started.
🌎 Lonely Planet has a very informative web page as well, to help you get started on your Koh Samui vacation. I’ve listed the page link below for your convenience.
A Few Extra Travel Tips And Suggestions
During our holiday stay, I did make notes of a few helpful tips that I thought were worth sharing with you here. Hopefully, they can assist to help make your stay just a bit better.
These tips are especially helpful for those who may be traveling with 👪 children.
- 🧴 Sunscreen – Be sure to pack enough for your entire journey. Not surprisingly, sunscreen is very expensive on the island. Local businesses do raise prices for necessity items, especially in the main tourist areas.
- 🦟 Bug Spray – This is a tropical destination and mosquitoes do appear in many places when the sun goes down. Be sure to spray before going out for dinner, as mosquitoes like to hide under restaurant tables and many other hidden damp places.
As is the case in most tropical travel destinations.
- 🧒 Strollers – Don’t take a large baby stroller with you!
We watched many people struggle with large strollers on the streets and sidewalks of Koh Samui. Sidewalks are very narrow, with broken and uneven pavement, drains and so forth.
Dogs Galore
- 🐕 Dogs – They are free to roam everywhere!
You will find them under your dining tables, to just lying down in the lobby of 5 star hotels. We didn’t encounter any dogs that were unfriendly towards people, but be aware that they are free to roam and considered to be Good Luck for Thai people and their culture.
- 🧺 Laundry Service – There are laundry outlets everywhere, and service is very inexpensive. On our vacation we could have laundry done for 30 THB for 1 kg. Very cheap!
So no need to pack huge amounts of clothing for everyone.
- 📶 Wi-fi internet – Service is available everywhere and free in most bars, restaurants, hotels and so on.
So staying connected is not a problem! 🙂
Modern Convenience Stores Are Everywhere
- 🏪 7-11 Convenience Stores – There are convenience stores scattered all over the island. Great for grabbing snacks, ice cream, pop and more!
As well, ice cold 🍺 beer and coolers can be purchased in these stores at surprisingly very reasonable prices.
- 🥜 Peanut Butter – If you like your peanut butter in the morning with your toast, be sure to pack some in your suitcase.
One of our family members did, and we were all glad to have it! 🙂
- 🔌 Surge Protector – Be sure to carry a Universal Travel Surge Protector for your electronic devices. Power surges are frequent and normal.
Protect your 💻 devices when charging with a simple surge protector, or rechargeable power stick.
🚚 Popular Truck Taxi (Songtaew) In Koh Samui
- 🚕 Taxis & Songtaews (taxi trucks) – Do negotiate your fare with taxi drivers and taxi trucks before riding. Drivers are friendly and after a short while, you will learn what to pay for the type of ride and distance you are taking.
We found drivers to be very reliable and will return to pick you up at a time requested. We were always pleasantly surprised to find our driver waiting for us to take us home!
- 🕷 Sea Lice – Our first experience ever with Sea Lice. We found them in the waters on a few excursions and shallow beaches.
They are annoying as mosquitoes!
They feel like a pin prick in the water, are invisible and for some will cause a rash. So if you have small children, be aware!
- 🤿 Excursions – There are many different tour excursions to choose from. From snorkel and scuba dive trips to scenic tours on and around the Island, there are many to select from. Tour offices and kiosks are situated all over.
It’s best to wait until you have arrived on the Island to book your excursions.You can wheel and deal for great prices, especially if you have a number of people in your party. As well, the weather can be a factor, so it’s best to wait and keep up with the daily weather forecast.
Typical Thailand Beach Vendor
- 🍩 Beach Vendors – Do spend time and barter with vendors selling clothing, trinkets and such. They are very friendly and are most happy to negotiate with you.
Food vendor prices are set on the various beaches.
We loved our afternoon snacks and lunches brought to us on the beach by the local vendors! 🙂
View this post on Instagram
Enjoy;
🍊 Fresh cut fruit; barbeque corn on the cob; spring rolls; barbeque chicken; fish; fresh doughnuts; ice cream and much more! 🍩
There you have it!
I’ve listed just a few tips, hopefully to assist in your holiday planning. I am sure you will enjoy a great vacation to Thailand and the Island of Koh Samui as much as we did!
😎 Safe and Healthy Travels!
All personal 📸 photographs on this post are the property of gr8traveltips.com and are copyright protected.
Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. 🚫
It has been a few seasons since our last visit, so if you have any updated information to pass on, please do send me an …
email 📧 Contact Me 📧
and I will be sure to add it to this post. 🧐
✨ Did You Know …
🌴 Discover The Splendor Of Thailand
🛺 Family Holidays To Thailand – Budget Travel
📸 Best Tourist Attractions In Bangkok
🙂 Don’t Forget It … Be Sure To Pin It! 🙂
© 2023, All Rights Reserved ¦ gr8traveltips.com
