Our Week in Koh Samui, Thailand with Kiddos!
The next and final stop in Thailand (for now), was Koh Samui! This is the destination I was most excited about. While I was researching destinations in Thailand, Koh Samui always came up as many people's favorites for families & now I see why. From the ferry ride over, to the beaches and night markets, everything came with such ease (which if you’ve traveled with young children before, you know how welcome that is.)
TRANSPORTATION
We decided to go with a bus/ferry route to get from Krabi to Koh Samui. The price was so much cheaper than flying, and we had heard that the views were incredible. We booked the trip using 12go.com, which is a travel agency widely used throughout Asia. The trip started with a 20-minute taxi ride from Ao Nang Beach to the Krabi Lomprayah Office, where you board a double-decker bus to the other coast. I was really nervous about this part:
I didn’t know if we would have too much luggage.
I wasn't entirely sure what the bus situation would be like (air-conditioning, seats, amount of people, etc)
But I can happily report that it was seamless! We got there 30 minutes before boarding, got our tickets and bus assignment, and before we knew it we were off. Because we got there a little bit later, we were able to get on the second bus which was only half-full. The drive took about two hours & it was beautiful. Green mogotes popping up everywhere, with farmlands and small towns scattered in between. It really did give you a taste of life in that part of the country. The buses were well air-conditioned and there was a bathroom that was kept up nicely.
Once we got to the pier, it did not take long to get us all loaded onto the ferry and off on our 45-minute ride across the gulf. Thailand is great at prioritizing families, so we were able to skip the line and board first, securing some great window seats. We learned after that there was some seating up top with an amazing view, but the sun was strong so we were happy with the air-conditioned choice. While you’re on the ferry, they will offer you affordable taxi/shared van rides to your location, take them. I got duped trying to book a separate service ahead and ended up having to pay double using a taxi.
LODGING
We chose to stay at Villa Signeat, an amazing airbnb in between Maenam and Bo Phut. This area was perfect for us! A little bit quieter & less “touristy” than Chaweng (where you will find many more resorts and hotels), but still so much to see and do that’s walking distance or only a short Grab away. What really sold it for us was our Airbnb. It had everything we needed for a week-long stay as a family of four. We had a private yard, an infinity pool (with a breathtaking ocean view), two air-conditioned bedrooms with really comfortable king sized beds, two beautiful bathrooms, a full kitchen, and they even supplied some fun pool & beach toys for the girls. The house staff, Am, was the sweetest woman who loved our kids and gave us some great recommendations of where to check out!
FOOD
With Ellie having so many dietary restrictions, & just trying to stay on budget, having a full kitchen is always a goal for us. There are tons of fresh market stands, mini marts, and even some big name grocery stores around the island. We checked out Bo Phut Market first when we arrived. It had tons of great fresh produce and eggs, along with lots of street food vendors, a mini mart next door, and a delicious looking bakery across the street. We also went over to the Tops Food Hall at the Central Samui Shopping Mall and got lots of familiar foods, which was welcomed after a week of eating out in Krabi. If you’re looking for a little bit of “westernization”, you’ll find it here. It was so crazy to see such a massive and modern mall amidst all the traditional island environment. There were familiar shops & a huge kids play center, too!
Our favorite market we went to, though, was Fisherman’s Village Night Market, open MWF. Oh my goodness, this place was so cool. First of all, the weather in Koh Samui was incredible while we were there in March. Not too hot, not too chilly, so it made the market that much more enjoyable. What really sold us was the food options! There was everything from steam buns and dumplings (for 10-20 THB a piece!), to meat skewers and fresh juices. Most of the vendors were so helpful to look at Ellie’s allergy card and ensure a safe clean cooking area for her food, or turn us away if they couldn’t. One thing to note about this market is that a lot of the seating is monopolized by the bar carts, so you’ll have to order a drink to sit down (twist my arm.) But there is some open seating on the big wooden tables scattered around!
Once you finish your food, you can walk through the endless shop vendors. Anything you could need, you’ll find here. I got a pair of Levi’s Jean shorts for $9 and a cute pearl choker for $5, but if we hadn’t been at our second stop of a year-long tour, I would have had myself a time grabbing fun gifts for everyone back home.
We pretty much ate at home or at the market, but we did go out to Kingfisher down the street from us one night - best fish sticks I’ve ever had! The owners couldn’t have been sweeter, or more helpful with Ellie’s allergies.
THINGS TO DO
Koh Samui was our “relax and regroup” destination of our original itinerary, before having to postpone, so we didn’t plan much for our time here. Just wanted to relax on the beaches, hang by the pool, and check out the local markets. We did book one excursion, however, and it ended up being the highlight of the trip. We took the girls on a half-day Elephant Jungle Sanctuary experience. If I could give one piece of advice, do your research before visiting an elephant sanctuary or “excursion.” There are a lot of people doing it unethically, and the last thing you want to do as a tourist is enable an ongoing problem within a society.
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary was highly rated and reviewed for their ethics, and from what we experienced first hand, we would agree! You start the day by being picked up at your location & taken to the sanctuary, which was about a 15 minute ride from our airbnb. Then we were given a walk through of who Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is, what their mission is, and how they run their operations. Angie was our guide and she was hilarious, while still being informative! At this point, they asked the group if anyone had any dietary restrictions or allergies so that they could accommodate them for lunch later in the day (truly the way to my heart as a mom of an allergy kid!)
Included in the experience is making food for/feeding the elephants, getting to spend some time in the elephant's environment, and giving them a mud bath. We started by making the food & feeding them buckets full of watermelon. It was wild watching them maneuver their trunks to eat, and just witnessing the size of them up close! After that, we walked to their open space, where they were munching on some banana & palm leaves, and got to learn a bit more about who each Elephant was and what they were rescued from. All 6 elephants at the sanctuary were female, and 3 of them were from the same bloodline! Two had been rescued from the circus, while one came from unethical labor. It was so special getting to hear what is being done to protect these incredible creatures.
The last part of the experience was the mud bath. This was WILD, in the best way. First, we got to coat a few of them up in mud, which is actually really important for their temperature regulation and skin protection. Then, we bathed the others. Imagine sitting in a giant swimming pool with Elephants, that’s exactly what we did. Once water starts getting splashed around, the elephants join in on the fun and give you a full on shower with their trunks. Joss got soaked by one, it was hilarious.
Once that is done, you get showered off and head in for a delicious Thai lunch. They even taught us how to make papaya salad! We honestly had such a great experience and hopefully can check them out again in Chiang Mai if/when we make it there.
The rest of the time in Koh Samui, we just bopped around checking out different areas. We ended up renting a car for a couple of days to drive around the island. It was about $30 for a day, but the grab service here is a lot more expensive than in Krabi so it’s worth it if you want to be able to move around a lot. One of the coolest spots we found was called Hin Lad Waterfall Temple (Wat Namtok Hin Lad.) If you have the energy you can opt for a 45 to 60 minute hike up to the actual waterfall, but we hung out in the creek/base. area and it was serene and beautiful. Joss got to interact with some other local kids who were swimming in the little ponds and climbing up the rocks. One of the highlights of the trip for me so far! After leaving there, we found a cool little secluded beach where we ate some lunch and let the kids swim around. It was flat calm & they loved it! The day before we had gone to Silver Beach, which while beautiful, it was packed and just not as enjoyable because of that. Chaweng beach, another well known area, is just down the road and has a bit more beach to enjoy, but carries a big volume, as well. Our advice? Drive to another part of the island to enjoy the water in Koh Samui. At the end of the day, there really is no wrong choice!
We went to a few more temples after lunch and one was called Wat Ratchathammaram. This is a gorgeous terracotta colored temple with some of the coolest architecture Matt & I have seen (worth the visit if you’re in the area) and then headed home. There were a few things we wish we could have gotten too, but the budget didn’t allow for it. First was Ang Thong National Marine Park. This place looks absolutely magical. Mogotes popping up everywhere, covered in the most beautiful, lush green you’ve ever seen. There are a ton of tours taking you out for day trips & excursions over there that we were so tempted to hop on, but ultimately thought the girls needed a break from the go, go, go. There is also Pig island nearby that many people recommended, and the Koh Phangan Full Moon Celebration. This is apparently a huge event that people island hop for & I think on our next trip back, we’ll make sure to plan it around that time of the month.
Leaving Koh Samui was hard. We truly fell so in love with the beauty, the pace, and the people of Thailand. Thoughts and talk of how to buy land and start a life on the island may or may not have taken place, but then again, that happens everywhere we go. And that’s the beauty of what we’re doing, getting to experience life a little bit more like a local and seeing what we love, and what we’d leave. As for now, Cambodia is next & that is a post you don’t want to miss.
