Koh Samet - worth it ? Where and how

[moogradod]

We are based in Pattaya and seek a short break on a nearby island. In the past we went to Koh Chang - but our hotel there does not bother to give significant discounts even in this troubled times - so I do not feel good even if the price is actually not our first concern.

 

So we would like to try Koh Samet for some 10 days or so instead and seek advice from anybody who has been there.

 

1. Worth it ? Or better stay with Koh Chang ?

2. Really good restaurants ? Koh Chang has some (or actually one really good one)

3. Accomodation with very good breakfast and nice swimming pool ?

4. Recommended beaches ? (fine and clean sand, no stones, clean water)

 

Looking for rather upscale places than a backpacker hut. Those are things of the past. Consulted Tripadvisor but some entries are outdated.

 

We would go by taxi since you obviously cannot bring the car to the island.

 

Any hints very welcome and Thanks in advance.

[John435]

There’s more to do for 10 days on Koh Chang.

 

But for Samet, Ao Prao has the best hotels without paying silly money. And four restaurants. Easy to explore the rest of the island from there via taxi or walking.

[moogradod]

7 minutes ago, John435 said:

But for Samet, Ao Prao has the best hotels without paying silly money. And four restaurants. Easy to explore the rest of the island from there via taxi or walking.

Thanks a lot.

 

Four restaurants does not really sound promising. Then these are probably 2 seafood restaurants, one Thai restaurant and one burger shop ????. The island seems to be very small, overall there might be more possibilities - but you are right - maybe not the right choice for us compared to Koh Chang. A pity since the beaches seem to be very nice.

[Jeffr2]

Lots of hotels offering great discounts on Koh Chang.  We're just back and for 2,200B, got a private bungalow right on the sand.  KC is quiet, and many restaurants/businesses are closed.  But it's still a stunning island.

 

I've not been to Samet in years, but it's a much smaller island.  As said above, you can explore all of it in a day.  Not true with KC, especially if you head over to the other side and have seafood at the Salaphet seafood restaurant.  Beyond fantastic.

 

One problem we've had are restaurants.  Sometimes they are open, sometimes not.  Best to be somewhere you have plenty of options.

[kingstonkid]

Sametville is great.  It is on its own large beach. Only one restaurant.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

I haven't gone to Koh Samet but after reading this thought I would check the Koh Chang prices. Been there lots of times. I like Kacha resort which is currently AUD 385 including breakfast for a week. If you get the right room that is is an excellent deal. Especially for December. Pay a bit more for on the beach. 

Prices for other excellent hotels such as Emerald Cove and Sea View are pretty good too. I get the feeling Koh Samet would be a bit too boring and not as nice for a longer period.

[jamiejoel]

OK we might be older but we adore Koh Samed like a second home. It is not just a small island with a few restaurants. You can easily spend 10 days relaxing, taking a bike or canoe to around the island. There are other islands to investigate and so many beaches. If you want to stay on the main tourist beaches you might run out of things to do, but plenty of massages,  fine restaurants around the island, great viewing points and the locals are friendly. We stay at Samed Villa, be careful not to mix it up with Samed Ville.. Great bungalows and other rooms to fit the budget. Nice full breakfast, bikes and canoes and fantastic evening meals and no noise. The beauty of Samed is the clear blue water and fantastic food. Take the ferry from the mainland or for 250bt take the speedboat. Sorry we went to Koh Chang 

, it was nice but for a relaxing sunbathing week I would go to Samed. Take a few books and mellow out. 

[Geoffreyt]

Wongduen resort on ko samet excellent, been going there for 30 years first with children then with grandchildren. Lovely sand and clear water. However if you want truly sparkling clear water and snorkeling around the rocks walk over the headland to the next beach, going south, resorts there not so good to stay but OK for lunch. Then back to the cosseted luxury of Wong duen resort and a cleansing swim in their private pool. This sounds like an advert but it definitely is not. We just love ko samet. 

[bkk6060]

Samet is a 2 day holiday.

Rent a motorbike cruise around, eat, watch the fire show, hang out at the beach.

 2 days max.

[Jeffr2]

2 hours ago, jamiejoel said:

OK we might be older but we adore Koh Samed like a second home. It is not just a small island with a few restaurants. You can easily spend 10 days relaxing, taking a bike or canoe to around the island. There are other islands to investigate and so many beaches. If you want to stay on the main tourist beaches you might run out of things to do, but plenty of massages,  fine restaurants around the island, great viewing points and the locals are friendly. We stay at Samed Villa, be careful not to mix it up with Samed Ville.. Great bungalows and other rooms to fit the budget. Nice full breakfast, bikes and canoes and fantastic evening meals and no noise. The beauty of Samed is the clear blue water and fantastic food. Take the ferry from the mainland or for 250bt take the speedboat. Sorry we went to Koh Chang 

, it was nice but for a relaxing sunbathing week I would go to Samed. Take a few books and mellow out. 

If you really want a relaxing sunbathing week, go to Koh Mak or Koh Kut (Kood).  Absolutely paradise, crystal clear waters, and no tourists right now.

[richard_smith237]

We [my Family] go to Samet quite a lot, we often go with a group of us, other families. 

It ticks the boxes for an extremely convenient beach long weekend with kids (leave in the morning, we are on the beach before midday).

 

10 days on Koh Samet is a long time for some, but that all depends what you make of it and how you like to chill out. 

As someone else said: Hiring a bike to get around is also fun, paddle boarding, kayaking etc

There are ATV’s which are a lot more expensive (if you are with a child and don't want to use a motorcycle)

Song Teaws (pickup transport) are available to get down to other beaches (150 baht per journey)

No food on the island is ’special’ but its all ok and you can get decent feast pretty much anywhere. 

 

Samet is rather quiet at the moment - mid week it would be extremely quiet then at the weekends it gets busy again with an influx of families from Bangkok. 

 

Personal opinion: the best places to stay are: 

 

1) Sai Keaw Beach Resort (Premier Rooms) - next to the pool. 

Transport to and from the resort is easy: Check in a Main pier - staff take care of baggage etc. 

The Teaw Thai Gan  (discount app thingy) had Premier rooms for 2000 baht a night (usually 6000 baht).

Food at the resort is decent. 

Food down the beach at the ‘beach restaurants’ is ok (Ploy Talay etc)

SKBR has flood lighting on the beach so the kids can play into the evening.

 

Anything the Samed Resorts group do on the island, they do well - or at least the most organised. 

It may be enjoyable to move from one resort to another half way thought the stay if wishing to stay longer

https://www.samedresorts.com

 

Top Tip: If you are with a Thai use the Rao Tiew Douy Gun website and Bao Tang App and get 40% discount on the room and also 40% discount on food up to 900 baht per day).

 

2) Samed Cabana (beach front cabana) on Ao Wong Duan Beach

Transport - Ferry to main pier, Song Taew (pick-up) to resort)

Samed Cabana also has a pool. 

 

 

[bkk6060]

27 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Sai Keaw Beach Resort (Premier Rooms) - next to the pool. 

Definitely.  I think the nicest place on the island.

[moogradod]

I thank you all for the many suggestions. We will check everything further. We are based in South Pattaya, actually on Sattahip soil. We could therefore easily travel to Samet with a taxi. Koh Chang with our own car as we did before. What makes Samet interesting are the nice beaches. But exeptional food is definitely a concern. On Koh Chang there is one (single) restaurant which alone makes the trip worthwile. Our daughter is 20 years old and attending school, we might travel alone there and then stay away as far as we can from any shrieking youngsters ????

[Jeffr2]

18 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Definitely.  I think the nicest place on the island.

We stopped going to White Sands beach due to the noise.  Hearing "thump, thump, thump" well into the early hours was no fun.

 

Maybe that's changed?  I quit going because of this many years ago.

[moogradod]

8 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Hearing "thump, thump, thump" well into the early hours was no fun.

Exactly. The thumping just comes as a close second after the shrieking on my "annoying" list. My wife is immune to such things. There are places further down south on Koh Chang which are quiet - White beach would not be our choice either.

Edited December 10, 2020 by moogradod

[solafr]

19 hours ago, moogradod said:

Thanks a lot.

 

Four restaurants does not really sound promising. Then these are probably 2 seafood restaurants, one Thai restaurant and one burger shop ????. The island seems to be very small, overall there might be more possibilities - but you are right - maybe not the right choice for us compared to Koh Chang. A pity since the beaches seem to be very nice.

 

 

If you like beaches that look like sewer, go to Koh Chang. So funny how overrated this island is when it is ugly compared to southern island and to Samet.

Samet is the only and only one island in Thailand that is not located in the south but still look nice like southern islands.

And actually luckily many people who know nothing waste their time on Koh chang.

 

[solafr]

33 minutes ago, moogradod said:

But exeptional food is definitely a concern. On Koh Chang there is one (single) restaurant which alone makes the trip worthwile.

 

I can't stop laughing. You must be Thai to think that any restaurant is worth even noticing.

How ridiculous.

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

19 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

38 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Definitely.  I think the nicest place on the island.

We stopped going to White Sands beach due to the noise.  Hearing "thump, thump, thump" well into the early hours was no fun.

 

Maybe that's changed?  I quit going because of this many years ago.

 

Valid point.

 

There are some beach bars closer to SKBR which play music etc and there’s a crappy nightclub at Sai Keaw beach which could get loud.

 

I’ve never really noticed the noise - but agree, noise could be an issue, though most of the loud places seem to have closed down. 

 

 

The Premier Rooms at SKBR have decent noise insulation so I never really noticed any noise.

 

 

 

 

[moogradod]

5 minutes ago, solafr said:

I can't stop laughing. You must be Thai to think that any restaurant is worth even noticing.

How ridiculous.

With all due respect - what a BS.

There are now 13 posters on my ignore list. Most of them did qualify because of their demonstration of extraordinary lack of compassion for others. Just recently a new small group emerged: The Trump supporters (qualification therefore inherently included). But some easily amused posters might soon be catching up.

Please be therefore invited to the party as well ! And have a hearty laugh alltogether !

[solafr]

Just now, moogradod said:

With all due respect - what a BS.

There are now 13 posters on my ignore list. Most of them did qualify because of their demonstration of extraordinary lack of compassion for others. Just recently a new small group emerged: The Trump supporters (qualification therefore inherently included). But some easily amused posters might soon be catching up.

 

Please be therefore invited to the party as well ! And have a hearty laugh alltogether !

 

 

Great for you and keep dreaming your life with amazing restaurants ❤️

you are so lucky to live a dream life as this one !

 

 

[Jeffr2]

8 minutes ago, solafr said:

 

 

If you like beaches that look like sewer, go to Koh Chang. So funny how overrated this island is when it is ugly compared to southern island and to Samet.

Samet is the only and only one island in Thailand that is not located in the south but still look nice like southern islands.

And actually luckily many people who know nothing waste their time on Koh chang.

 

BS.  My fav beach is Kai Bae.  Hardly a sewer.  And definitely not over rated.  I just had a beach front bungalow for a bit over 2k/night.  Right on the sand.  Private bungalow.  Stunning.

[CH1961]

22 hours ago, moogradod said:

nice swimming pool ?

Looking for a swimming pool at at an island?

You better stay at Pattaya ????

Edited December 10, 2020 by CH1961
clearified message

[bkk6060]

54 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

We stopped going to White Sands beach due to the noise.  Hearing "thump, thump, thump" well into the early hours was no fun.

 

Maybe that's changed?  I quit going because of this many years ago.

 

Great, but the resort I and RSmith mentioned is on Koh Samet not White Sands Chang.  Very quiet from my experience the only "thump" noise was coming from my room.  ????

Edited December 10, 2020 by bkk6060

[Jeffr2]

18 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

 

Great, but the resort I and RSmith mentioned is on Koh Samet not White Sands Chang.  Very quiet from my experience the only "thump" noise was coming from my room.  ????

Both islands have a White Sands beach. Sai Kaew.

[Thingamabob]

Best to avoid the weekends/public holidays on Koh Samet, otherwise a good place to visit. Personally I don't go there anymore because I have memories of the island when it was an almost deserted paradise.

[Jeffr2]

4 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Best to avoid the weekends/public holidays on Koh Samet, otherwise a good place to visit. Personally I don't go there anymore because I have memories of the island when it was an almost deserted paradise.

Agreed.  My first visit was 2002.  And even then, it was crowded!  I quit going a few years later.  Too many other beautiful islands here to explore.

 

We're just back from Koh Mak and it was stunning.

[bkk6060]

16 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Both islands have a White Sands beach. Sai Kaew.

Ok, did not know thanks.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

Sounds like I may have underestimated Koh Samet by the comments. I'll have to check it out along with Koh Mak.  White Sand Beach is for mine the best beach because it's nice and long, has the nice trees to sit under, and has a bit of a wave in low season so you can have some fun. I get a bit bored with the flat water. The part of White Sand Beach to the north is really pretty. I do agree the town itself is average and strangely, given it is the biggest town, it has few good places to eat. Outside Kacha at night there is a night market with pretty good food if your happy with some simple food from time to time that we find to be clean and appetising.

I have never found the town noisy at night - it may be that it is at either end where there are some bars but at Kacha you'll just hear the odd frog. Lonely beach can get noisy with all those pesky youngsters and their parties.

I don't know what solafr is trying to say. There are some really good restaurants on Koh Chang with beautiful outlooks so what's not to like.

Khlong Prou is mostly good too. In some ways it is nicer than White Sands Beach. There are some parts that get a bit dirty and smelly near the lagoon. 

I am in Australia now so it will be a while till I'm back.

 

[Jeffr2]

1 minute ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Sounds like I may have underestimated Koh Samet by the comments. I'll have to check it out along with Koh Mak.  White Sand Beach is for mine the best beach because it's nice and long, has the nice trees to sit under, and has a bit of a wave in low season so you can have some fun. I get a bit bored with the flat water. The part of White Sand Beach to the north is really pretty. I do agree the town itself is average and strangely, given it is the biggest town, it has few good places to eat. Outside Kacha at night there is a night market with pretty good food if your happy with some simple food from time to time that we find to be clean and appetising.

I have never found the town noisy at night - it may be that it is at either end where there are some bars but at Kacha you'll just hear the odd frog. Lonely beach can get noisy with all those pesky youngsters and their parties.

I don't know what solafr is trying to say. There are some really good restaurants on Koh Chang with beautiful outlooks so what's not to like.

Khlong Prou is mostly good too. In some ways it is nicer than White Sands Beach. There are some parts that get a bit dirty and smelly near the lagoon. 

I am in Australia now so it will be a while till I'm back.

 

White Sands on KC is a bit too busy for me now.  Same with Samet.  We're enjoying Kai Bae now.  Much more quiet and seems to be very clear water.  Koh Mak and Koh Kut are stunning with regards to that.

 

Hopefully, we'll visit Samet soon.  Mid week to avoid the crowds! 5555

[Fat is a type of crazy]

1 minute ago, Jeffr2 said:

White Sands on KC is a bit too busy for me now.  Same with Samet.  We're enjoying Kai Bae now.  Much more quiet and seems to be very clear water.  Koh Mak and Koh Kut are stunning with regards to that.

 

Hopefully, we'll visit Samet soon.  Mid week to avoid the crowds! 5555

I must admit the last few trips I have stayed at Kacha at White Sand Beach and  Sea view in Kae Bae and it is nice. Best thing about Koh Chang in my opinion is the huge hills and forest that you can see from the beaches.