Holiday in Koh Chang any Good ?

[LoeiI]

Hi I'm thinking of booking a week in Koh Chang for early May (family of 3) and i have a couple of questions, is it a good time to go ? anybody got any positive reviews regarding specific resorts which side of the island etc. ? what's the best way to get there from Loei ? I am thinking VIP bus any help greatly appreciated TIA 

[internationalism]

in May might start raining, but this year is different, so maybe not much or not at all.

The west side is developed and has many beaches. 

Pre-covid the very end of island was the least crowded and cheapest.

Now it doesnt matter. I would stick with close proximity to makro or tesco and big C supermarkets for food supplies. They are some 2km apart.

Stick strictly to hotels on the beach. There should be enough choice at good price. Book on agoda.

Probably good to rent a bike, from some 200b/day, maybe less for a week. Maybe a car for one day to go to east part.

Buses go to rayong, from here songtaw around 30 minutes, ferry 60b, and songtaw to hotel for about 100b. 

I think they are still checking vaxes before boading ferry

Edited April 17, 2022 by internationalism

[LoeiI]

17 minutes ago, internationalism said:

in May might start raining, but this year is different, so maybe not much or not at all.

The west side is developed and has many beaches. 

Pre-covid the very end of island was the least crowded and cheapest.

Now it doesnt matter. I would stick with close proximity to makro or tesco and big C supermarkets for food supplies. They are some 2km apart.

Stick strictly to hotels on the beach. There should be enough choice at good price. Book on agoda.

Probably good to rent a bike, from some 200b/day, maybe less for a week. Maybe a car for one day to go to east part.

Buses go to rayong, from here songtaw around 30 minutes, ferry 60b, and songtaw to hotel for about 100b. 

I think they are still checking vaxes before boading ferry

Brilliant thanks for the detailed info was looking at KC Grande resort looks like NW end of the island

[KhaoYai]

It depends on what you're looking for - if you like the bright lights of Pattaya or Phuket, you probably won't like Koh Chang.  If you want a quiet peacefull time, you'll probably love it.  There is some entertainment available - mainly the Sabai Bar where you can have dinner on the beach and watch a Fire Show, it then changes into a nightclub/disco later on - obviously subject to covid restrictions. There is a beer bar area almost opposite that bar and several others dotted about.

 

I've always gone in what they call the 'Green Season' (rainy) and always been lucky.  Only on one occasion did it rain all day - most of the time when it rains, it absolutely siles it down for an hour, the sun comes out and that's it.

 

If you're there for a week I'd do the tour, if its running, boats leave Koh Chang most days and call in at Koh Mak and then on to Koh Kood.  Kood is absolutely stunning with the best snorkelling I've ever seen.  The accomodation prices at some resorts on Koh Kood will make your eyes water. There are some reasonably priced rooms but they sell out fast in normal times - check booking.com (Koh Kood & also spelled as Koh Kut).  Conversely, on Koh Chang there are some absolute bargains in the green season - mainly on better class rooms that can be had for budget room prices.  Not sure if this is allowed so the mods might remove it but this place usually has some great rates and excellent rooms:

 

http://www.ramayana.co.th/

 

Lots of info here:

 

https://iamkohchang.com/

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by KhaoYai

[Sparktrader]

3 hours ago, LoeiI said:

Brilliant thanks for the detailed info was looking at KC Grande resort looks like NW end of the island

White Sands beach. Main area. Nice. Chang is great. Hotels should be cheap. Do a snorkelling trip on big boat. Great value. Waterfall is good there too.

[steve187]

7 hours ago, internationalism said:

Maybe a car for one day to go to east part.

Buses go to rayong, from here songtaw around 30 minutes, ferry 60b, and songtaw to hotel for about 100b. 

I think they are still checking vaxes before boading ferry

rayong to koh chang ferry is a lot further than a 30 minutes journey, more like 4 hours in a car, no tests for ferry, was on koh chang a few weeks ago, a bit busier now. the west side is the touristy side, the east is remote. I like Klong Prao beach area,  koh chang is always a good place to visit, hotels from 500thb to 5,000 thb, we stayed in the centara, but if you have a child then there is 'the splash' which has a slide etc in the pool area also a new resort 'koh chang paradise resort' again with a water park attached, which was busy when we were there. without transport i would stay somewhere on the west side that have a beach within the resort,  plenty of food locally.

 

Koh chang is very hilly, m/c are available to hire, not sure about getting around, as we always take a car, some good site to visit are 'kochangisland.com' and 'iamkohchang.com' as well as the eastern area on AN - https://aseannow.com/?forumId=129

 

have you thought about flying some of the journey, a long journey into Rayong on the bus, then another 4 hours ish by minibus from Rayong onto the island

 

a recent thread here - 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by steve187

[internationalism]

my bad, Trat is the nearest bus station. 

Some buses will also stop some 20km before Trat, shortly after crossing Welu river and gig stationary police checkpoint there, but not sure, if mamy songtaws now go to the island. That shortcut would save some 30 minutes drive

[Will B Good]

Good for a week, nice beaches, nice bars......wouldn't stay any longer than that.

[sandyf]

10 hours ago, LoeiI said:

Brilliant thanks for the detailed info was looking at KC Grande resort looks like NW end of the island

I like Koh Chang, think it is the best of the islands, we went for New Year. I would suggest you look at flying down possibly to U-Tapao and hiring a car. Easy enough to get across on the ferry and save a great deal of messing about on the island. Staying for a week it would be quite beneficial to be able to get to some of the more remote areas.

KC Grande is right at the end of White Sands and although not too far to walk I would suggest looking a bit further along just in case it is wet in the evening.

There is quite a nice bar opposite the Sangtawan Resort, called Oodies Place, has live blues music in the evening. The Sangtawan restaurant itself is not bad for meal on the beach. We stayed at the Lagoon Resort but wouldn't recommend it.

Enjoy.

Edited April 18, 2022 by sandyf

[Sparktrader]

Khlong phrao is good too.