Thinking of coming to Koh Chang next few weeks

[Jeff the Chef]

37 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

If you want to eat at a very good restaurant, walk down to *Pen's Bungalows* next door to KC (not to be confused with penny's not in white sand) you can breakfast there also, but don't expect service till at least 9.30am

Cheers for that, I'll check it out, we have Breakfast included in the deal, her Ladyship is the food buff, after being in the trade I'm happy with chips and egg.

[brianthainess]

8 minutes ago, Jeff the Chef said:

Cheers for that, I'll check it out, we have Breakfast included in the deal, her Ladyship is the food buff, after being in the trade I'm happy with chips and egg.

Then your wife should like Pen's not only is it good food, but reasonably priced/beer also , Some nights they used to do 2 cocktails for the price of one, Try the Penang curry loads of vegies in it it. Tables on the beach only allowed after 5pm on white sand. Best in "town IMO"

Egg n chips no problem with proper chips too. staff are very accommodating. very very clean cheap quiet rooms too, all on suite, used to be my place to stay. My daughter stayed there this year and loved it. Wants to come back next year and stay again.

[brianthainess]

52 minutes ago, huangnon said:

 from now 'til December, and sometimes roads get closed due to mudslides, fallen trees, etc.

And cleared at an extremely fast rate, even if a bridge gets wiped out they act very quickly in getting it passable. 

[Real Name Hidden]

1 hour ago, Alotoftravel said:

I am also looking at hotels to stay at koh Chang in October . Appreciate any recommendations ? Thanks 

I recommend the Santhiya Tree Resort. I always book a Garden Villa. Biggest problem is it's fairly remote and a 15 minute walk to the main road but they operate a free shuttle.  Nice pool and also a good beach. 

[Kenny202]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

If you want to eat at a very good restaurant, walk down to *Pen's Bungalows* next door to KC (not to be confused with penny's not in white sand) you can breakfast there also, but don't expect service till at least 9.30am

We eat at Uturn a fair bit. I think they are Cambodian? Lovely family, great food, great prices and close to where we stay ????

[Fat is a type of crazy]

Stayed Koh Chang August and September. Similar recommendations as above. Stayed at Santhiya Tree, Sylvan, and Kacha. First and second had the best breakfast but Kacha had a decent breakfast and staying there at the time on the beach side with sea outlook was half the price of Santhiya Tree. Breakfast at the first 2 may improve further as they get more guests approaching high season. 

 

Santhiya Tree has these cool rooms in a 4 or 5 storey building with everything wood with a nice pool on each balcony.  Nice for your partner who will love it. Sylvan is spectacular in the forest with beautiful outlook.  Kacha is a half a star less and it shows a bit with crappy towels and less maintenance but it is on the best beach in my opinion and good to be in town. 

[Fat is a type of crazy]

Stayed at KC Grande trip before and probably has a better breakfast than the three others. Walked past in first week of September had had lots of renovations including gutted breakfast room so might be a bit noisy and best to stay elsewhere unless they've finished it by now. 

[kwilco]

It'll be quite wet and you may find some facilities closed - May to November is the time for repairs, maintenance etc. (includes digging the beach up in some places!)

 

November is the start of the dry season

Edited October 7, 2023 by kwilco

[Kenny202]

59 minutes ago, kwilco said:

It'll be quite wet and you may find some facilities closed - May to November is the time for repairs, maintenance etc. (includes digging the beach up in some places!)

 

November is the start of the dry season

We have been there quite a few times this time of year and never experienced any beach digging or anything that inconvenienced us. Was pretty drear last time we went about 2 years ago so many businesses gone, and not shut up.....cleared out and left for good....but otherwise we don't do much apart from go to the beach and swim at the hotel pool. Got a few favorite restaurants which have always been open. Any touristy sights or tours etc doesn't interest us. In any case we have 2 kids at school (just started school holidays) , and the beach is a 10 hour drive for us so popping over for a weekend or 2 or 3 days not really convenient so we don't really have a lot of choice. Come to think of it we been lucky in that respect too, I don't remember it ever raining while we were there but was a bit windy and overcast last time. usually we go mid to late September. But thanks for the info ???? 

[kwilco]

2 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

We have been there quite a few times this time of year and never experienced any beach digging or anything that inconvenienced us. Was pretty drear last time we went about 2 years ago so many businesses gone, and not shut up.....cleared out and left for good....but otherwise we don't do much apart from go to the beach and swim at the hotel pool. Got a few favorite restaurants which have always been open. Any touristy sights or tours etc doesn't interest us. In any case we have 2 kids at school (just started school holidays) , and the beach is a 10 hour drive for us so popping over for a weekend or 2 or 3 days not really convenient so we don't really have a lot of choice. Come to think of it we been lucky in that respect too, I don't remember it ever raining while we were there but was a bit windy and overcast last time. usually we go mid to late September. But thanks for the info ???? 

I have lost count of the times I've visited Koh Chang as it was the nearest island to where I lived and I had a friend with a resort there.

My visits were not dictated by the normal holiday seasons as I was fun just to stay in my friends resort - my brother got married there and have celebrated a few birthdays and Christmases and new Years. It was also a convenient place to take visitors when they came to stay.So I went a lot during the wet season.

 

On a few occasions I've noticed the resort I was staying at and other places putting excavators on the beaches - as well as other routine maintenance. If there have been storms or bad rips it often results in erosion of beaches - whether they just move sand around or replace it I don't know - but clearly an island resort can't afford to lose its beach.

Beawre that there are serious rips off the beaches; they occur predominantly  in the rainy season off all beaches, but do also occur during the cool, dry months, usually after periods of high winds.

during the wet season, Koh Chang has the highest rainfall of any of the main islands of Thailand - more than Phuket.

Edited October 7, 2023 by kwilco

[Kenny202]

5 hours ago, kwilco said:

I have lost count of the times I've visited Koh Chang as it was the nearest island to where I lived and I had a friend with a resort there.

My visits were not dictated by the normal holiday seasons as I was fun just to stay in my friends resort - my brother got married there and have celebrated a few birthdays and Christmases and new Years. It was also a convenient place to take visitors when they came to stay.So I went a lot during the wet season.

 

On a few occasions I've noticed the resort I was staying at and other places putting excavators on the beaches - as well as other routine maintenance. If there have been storms or bad rips it often results in erosion of beaches - whether they just move sand around or replace it I don't know - but clearly an island resort can't afford to lose its beach.

Beawre that there are serious rips off the beaches; they occur predominantly  in the rainy season off all beaches, but do also occur during the cool, dry months, usually after periods of high winds.

during the wet season, Koh Chang has the highest rainfall of any of the main islands of Thailand - more than Phuket.

One of the reasons we like where we stay. The beach seems super safe, you would need to walk out 500 meters to be in water higher than waist deep. very safe for the kids. No drop offs or channels. I used to be a lifesaver back home and never looked like there would be rips here though of course things can change. Have seen it windy and rough a couple of times there but the water stirs up pretty bad so not like you would want to swim anyway. The currents / rips around these Islands must get pretty bad though as drownings among tourists seem to be fairly common. The beach for us more for the kids to play on the sand and go for walks. hard to beat the beautiful pools in the resort for swimming, even when raining. 

[kwilco]

6 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

One of the reasons we like where we stay. The beach seems super safe, you would need to walk out 500 meters to be in water higher than waist deep. very safe for the kids. No drop offs or channels. I used to be a lifesaver back home and never looked like there would be rips here though of course things can change. Have seen it windy and rough a couple of times there but the water stirs up pretty bad so not like you would want to swim anyway. The currents / rips around these Islands must get pretty bad though as drownings among tourists seem to be fairly common. The beach for us more for the kids to play on the sand and go for walks. hard to beat the beautiful pools in the resort for swimming, even when raining. 

Koh Chang is infamous for its rips. As a life saver you should look for  and be abke to identify the signs . There are usually warning signs.

https://explorekohchang.com/koh-chang/essential-information-faqs/rip-currents/#:~:text=Signs that a rip current,in the incoming wave pattern.

 

There have been several drownings on Koh Chang over the years attributed to rips.

If you Google you will find them. Not able to quote many  on this site.

Here is a further reference from the KC site

https://explorekohchang.com/koh-chang/essential-information-faqs/rip-currents/#:~:text=Signs that a rip current,in the incoming wave pattern.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by kwilco