The Koh Chang Experience

[Piece Corp]

FYI, I’ve learned the Emerald Cove Resort has closed temporarily from April 1st until July 1st.

[Kickoff]

[Piece Corp]

With bars closed in Bangkok and Pattaya, I decided to try to make the best of the situation and head over to Koh Chang for a few weeks although bars were closed there too.

 

 

I was the only passenger on the baht bus, so had to pay for 6 people, otherwise wait until it filled up.  Since there wasn't another ferry for an hour, I paid.

 

 

WEEK 1: Santhiya Tree Resort

 

 

I was anxious to try this place.  There's a lot of wood so it will be expensive to maintain with all the rain on Koh Chang.  The older building overlooks the river.

 

 

I stayed in one of these villas

 

 

The bathroom had a thatched roof, with awning cover to keep the rain and crawlers out.  I thought it was nice having morning sunlight light the room.  The tub was huge, largest I've seen, but the tile floor wasn't comfortable sitting on.  They provided a ladder in case you needed assistance climbing into it.  There was a shower around the corner I preferred.

 

 

The pools were closed due to covid, but they had a sandy beach that was good for swimming.

 

 

They served alcohol and had happy hour from 5 to 7

 

 

Food was pretty good

 

 

There was evening entertainment

 

 

Here's the soft shell crab burger

 

 

There was a breakfast buffet served in the older building, despite not having many guests.

 

 

The biggest disadvantage of the resort was a 20 minute walk to the main road, but I made the walk anyway for some Blue Crab, 700 baht for a kilo at the Sea Eaw Seafood Restaurant.

 

 

WEEK 2:  The Emerald Cove Resort

 

This is where I usually stay, at Klong Prao Beach.  They were considering shutting the island down for a few weeks because four people had tested positive.  The problem is that Koh Chang hospital only has 15 beds.  They decided to keep the island open but require any visitors from red zones (Bangkok and Pattaya), to bring proof of a recent covid test.  As a result, almost no one came.  My resort has 165 rooms and only a few were occupied, so I had the entire resort nearly all to myself.

 

 

No one said I couldn't use the pool.

 

 

They gave me a room front facing with a nice view of the property.  

 

 

WiFi coverage was good

 

 

The resort also had a lengthy happy hour.  Here's a Long Island Iced Tea.

 

 

Seafood pizza with a mango cooler

 

 

Cesar salad with passion fruit mojito

 

 

Tom Yam Goong

 

 

Mango Margarita with some pasta

 

 

WEEK 3: The Dewa Resort

 

I was planning to spend the third week on Koh Kood but the island was also shut because of two resort employees testing positive, so I went to the Dewa Resort, just two doors down from the Emerald Cove.

 

 

It's smaller than either the Santhiya or the Emerald Cove, but the pool is large.  I called ahead to make sure it was open.  They told me they wouldn't be serving alcohol in the public areas however, so I picked up a bottle of Jack at the 7-11.

 

The room was nice but I prefer the natural hardwood floors the other resorts had.

 

 

My room was just a few steps from the pool, with this small table in front.

 

 

This guy kept watch over my door, but he was quiet at night

 

 

The resort normally has a good breakfast buffet but was ala carte with so few guests, only a couple rooms were occupied, so you submit a checklist of what you want and they deliver it to your room at a time you specify.

 

 

Pool was nice and good size

 

 

They also have a beach area, but I used the pool.

 

 

It was a very relaxing three weeks, I didn't want to leave.

 

[BuakhaoBarry]

Great thread. I also love Koh Chang. 

Do you ever stay at lonely beach?

I spent a week there twice and loved it. Yes its not for everyone as there is a backpackers scene there but I found it to be great. I stayed in a hotel called Nature Beach Resort and a place called Little Eden. 

The parties that kick off at night are brilliant!

[Piece Corp]

3 hours ago, BuakhaoBarry said:

Great thread. I also love Koh Chang. 

Do you ever stay at lonely beach?

I spent a week there twice and loved it. Yes its not for everyone as there is a backpackers scene there but I found it to be great. I stayed in a hotel called Nature Beach Resort and a place called Little Eden. 

The parties that kick off at night are brilliant!

In over 30 visits to Koh Chang I’ve never stayed at Lonely Beach, or on the East Coast, and I’ve even spent a night in Bang Bao.

This blogger gives a current view, published last week.  We don’t stay at the same places so I didn’t encounter him.  Since the bars were closed, I didn’t bother riding a scooter this visit.

 

[BuakhaoBarry]

22 minutes ago, Piece Corp said:

In over 30 visits to Koh Chang I’ve never stayed at Lonely Beach, or on the East Coast, and I’ve even spent a night in Bang Bao.

This blogger gives a current view, published last week.  We don’t stay at the same places so I didn’t encounter him.  Since the bars were closed, I didn’t bother riding a scooter this visit.

 

Thanks.

Is there a reason you don't go to lonely beach mate?

[Piece Corp]

2 minutes ago, BuakhaoBarry said:

Thanks.

Is there a reason you don't go to lonely beach mate?

I’m not a back-packer, it’s not my scene, not that I have anything against young people having fun.

[rioman]

That really does look like paradise - if you had one of your beautiful photo playmates along.  Assume prices were on the cheap too?  Did you spend much time around the White sands area and curious as to how dead it appeared.  

[Piece Corp]

54 minutes ago, rioman said:

That really does look like paradise - if you had one of your beautiful photo playmates along.  Assume prices were on the cheap too?  Did you spend much time around the White sands area and curious as to how dead it appeared.  

Don’t spend much time around White Sands but prices were low and there were few tourists.  The three 4-star resorts were 1960, 1840, and 1720 per night, respectively, including breakfast.

[stickyfingers]

11 hours ago, Piece Corp said:

With bars closed in Bangkok and Pattaya, I decided to try to make the best of the situation and head over to Koh Chang for a few weeks although bars were closed there too.

 

 

I was the only passenger on the baht bus, so had to pay for 6 people, otherwise wait until it filled up.  Since there wasn't another ferry for an hour, I paid.

 

 

WEEK 1: Santhiya Tree Resort

 

 

I was anxious to try this place.  There's a lot of wood so it will be expensive to maintain with all the rain on Koh Chang.  The older building overlooks the river.

 

 

I stayed in one of these villas

 

 

The bathroom had a thatched roof, with awning cover to keep the rain and crawlers out.  I thought it was nice having morning sunlight light the room.  The tub was huge, largest I've seen, but the tile floor wasn't comfortable sitting on.  They provided a ladder in case you needed assistance climbing into it.  There was a shower around the corner I preferred.

 

 

The pools were closed due to covid, but they had a sandy beach that was good for swimming.

 

 

They served alcohol and had happy hour from 5 to 7

 

 

Food was pretty good

 

 

There was evening entertainment

 

 

Here's the soft shell crab burger

 

 

There was a breakfast buffet served in the older building, despite not having many guests.

 

 

The biggest disadvantage of the resort was a 20 minute walk to the main road, but I made the walk anyway for some Blue Crab, 700 baht for a kilo at the Sea Eaw Seafood Restaurant.

 

 

WEEK 2:  The Emerald Cove Resort

 

This is where I usually stay, at Klong Prao Beach.  They were considering shutting the island down for a few weeks because four people had tested positive.  The problem is that Koh Chang hospital only has 15 beds.  They decided to keep the island open but require any visitors from red zones (Bangkok and Pattaya), to bring proof of a recent covid test.  As a result, almost no one came.  My resort has 165 rooms and only a few were occupied, so I had the entire resort nearly all to myself.

 

 

No one said I couldn't use the pool.

 

 

They gave me a room front facing with a nice view of the property.  

 

 

WiFi coverage was good

 

 

The resort also had a lengthy happy hour.  Here's a Long Island Iced Tea.

 

 

Seafood pizza with a mango cooler

 

 

Cesar salad with passion fruit mojito

 

 

Tom Yam Goong

 

 

Mango Margarita with some pasta

 

 

WEEK 3: The Dewa Resort

 

I was planning to spend the third week on Koh Kood but the island was also shut because of two resort employees testing positive, so I went to the Dewa Resort, just two doors down from the Emerald Cove.

 

 

It's smaller than either the Santhiya or the Emerald Cove, but the pool is large.  I called ahead to make sure it was open.  They told me they wouldn't be serving alcohol in the public areas however, so I picked up a bottle of Jack at the 7-11.

 

The room was nice but I prefer the natural hardwood floors the other resorts had.

 

 

My room was just a few steps from the pool, with this small table in front.

 

 

This guy kept watch over my door, but he was quiet at night

 

 

The resort normally has a good breakfast buffet but was ala carte with so few guests, only a couple rooms were occupied, so you submit a checklist of what you want and they deliver it to your room at a time you specify.

 

 

Pool was nice and good size

 

 

They also have a beach area, but I used the pool.

 

 

It was a very relaxing three weeks, I didn't want to leave.

 

Fantastic photos and reporting of your trip here with the more high end places on KC. I stayed at the Centara resort on Klong Phrao a few yrs ago and enjoyed it as had it on discount thankfully. I like that area as nice beach and nice hotels and bungalows nearby and not too far away fr WS beach area by scooter.

I love KC and would love to spend more time there when Thailand fully re opens up again as find it’s a nice refreshing break from Pattaya n Jomtien. Always reminds me of Koh Samui how it used to be before being fully developed and over priced.

Like the Panama hat too a must have for shade or a naked thai damsel!!

[Piece Corp]

15 hours ago, stickyfingers said:

Fantastic photos and reporting of your trip here with the more high end places on KC. I stayed at the Centara resort on Klong Phrao a few yrs ago and enjoyed it as had it on discount thankfully. I like that area as nice beach and nice hotels and bungalows nearby and not too far away fr WS beach area by scooter.

I love KC and would love to spend more time there when Thailand fully re opens up again as find it’s a nice refreshing break from Pattaya n Jomtien. Always reminds me of Koh Samui how it used to be before being fully developed and over priced.

Like the Panama hat too a must have for shade or a naked thai damsel!!

I listed some photos from the Centara Tropicana on page 1 of this thread that unfortunately were lost during a forum upgrade, but I located them on my hard drive.  It's located near the Santhiya, all these resorts are within 1.5 km.  

 

 

A new resort next to the Emerald Cove opened last year called 'The Splash', and it includes water slides.  This photo is from the parking lot, away from the sea.

 

 

I took this photo from the Emerald Cove Resort last year during construction, but I don't have any current photos of the beach area of The Splash.

 

 

[Piece Corp]

I returned to Koh Chang for the entire month of June.  Visitors from Bangkok and Pattaya need to bring evidence of a negative covid test within the past 72 hours, which keeps the visitor count low, besides it being low season.  I booked five 4-star resorts, all accommodations were below 2,000/night, which is why I like low season, don't mind a little rain.  I travelled light and only brought a small back pack, all photos were taken with my phone camera.  I didn't bring many clothes because I wore my swim suit almost all the time.

 

 

KAI BAE VILLAGE

 

 

I booked the GajaPuri Resort, first time I've stayed here.  I was the only guest the entire week.

 

 

My bungalow looked a bit like the Unibomber's cabin.

 

 

Inside it was very comfortable, lots of wood, with a small Bose sound system I used with my Apple Music subscription.

 

 

There are two sections of the resort, each with their own pool.  One section is for families, the other is adults only, no one under 16 allowed.

 

 

The family side has a smaller pool with whirlpool for the kids.

 

Guests could use kayaks for free.

 

Since I was the only guest, the kitchen staff waited around to serve me breakfast in the morning, I felt like a king.

 

 

I took some time to explore the village, first the seaside.

 

 

The Galapuri is next door to the Chill, which is more expensive.  I've stayed there before and mention it earlier in this thread.

 

 

Here's Kai Bae Beach

 

 

It rained a little bit and was overcast all week.  You risk the weather when you come low season.

 

 

Those on a budget could stay at the Duckling Resort for about 350 baht.

 

 

There were bandits beside the road, it was like the Wild West.

 

 

I took a trip inland for the first time, there were a lot of elephant crossings.

 

 

Some roads were adventurous

 

 

There were a lot of houses for rent, a few nice ones but most, like these, needed repair.

 

 

There were also many run down shacks the locals live in that you don't want to see.

 

 

There were lots of places to eat in Kai Bai.  I really enjoyed the authentic Mexican cuisine at El Barrio.  The Baja shrimp tacos were pangasius, which I normally don't order, but the price and sauces were good.

 

 

Sizzling chicken fajitas were just 280

 

 

Here's a monster burrito, and I ate the whole thing, even the jalapeño garnish.  Tame by Thai standards but still had some bite to it.

 

 

Across the street, the Filou had Argentinian tenderloin with green and white asparagus, with an appropriate beverage served in a Tiki glass to ward off evil spirits (the BiB).  But they added 7% VAT to the check, no one else did.

 

 

The burger station has large burgers, the meat is local so they pile on lots of other stuff, this one had bleu cheese and bacon bits.

 

 

Along the river, Papa serves up greek food.

 

 

Here's the lamb

 

 

They have homemade pasta at Mordi & Fuggi's.

 

 

This big plate of seafood spaghetti will set you back 350.

 

 

The tortellini was also good

 

 

Across the street at the Wine Shop they also have whisky, ciders, and fine cigars.  It's the only place within 250 km I know of you can get cuban cigars.

 

 

They also serve food, here an Aussie tenderloin

 

 

Bars are closed nation-wide, even though there's no covid on the island, so it was empty at Kai Bae Walking Street.  I never go to Koh Chang for mongering, rather Bangkok and Pattaya.  I did notice a few bars seemed open, not in the main bar areas, with a few ladies and the lights turned out, but I didn't stop so don't know whether they were serving alcohol.

 

 

https://gajapuri.com

TO BE CONTINUED....

[petermik]

Great pics as allways Piece...dont care much for the new titfer though....😁

[Piece Corp]

21 minutes ago, petermik said:

Great pics as allways Piece...dont care much for the new titfer though....😁

I’m not taking my $150 fedora to Koh Chang, it rains too much 

[Jack Frost]

PC thanks for the report & pics.

 

Looks amazing as always & hope to be there one day in the near future.

 

 

[chippysam]

  Great photos as ever and thanks for the update , sad to see the place so quiet . Stayed at the Chill a few times really enjoy the hotel and the area . Bring a Thai friend and eat at the Thai barbeque a door or two down , the girls love it . 

[Piece Corp]

22 minutes ago, chippysam said:

  Great photos as ever and thanks for the update , sad to see the place so quiet . Stayed at the Chill a few times really enjoy the hotel and the area . Bring a Thai friend and eat at the Thai barbeque a door or two down , the girls love it . 

I'm afraid it's closed

[Piece Corp]

THE EAST SIDE

The east side of Koh Chang has little dependence on foreign tourism so it looked like it always does, but there seemed more resorts than the last time I was here, primarily marketing to Thais.  I thought I might not see a farang but saw four.

It doesn't matter how many times I've taken the S-turns on a motorbike to get over there, I always breathe a sigh of relief when I'm thru them.  I think they're more dangerous driving down than up.  Conversely, I think the hairpin turn at Lonely Beach is more dangerous to drive up because the turn is so sharp it's difficult not to drift into the opposite lane.  I always check for on-coming traffic before attempting it to avoid a potential head-on collision.

The hydrolance service was awaiting on the other side just in case.

 

 

After you reach the other side of the island there aren't any more dangerous turns.

 

 

This is Koh Chang Hospital, there's also a small International Hospital on the west side and a tiny hospital in Bang Bao village to the south.  They keep busy with all the motorbike accidents.

 

 

Here's the main police station

 

 

There's a shooting range but it was closed

 

 

I don't think the swimming is very good on this side of the island.

 

 

They have these park benches set up but nobody ever uses them.

 

 

At the fork in the road, I headed to the southeast corner of the island, this is a route I've never taken before.  Eventually, you reach a terminal destination appropriately called Journey's End.

 

 

Then I doubled back to the fork and headed south past the temple to the fisherman's village.

 

 

KLONG PRAO

 

 

I booked three resorts in Klong Prao, the same ones as my last visit:  Emerald Cove Resort, Dewa Resort, and Santhiya Tree Resort, so I won't say too much about them but just include more pictures.  The weather was fantastic.

 

 

There were two other rooms occupied at Emerald Cove Resort, out of 165.  Breakfast was ala carte, just tell them what you want.  I tried having breakfast outside but the Myna birds would swoop in and steal my food.

 

 

It was better having breakfast indoors.

 

 

The Dewa was the busiest of the three, more guests than when I stayed there in May.  I had originally booked the Awa in Kai Bae but the girl at the front desk informed me they were closing the resort and sending me over to their sister property.  I was disappointed because I enjoyed the farang food in Kai Bae but the price I paid for the Awa was a few hundred baht less than if I'd booked the Dewa directly.

 

 

Although there were more guests than last time, the beach was still deserted.

 

 

I told the girl at the front desk at the Santhiya Tree Resort that I was the only guest at the Gajapuri and she said it was the same here, but some other guests arrived after a few days.

 

 

Some of the villas had small private pools but they're all private when you're the only guest.

 

 

The disadvantage of the Santhiya Tree Resort is the remote location, it's a 20 minute walk to the main road.  Klong Prao doesn't have as many nice restaurants as Kai Bae IMHO, and Yea Eaw Seafood, where I went for steamed blue crab in May was closed, but I found a place serving this seafood pizza.  I do wish they'd taken the clams and mussels out of the shells.

 

 

Although the restaurants aren't the greatest, Klong Prao does have the best massage shop on the island and I stopped at Manarat Special massage for their 90-minute full-body Tantra massage.  There are no stunners there but the girls know how to work a sack and pair of nuts.  I've been visiting this massage shop for more than 12 years.

 

NEXT: BANG BAO AND WHITE SANDS

[petehoax]

Thanks for the report. 

East Side: I checked it out as well this spring. There is one nice beach called long beach in the south east (near hat sai yao resort). the road down to the beach was closed, but we went through a Jungle path (barely driveable with a small bike). completely empty. had a small sand island in the water due to low tide and had some fun with my company there. 
unfortunately there's quite some trash on the beach itself. still, it's nice to relax there a little. 

even further down the road next to koh chang memorial is another mini-beach that's surprisingly nice. 

the 2nd thing i'd check out down east are the mangrove walks. they built three different paths through the mangrove forests on wooden planks (sometimes slightly sketchy), interesting to walk through. 

it's nothing breath-taking, but it's cool to see imho. 

where's that manarat massage exactly in klong prao? can't find it and nothing stood out when i stayed there...

[briguy]

Let me be the first to congratulate our lone wolf on the Milwaukee Bucks making it to the NBA Finals. I would have said they won't beat Denver, but it looks like they'll have Giannis back and it won't hurt the confidence of the rest of the team that they won a few playoff games without him!

[Piece Corp]

57 minutes ago, petehoax said:

where's that manarat massage exactly in klong prao? can't find it and nothing stood out when i stayed there...

Maanrat Special massage is a few kilometers north of the waterfall, on the sea side, not really close to the major resorts.  TBH, they were better ten years ago when they weren't doing happy endings because the balls massage was so great.  The girls they had back then were extremely talented.

[Piece Corp]

BANG BAO

I paid a visit to the fishing village in the southwest corner of the island.  Most shops were closed and I was the only farang around.

 

 

I walked all the way out to the Lighthouse

 

 

One restaurant was open and I had soft shell crab stir fried with garlic and pepper.

 

 

Afterwards, I rode as far east as the Rasta View Bungalows, where you can get a room for 350 baht.

 

 

WHITE SANDS

 

I usually don't stay in this area but wanted to try out the KC Grand Resort, it gets good reviews and has been here a long time.  It's similarly priced to the Gajapuri and Santhiya but I didn't realize how large it was.

 

 

I booked a Garden Villa

 

 

Room was nice, bathroom had a tree trunk vanity mirror and jacuzzi bathtub.

 

 

Nice balcony for drinks and watching sports

 

 

Although I was in the second row of villas, I still had an unobstructed sea view, without having to pay extra, because of the small pool right in front.  Good deal 

 

 

The beach was very clean

 

 

Food was served in the Beach Restaurant

 

 

The breakfast buffet had many items but quality wasn't the greatest. For example, the bacon was like leather, even the strips they labeled 'crispy', and cheese was local, but they had pasta that was OK.

 

 

The kid's pool was called the Turtle Pond, with a small water slide down the back of the turtle.

 

 

The main pool had a swim-up bar, so I swam up for a Long Island Iced Tea (250 baht).

 

 

There's nothing that takes the edge off a warm day like a refreshing iced tea, so I ordered three more. and could barely walk (but still swim like a fish), so I swam back to my beach chair to dry out until happy hour.

 

 

Ordered soft shell crab stir fried in garlic with spring rolls and a few mojitos for dinner.  The happy hour deal was buy two and get one free, but only on selected drinks, not including Long Island Iced Tea.

 

 

Occupancy quadrupled on Friday afternoon with many Thai families arriving, they cleared out Sunday morning.  Entertainment was provided on the weekend.

 

 

Rooms in the main building had jacuzzis on the balcony.

 

 

The resort was nicely appointed.

 

 

Although food prices. were reasonable, the farang food was poor.  For example, I ordered a Hawaiian pizza that was awful.  Fortunately, the White Elephant Restaurant was two kilometers down the road so I hiked over there for some meals.

 

The main road at White Sands was very quiet.

 

 

I walked past the bar area they call "Little Pattaya", next to the Chon Buri Resort.  It's empty now.

 

 

When operational, the white building in the background serves as a short time hotel, they charge 300 baht to use the facilities and believe me, you don't want to stay there any longer than short time. 

 

 

The farang food is pretty good at the White Elephant

 

 

I tried all three of their Aussie steaks.  Here the rib eye.

 

 

Tenderloin

 

 

I was a little disappointed with the T-bone, should have stayed with the tenderloin, but it was Monday night when steaks were 20% off.

 

 

Later, I went for the weekday special, this juicy pork chop for only 99 baht.

 

 

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, I think I touched all the bases except Lonely Beach,  which I expect is completely deserted. The weather was great, except at the Gajapuri when it was overcast all week.  Don't know when I'll be returning, probably in August.  With bars closed nationwide, I expect Bangkok and Pattaya are very boring now, Koh Chang is the place to be IMHO, and there's no covid. Cheers. 

 

[Piece Corp]

When they lifted restrictions on interprovincial travel, I was anxious for another visit to Koh Chang.  I called ahead to ensure I wasn't required to bring evidence of a negative covid test since I don't live in a highly controlled zone and I've already had one dose of AstraZeneca.

 

 

They checked my covid documentation at check-in and gave me the same room as I had last time, Room 136.  There were 8 or 9 rooms occupied on the weekend, out of 165, only two or three rooms were occupied during the week.

 

 

The girly bars at Kai Bae Walking Street were still closed.

 

 

I brought back some cigars and ciders.

 

 

It rained a lot, but I had some nice sunsets too.

 

 

They added some swings, they were not present during my last visit in June.

 

 

Seafood pizza with a Mango Cooler.  Unfortunately they discontinued happy hour, so I had to pay full price for drinks, but they omitted tax and service charge.

 

 

Cesar Salad with Irish Coffee

 

 

Water seeped-in between floors when it rained all night and part of the ceiling collapsed in the dining room one morning, so I was treated to breakfast on my balcony at no additional charge.

 

 

I made a few visits to White Sands for some Aussie steaks.

 

 

They were out of Becks Draught and Stella Artois, so I tried Duuel for the first time, not realizing it was 8.4% until I had a few.

 

 

I had a kg of fresh blue crab at Sea Raw Seafood, 600 baht, which was closed during my last visit.  Also stopped at Maanarak massage for a full body tantra to shot my load.

 

 

I've stayed at many places but never at Lonely Beach, the backpacker ghetto, so I thought I'd give it a visit.  One of the hazards getting there is having to navigate the hair-pin turn.  It's fairly flat in the middle and is worse than it looks I think .  I wouldn't recommend coming down here at night.

 

 

I think the worst thing about Lonely Beach is a lot of trash strewn about.

 

 

I pulled off the main road on an abandoned road with overgrowth and discovered this abandoned resort.  It has certainly seen better days.

 

 

After that, I took this road to towards the sea called "GoTo Lonely Beach Road".  There were a few bars open and a couple farangs were playing pool, don't know whether they were serving.

 

 

Finally, I arrived at Lonely Beach Street.  It was the first time I've visited this area.  I always road past without stopping.

 

 

This is a hostel.  I think rooms in this area run about 300 baht.

 

 

The other area I had never visited was east of Bang Bao.  I wanted to determine if there was a road completely circling the island.  The road narrowed to one lane.

 

 

Eventually, I arrived at this gate.  Checking my google maps, the road beyond was unlisted, so presumably there is a way to completely circle the island but I didn't want to progress further because it was roped off.

 

 

On my was back to Emerald Cove, I stopped off at the Rasta View Bungalows for a cappuccino while enjoying the view.  There was Bob Marley memorabilia around, it seemed like a very laid-back kind of place.

 

 

 

Then it was back to squaresville.

WEEK TWO: The Awa Resort

I booked a sea view room.  Last time I booked a hillside room with the promise of a free room upgrade and they sent me to the Dewa Resort as the upgrade.  But I really wanted to stay in the Kai Bae area to enjoy the fine restaurants there without having to make a half hour walk each way.  The sea view room rate was about 500 baht more than what I payed for the hillside last time.  This is the 17th resort I've stayed at on Koh Chang.

 

 

They had a nice lobby.

 

 

The Chill Resort is next door (more expensive), and the Gajapuri Resort is beyond that, also more expensive.  The Awa has 110 units, the Chill has 37, and the GajaPuri has 74.

 

 

Room was decent.

 

 

My balcony had a nice view

 

 

The balcony contained a sofa which was comfortable for sipping whisky.

 

 

What I liked most about the resort was the super long pool.

 

 

There was a pool bar with an ample happy hour, two drinks were 299.

 

 

The beach area was less impressive.

 

 

There were stairs to the water but I think it's too rocky to swim there, speaking from my experience at the Chill and GajaPuri near by.

 

 

They had a spa but I don't know if it was open.

 

 

In town, some good restaurants for sure.  Unfortunately, my favorite (El Barrio Mexican) was closed for the month.

 

 

The Octoberfest Restaurant was good for a bratwurst.

 

 

Filou had a bucket of mussels for 350, but I thought their ribs were disappointing

 

 

Mordi E Fuggi Italian have homemade pasta.  The seafood spaghetti is excellent for 350.

 

 

It was rainy when I checked out of the Awa, or I may have booked the Santhiya or KC Grand for a week, but I'll be back again before they allow international tourists to return.  It was a nice two weeks but the weather should be better for my next visit.

 

 

[stickyfingers]

Again another excellent report with quality photos and reviews of the better places on KC. 
You’ve done well to find some nice places open there with the current restrictions.

Pity but it’s rainy season there for a few months so not much happening on the beaches for a while.

[Piece Corp]

Made my fourth visit to Koh Chang this year. This time, three army guys asked to see my vaccine certificate before I was allowed on the ferry They're serious about enforcing this now. Weather is great and even a few bars are open.