Koh Yao Yai Island; Exploring Thailand’s Tranquil Island!

Exploring Koh Yao Yai by Bike

Bike hire is the best way to see the island. Not only does it give you the flexibility, but there aren’t taxis waiting on every street corner like there are in other areas of Thailand. So getting around another way may get difficult.

A short stroll up the beach from our resort was a lovely guy, Mr. Ton, who hired out scooters. He charged 300THB and if we needed a bottle of fuel that would have cost 30THB. But if you’re only hiring a bike for the day you may not need to purchase any additional fuel.

Also, there’s a clear & simple map of the island available, from a number of places around the island. It notes the main points of interest and also indicates which roads are sealed and which aren’t. And, some of the roads on the island are so bumpy they don’t even want you to take their bikes on them.

The island is very easy to navigate, there’s one main road that runs through the middle of the island and many small roads off that. The island is covered in palm and rubber tree plantations, so there’s beautiful, natural scenery at every corner. And, the locals on Koh Yao Yai island are so friendly and were never begging for our business, just happily going about their day. It was such a nice change after being in Phuket.

So, we basically headed south out of Santhiya Resort and it took us about 45 minutes to reach the bottom of the island. Any notable beaches or sights are well signed.

The Best Beaches on The Island

My favorite beach down that way was Ao Sai. It was gorgeous, with no rubbish floating around and at high tide perfect for a swim. There’s a small, local restaurant on the beach called Rocky’s Restaurant and the owner was lovely. He even offered to take us on a snorkeling trip to nearby islands & uninhabited limestone karst rocks.

Close by to Ao Sai is a small fishing village. It’s also worth stopping there to see all the local boats and stilt houses out on the water.

Afterward, we slowly made our way up north, it’s a cruisey ride, with very little traffic and a number of small restaurants along the way. We ate at Ban Rim Nam, as it was recommended to us by a local and also highly rated on Trip Advisor.

Then located to the North is Laem haad beach and I think this is the most beautiful beach on the island.

The main reason being (if you can manage to get there when the tide is just right), at the end of the beach, past the many palm trees is a massive sandbank.

It goes so far out it’s almost like you can walk across to the sister island Koh Yao Noi.

It really is tide dependent though, we stopped by and it looked amazing, but we thought we’d visit again in the afternoon when the tide was a bit lower. But by then the water was so far out, it was just all sand.

Laem Haad Beach is pretty easy to find, head north and it’s before Chong Lad Pier. There is also a large sign on the main road, to indicate the turnoff.

From there we headed around to Son Bay then back to Santhiya Resort. We had left at about 9:30 am and returned the bike around 5 pm. It was such a fun day, very chilled with plenty of beach time.

You could easily spend a couple of days riding around the island and finding every beautiful spot, but remember to look at the tide times. The negative thing about these beaches is that once the tide goes out there’s pretty much no beach. You’d have to walk about a kilometer out to reach the water.

Koh Yao Yai Island was different compared with other islands I’ve been to in Thailand. It’s not touristy, commercialized, or full of partying. It’s simple beauty and I hope it keeps the traditional and laid-back charm.

The resort we stayed in (although very grand compared to the rest of the island), is an eco-luxury property, blending in beautifully with the surroundings. I’d love for you to read my review on Santhiya, to help complete your visit to Koh Yao Yai Island;

A Bloggers Review on Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa, Thailand

Thanks for reading,

Happy Travels.