BOOK ROOM
BOOK TRANSFER
If you’re after an affordable and super relaxing holiday, Thailand should be up there on your list. Don’t get us wrong though, Phuket isn’t all glorious beauty everywhere. In fact, some places look really quite bad and dirty. Often these amazing resorts are nestled in surroundings that don’t match its prestige and when you step out it’s like going into a totally different world. But don’t worry, all that yummy food that’s pretty much everywhere makes up for that easily.
If you’ve got some dollars to splash or a group of mates to split costs with, we highly recommend staying at Santhiya in Koh Yao Yai and get the Royal Grand Pool Villa Suite. Santhiya is a resort on an island a short boat ride away from Phuket. You get to enjoy that wonderful resort life without the concrete jungles – because you’re basically in an actual jungle! We managed to score this amazing place for about $130 NZD per person just by going in an off peak season.
The place is so huge that to travel around you hop on one of their 24/7 buggies (it’ll give you Jurassic Park vibes) to get from one place to another. And the view? Para
They have everything you would expect of a resort in Thailand – just extra grand.
From their own professional beauty spa where you can get a variety of relaxing massage and spa treatments…
… to a bunch of really good restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The buffet ones are so good. There’s a few scattered around the island resort so you get awesome views and different experiences. Like a stunning morning ocean view, or dinner by the resort’s very own private beach with live music and entertainment.
This place even has their own library, gym and kick boxing classes if you feel like something fun and recreational.
Perhaps one of the most fun and awesome things to do though, is rent a scooter and go explore the island. There’s a couple of scooter hire places just down the beach. They’re pretty relaxed with rules here shall we say, so don’t worry about supplying any passports when renting your bikes (in fact, just don’t). We spent a good few hours driving around, passing the locals and also stopping off for food and taking in the sights.
The staff at Santhiya are also really helpful. They can organise a much cheaper local boat ride back to the main island of Phuket on the day you leave. Just organise it earlier with them and be prepared to wake up very early. If you’re not a morning person, the really pretty sunrise views and way cheaper boat ride back will help to make up for it.
I could probably write about Phuket forever and this post ended up mostly about Koh Yao Yai and Santhiya but it’s just such an awesome place that it needs to be given a good feature. I’ll post more on other parts in Phuket later, so stay tuned for those!
We’re also planning on making a video about our holidays in Phuket as there’s just so much we’d love to share. But in the mean time, please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the bell to get notified each time we upload a new video. Thanks for your support and if you love Thailand as much as we do, let us know in the comments below.
