Boracay (Philippines) or Ko Nangyuan / Ko Samui (Thailand) for our honeymoon.
We have 10 days for our trip in April.
We want beautiful beaches, not so many people, luxury for part of our stay and backpacking for the other half of our stay.
We heard that Ko Nangyuan is beautiful, but not worth staying over night.
We heard that Boracay is too touristy. This is not and will not be a diving trip
Which destination offers the best?
Neither of us have traveled to either of these places before.
[quote=“Quarters”]We are stuck between two choices.
Borocay (Philippines) or Ko Nangyuan / Ko Samui (Thailand) for our honeymoon.
We have 10 days for our trip in April.
We want beautiful beaches, not so many people, luxury for part of our stay and backpacking for the other half of our stay.
We heard that Ko Nangyuan is beautiful, but not worth staying over night.
We heard that Borocay is too touristy. This is not and will not be a diving trip
Which destination offers the best?
Neither of us have traveled to either of these places before.
Do you have other ideas?[/quote]
I was in Boracay over CNY, and I had a great time. I’m definitely going back there again next CNY, but I’ll stay at Diniwid beach, rather than the uber-famous White Beach.
Nangyuan is indeed beautiful, but there’s not a whole lot to do if you want to stay above the water – nothing, in fact. Koh Tao would be a better bet, but even that’s very diving-centric.
How about Koh Phanang (between Koh Tao and Samui). Its notorious for its drug-fueled full moon parties, half-moon parties, no moon parties, but they only take place on one tiny part of the island and there’s still lots of very quiet and beautiful places there. I’d investigate that. Samui would also be good for non-divers, but its a bit more developed. Again, though, there are still lots of quiet places.
Boracay I’ve never been to. I’ve heard its kind of touristy though.
I don’t know anything about the Philippines, but all those places Sandman mentioned are beautiful and interesting. I’ve been to them all many times, but that was a while ago. I went back to Ko Samui probably 5 years ago. It was a lot more developed than I remembered it, but I still enjoyed myself a lot. It is easy to hire a vehicle and drive around. It is big enough to do a little exploring, which I think makes it more interesting than the other islands. But if I had to holiday in Thailand, I wouldn’t have a beach holiday, I’d take the drive up around Pai.
think i might go to khao lak this time around. not sure between there and koh tao. like driving around so maybe i’ll stick on the mainland, koh nangyuan is tempting though
Going to take a quick trek up to Ayutthaya for a couple days…ride some elephants, see some old sites and then head on over by sleeper train to Surat Thani, catch a boat to Ko Samui, stay in Ko Samui at a nice place for a night or two…do some kayaking, and then head over to Ko Nangyuan for some first class R & R.
Going to take a quick trek up to Ayutthaya for a couple days…ride some elephants, see some old sites and then head on over by sleeper train to Surat Thani, catch a boat to Ko Samui, stay in Ko Samui at a nice place for a night or two…do some kayaking, and then head over to Ko Nangyuan for some first class R & R. [/quote]
If you go to Chiang Rai or Pattaya, you gotta stay at this chain of fine resorts
[quote=“Chewycorns”][quote=“Quarters”]Thanks for all the info folks.
We made our decission:
Thailand it is.
Going to take a quick trek up to Ayutthaya for a couple days…ride some elephants, see some old sites and then head on over by sleeper train to Surat Thani, catch a boat to Ko Samui, stay in Ko Samui at a nice place for a night or two…do some kayaking, and then head over to Ko Nangyuan for some first class R & R. [/quote]
[color=red]If you go to Chiang Rai or Pattaya, you gotta stay at this chain of fine resorts
[quote=“Quarters”][quote=“Chewycorns”][quote=“Quarters”]Thanks for all the info folks.
We made our decission:
Thailand it is.
Going to take a quick trek up to Ayutthaya for a couple days…ride some elephants, see some old sites and then head on over by sleeper train to Surat Thani, catch a boat to Ko Samui, stay in Ko Samui at a nice place for a night or two…do some kayaking, and then head over to Ko Nangyuan for some first class R & R. [/quote]
[color=red]If you go to Chiang Rai or Pattaya, you gotta stay at this chain of fine resorts
You actually waste your time researching this just to make a crappy very old joke? :loco:
some people need to really get a life.[/quote]
No. I’ve stayed there on a few occasions (both of them) and found the Little Duck chain to be very comfortable. Very soft down pillows and the overall bill was quite reasonable. Highly recommended. By the way, make sure you pack some warm clothing for the sleeper train. They air condition those trains to hell. The first time I took the train from Bangkok to Surathani, I wore a short sleeve t-shirt and shorts and literally froze my ass off. I’ve flown all the other times. A waste of 20 hours if you take the train both ways (not to mention the 2 hour ferry ride each way.
Plus, Huang Guang Chen’s Thai s/o was mentioning a scare about bedbugs on the sleeper train to Surat Thani. Honestly. And yes, it is bloody freezing on the train.
There is this tiny little adjunct island right next to Koh Tao. I’d highly recommend a night or two there. For a more romantic spot, you’d have to go to the Maldives.
Ooops, upon further research, I see you’ve already found it. So my vote is for Nangyuan.
Have a blast Q. I did Tao for my honeymoon and it was fantabulous.
[quote=“Chewycorns”][quote=“Quarters”][quote=“Chewycorns”][quote=“Quarters”]Thanks for all the info folks.
We made our decission:
Thailand it is.
Going to take a quick trek up to Ayutthaya for a couple days…ride some elephants, see some old sites and then head on over by sleeper train to Surat Thani, catch a boat to Ko Samui, stay in Ko Samui at a nice place for a night or two…do some kayaking, and then head over to Ko Nangyuan for some first class R & R. [/quote]
[color=red]If you go to Chiang Rai or Pattaya, you gotta stay at this chain of fine resorts
You actually waste your time researching this just to make a crappy very old joke? :loco:
some people need to really get a life.[/quote]
No. I’ve stayed there on a few occasions (both of them) and found the Little Duck chain to be very comfortable. Very soft down pillows and the overall bill was quite reasonable. Highly recommended. By the way, make sure you pack some warm clothing for the sleeper train. They air condition those trains to hell. The first time I took the train from Bangkok to Surathani, I wore a short sleeve t-shirt and shorts and literally froze my ass off. I’ve flown all the other times. A waste of 20 hours if you take the train both ways (not to mention the 2 hour ferry ride each way.[/quote]
Sorry, the duck jokes just have gotten way too old and annoying…so naturally I thought you were indeed making a quirk…seems quit a bit of a coincidence, dont you think?
Anyways, all that aside, thanks for the tips. We thought about flying but its pricey a bit to do so and we can save a lot by train. My wife did it alone before (taking the sleeper train) she said there were no bugs, a bit chilly, but it was fine.
The bugs are a new thing. No bugs when I went in November, but the lady complaining about it is a Thai tour guide, so I kind of trust her judgment on it. Be careful. Take deet and cover yourselves in the stuff.
If I were you, I’d “duck out” of taking the train. Flying to Samui directly can be expensive (because Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on flights there or did the last time I checked). However, you can get really cheap flights from Bangkok to Surathani on Thai airways. You should look into this. It will save you almost a day and the bother of having to rub cream on your bed-bug bites.
[/quote]