Help selecting Thai islands
 

My husband and I are going to Thailand for 11 days over the holidays in a couple weeks. We have tentatively chalked out a couple days in Bangkok, 3 in Chiang Mai, and NYE on Ko Phan Ngan. I would like to spend the remaining time on one other island during the trip doing a jungle hike, kayaking, and boat tours of varied landscapes (cliffs, not just beach). I was thinking that spending a couple nights in Phuket would allow us to do daytrips to see Maya Bay and Phang Nga Bay. I don't know where else in the islands we'd be able to see large cliffs in water, and the pictures look amazing. But it might be too time consuming to travel from the Andaman side to the Gulf side for the NYE party. So, if there are other, less toursty options that wouldn't require Phuket (which I'm not thrilled about other than the accessibility to the cliffs), I would welcome suggestions.

Aside from where to enjoy cliffs/large rock formations and not just open water, I'd like suggestions as to which other island we could go to to rent a bungalow/hut on the ocean itself (do they have those? like in Bali?) or on the beach in a quiet, not touristy place but still accessible to kayaking, and jungle hiking. Does such a place exist? I can handle a fair amount of tourists, as I do realize it's peak season, but just don't want it to be overrun as we live in a major Asian city with 13 million neighbors and want some quiet relaxation at the end of our holiday.

I have read up on Ko Chang and it seems to be dwindling as a hideaway that we're looking for (though I get confused since no one seems to mention which of the 2 they are referring to), but maybe Ko Lipe? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help.

Krabi would be a great place for what you're looking for. Big cliffs, tons of islands nearby, kayaing, etc. I stayed in Ao Nang two weeks ago and I really liked it.

Koh Lipe has, from recent reports, been totally trashed. Piles of garbage, no water and no electricity. On top of that, it would take you the better part of a day (or possibly more) to get there from Samui.

Railay or Ao Nang in Krabi is probably the best fit to your requirements. Bangkok Airways has direct flights from Samui to Krabi airport, which is just 30 minutes or so from the beach areas. I tend to think the Railay area has the most dramatic scenery of just about anywhere. There are no over-water villas anywhere in Thailand that I can think of (for that matter, where in Bali have you seen these?)

I would suggest Koh Libong as a good fit for what you want, but getting there from Samui would be an issue.

I agree about Krabi. I spent several days at Ao Nang, and am looking forward to returning there sometime. I will also be holidaying in Thailand, leaving in less than two weeks. This is the third year in a row for doing this. It's a great time to be in Thailand.

Thanks for the suggestions. Railay seems like a good bet. But better than one of the Trang islands?

You're going over the Christmas holiday? I would think about trying to make reservations now (if you haven't already.) It's the single-most busy time in the islands and hotels book up there months ahead of time. If you're looking for super-budget/hostel-type accommodations you'll probably have more luck.

Here is a link to a site providing info on all the Thail islands which may help.

http://www.travelfish.org/islands.php
We stayed on a few islands in southern Thailand and enjoyed Koh Libong the most, a real "get away from it all" place with few visitors. It does take a bit of effort to get there - entries 18 & 19 on our blog provide some photos and more detail on how we got there.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...ai/1/tpod.html

We stayed at Libong Beach Resort in a bungalow right on the beach - nice aircon bungalow right on the beach and great food. We did stay one night at the Libong Nature Resort but didn't like it and moved on.