if i go to only one island in south thailand, which should it be and when should i go?

Phuket - in February.

Late February is beautiful - but also considered outside of high season. So, you catch the best of the weather - but lower prices and fewer tourists.

Phuket Delight at:

http://phuketdelight.com/

is a good place to start. Pick a beach away from the touris zones of Patong, Kata, Karon - consider NaiThon Beach, Nai Yang, even Mai Khao. Diving is great in the area with the world class Similan Islands near by. In the area: Phi Phi, Krabi, Khao Lak, Koh Lanta, Khao Sok National Park, etc etc. Perfect if you want to just hang out on the beach (may way of doing it!) or if you want to stay VERY busy.

Give us some idea of what you are interested in. Do you want to dive or snorkel? Do you want to swim, but in a pool? What kinds of accommodations are you looking for - a basic thatched bungalow on the beach or a luxury resort or something in between? Do you want the area to be busy with lots of options for places to eat, or do you want it quiet and a satisfied staying at your hotel to eat? Do you want to avoid islands with malarial risk?

A resort on Koh Lon which is only a few minutes by speed boat to Phuket might be a good choice. Close to the action but peaceful surrounds. I prefer the monsoon season May - Nov as it is not to hot and not to busy.
Good luck!!

What time of year will you be going?

What time of year and whether you want a very quiet place or very budy, something in between perhaps, and how you want to spend your time, there are plenty of islands and beaches and many differ a great deal in what they have to offer, and cost of accommodation and other costs of getting there and prices can vary for things once there. The more detail you can give us the easier to make suggestions.

I love Phuket !!! You have everything in there

Pick either Phuket or Koh Samui depending on the time of year.

sorry for lack of detail..i was thinking of going in july looking for something not too touristy..i heard the gulf islands are not too bad during the monsoon season

If you are going in July, then you do want the gulf islands. It's not the monsoon there when it is the monsoon on the Phuket side. Koh Chang is less touristed than Koh Samui, but then it's also malarial risk.

Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao are islands near Ko Samui. KPG is about 30-40 mins by boat, Ko Tao 1.5 to 2 hrs by boat from Samui. They should have good weather when you are looking at going and do not have the anti-malarial issues that Ko Chang has.

Neither are as developed as Samui - this means that the nature and beaches are well preserved for the most part but also that there are not very many luxury hotels.

The most beautiful beach on Ko Pha Ngan imo is Thong Nai Pan. There are two bays - Noi and Yai. Panviman Resort is a more upmarket resort on a headland in between the two. Baan Panburi has lovely air con beachfront bures (huts) on Thong Nai Pan Noi - but no swimming pool if that is important. A less 'attractive' resort but one which has air con bungalows and a small swimming pool for a v reasonable price is Thong Nai Pan Resort which is on Thong Nai Pan Noi (think 1200B per night). Another more 'upmarket' resort on this beach is Santhiya, but this is only just opening and there are no reports on what it is like yet. Looks very beautiful though. All of these resorts can be booked through the sawadee/r24 group of websites. Just a warning - to get to the beach you will either need to get a longtail boat around from the pier at Thong Sala (the other side of the island) or it is a 40 min journey through the jungle-like interior in a songthaew (pick up truck) on quite a bumpy track. But worth it once you get there - it is paradise. The difficulties getting there are, I think, also keeping it looking so wondeful. If you are staying at the Panviman or Santhiya, you can get a speedboat directly from Samui to the beach. There are reviews of these places on the sawadee website and also on Tripadvisor.

Ko Tao resorts are very focused on diving but you don't have to be a diver to stay there. The snorkelling is great, the beaches quiet in the day due to the number of divers who will go off on boats away from the island and the nighttimes relaxed and chilled out. There is some nightlife - particularly on sairee beach - but you can take it or leave it. Again, no deluxe resorts but places to look at are Sensi Paradise Resort, Jamahkhiri, Thipwimarm, Ko Tao Resort.

Hope this helps,
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