Quiet Beach in Southern Islands or Bali?
Sep 11th, 2006, 11:55 PM
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Quiet Beach in Southern Islands or Bali?
Hi there
This is my second trip to Thailand planned for Feb 2007! Thats how much my hubby and I loved it. Plus with the mileage we made on Thai Airways (best airline people) on their premium economy offer (upgrade 199 dollars each way) we made tons of miles we want to use before they expire. Upgrade to Royal Business Class one way by using miles and buying some points.
On to my question
We want a quiet boutique hotel (I HATE mass resorts on beaches). If we fly to Phuket that means we go to a place we love BUT that we have already seen. Phuket is lovely but sometimes crowded. We stayed in Mom TriVilla (I think someone recommended on this forum thank you we loved it). So thats fine Phuket...but we have seen it already
If we go to Krabi...is that good enough with 3 days in BKK? I mean Krabi looks gorgeous but is it getting too crowded like Phuket? Any recommendations on quiet beaches www.zeavola.com looks nice..but above our price range.
Bali...we can take a flight from BKK to Bali. But every resort there looks sooooo crowded and I dont like the black sand of the North Bali coast.
I want quiet calm water white sand...basically like Kata Beach hehe...But going somewhere new would be nice. Any suggestions.
Our price limit is $175-200 a day.
Thank you!!!
This is my second trip to Thailand planned for Feb 2007! Thats how much my hubby and I loved it. Plus with the mileage we made on Thai Airways (best airline people) on their premium economy offer (upgrade 199 dollars each way) we made tons of miles we want to use before they expire. Upgrade to Royal Business Class one way by using miles and buying some points.
On to my question
We want a quiet boutique hotel (I HATE mass resorts on beaches). If we fly to Phuket that means we go to a place we love BUT that we have already seen. Phuket is lovely but sometimes crowded. We stayed in Mom TriVilla (I think someone recommended on this forum thank you we loved it). So thats fine Phuket...but we have seen it already
If we go to Krabi...is that good enough with 3 days in BKK? I mean Krabi looks gorgeous but is it getting too crowded like Phuket? Any recommendations on quiet beaches www.zeavola.com looks nice..but above our price range.
Bali...we can take a flight from BKK to Bali. But every resort there looks sooooo crowded and I dont like the black sand of the North Bali coast.
I want quiet calm water white sand...basically like Kata Beach hehe...But going somewhere new would be nice. Any suggestions.
Our price limit is $175-200 a day.
Thank you!!!
Sep 13th, 2006, 11:10 PM
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Bali isn't known for it's white sand. In fact, every beach I've been to there has had sand that was really small pebbles and the color is varying shades of gray. I don't at all like the Kuta/Legian/Tuban/Jimbaren/Nusa Dua areas...too much action and they just feels kind of honky tonk to me. Others love those areas, but they are just not for me. Seminyak in the south is more tolerable for me...a bit less dense, a bit more upscale. Sanur is OK too, but I'm still not crazy about the beach there...very shallow, so low tide means no ocean swimming really. Sanur's beach has been "upgraded" with new sand and the boardwalk cleared of sellers though.
We all totally enjoyed the Ubud area, mainly due to our excellent experiences in taking part in lessons to learn batik, dancing, music, drawing/painting, cooking, wood carving...every day was a new day for us there, and every day was just excellent. But that was not a beach holiday at all.
Bali is absolutely a special place, though not so much for the beaches as for the inland culture and scenery and people. Hotels are many, ranging from $5.00/night to over $700.00/night.
As much as I love Bali, though, I really don't think I'd fly there from BKK for only a 3 day stay. Too much travel time involved in that for me, and 3 days in Bali would only serve to frustrate me for not being able to stay much, much longer.
If I were you, I'd choose either Bali or Thailand, but not both.
And if you choose Bali, know going in that it will be very different from Thailand...in my experience (4 times to Thailand, 2 times to Bali) the Balinese people are warmer, more open and more friendly than the Thai people. We have visited many friend's homes in Bali, met their families, just hung out and talked an afternoon away...that has not been our experience even once in Thailand. In Thailand, people are friendly, sure. But it tends to be all business. In Bali, it's also business, but not all business.
For example, when approached by a beach seller in Bali who wants me to buy sarongs, I tend to say no. Even so, the seller will always come back with "looking is free." I always say I don't carry money on the beach anyway, and I have plenty of sarongs and I will not buy any. Then, 9/10 times, the seller will sit down anyway and start to show the sarongs to me anyway. I again say I won't buy. Then they keep showing me, I know how it's going to go and so do they, so soon we are chatting about our families, where I'm from, what village the seller is from, how many kids, what fruit I like...chatting. This can go on for an hour or more. Then the seller will gather up the sarongs and ask me if he/she will see me tomorrow. I'll say yes if I'll be at the beach...and again that I won't buy sarongs. OK...see you tomorrow. And I do see them tomorrow. I don't buy any sarongs, but I do have a great chat, and we share some fruit. That's the difference. In Thailand, that sort of experience does not happen...or at least it hasn't to us.
Not to make Thailand sound as if we don't like it...I do like it, I love it. But it's a totally different kind of place. Bali is a place that gets under your skin and into your soul (if you get away from the resorts and the beaches and meet people and talk to them). Thailand is a more generic kind of tourist experience I suppose.
So, for a quiet place in Thailand that is great for beach, maybe Koh Yao, north of Phuket? There are some lovely places there. We also really did love the beach in Khao Lak, and felt good spending money there as it was so, so, so wiped out by the tsunami. Now there are lots of resorts open that were't open when we went in January, too. Or Koh Samui...there are beautiful flowers that bloom in February there, but I can't remember the name of them right now.
We all totally enjoyed the Ubud area, mainly due to our excellent experiences in taking part in lessons to learn batik, dancing, music, drawing/painting, cooking, wood carving...every day was a new day for us there, and every day was just excellent. But that was not a beach holiday at all.
Bali is absolutely a special place, though not so much for the beaches as for the inland culture and scenery and people. Hotels are many, ranging from $5.00/night to over $700.00/night.
As much as I love Bali, though, I really don't think I'd fly there from BKK for only a 3 day stay. Too much travel time involved in that for me, and 3 days in Bali would only serve to frustrate me for not being able to stay much, much longer.
If I were you, I'd choose either Bali or Thailand, but not both.
And if you choose Bali, know going in that it will be very different from Thailand...in my experience (4 times to Thailand, 2 times to Bali) the Balinese people are warmer, more open and more friendly than the Thai people. We have visited many friend's homes in Bali, met their families, just hung out and talked an afternoon away...that has not been our experience even once in Thailand. In Thailand, people are friendly, sure. But it tends to be all business. In Bali, it's also business, but not all business.
For example, when approached by a beach seller in Bali who wants me to buy sarongs, I tend to say no. Even so, the seller will always come back with "looking is free." I always say I don't carry money on the beach anyway, and I have plenty of sarongs and I will not buy any. Then, 9/10 times, the seller will sit down anyway and start to show the sarongs to me anyway. I again say I won't buy. Then they keep showing me, I know how it's going to go and so do they, so soon we are chatting about our families, where I'm from, what village the seller is from, how many kids, what fruit I like...chatting. This can go on for an hour or more. Then the seller will gather up the sarongs and ask me if he/she will see me tomorrow. I'll say yes if I'll be at the beach...and again that I won't buy sarongs. OK...see you tomorrow. And I do see them tomorrow. I don't buy any sarongs, but I do have a great chat, and we share some fruit. That's the difference. In Thailand, that sort of experience does not happen...or at least it hasn't to us.
Not to make Thailand sound as if we don't like it...I do like it, I love it. But it's a totally different kind of place. Bali is a place that gets under your skin and into your soul (if you get away from the resorts and the beaches and meet people and talk to them). Thailand is a more generic kind of tourist experience I suppose.
So, for a quiet place in Thailand that is great for beach, maybe Koh Yao, north of Phuket? There are some lovely places there. We also really did love the beach in Khao Lak, and felt good spending money there as it was so, so, so wiped out by the tsunami. Now there are lots of resorts open that were't open when we went in January, too. Or Koh Samui...there are beautiful flowers that bloom in February there, but I can't remember the name of them right now.
Sep 14th, 2006, 12:45 AM
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There are plenty of nice spots in the Andaman Sea around Phuket-PhangNga-Krabi-Trang. Consider Koh Lanta, Koh Ngai, Koh PhiPhi. There's no need to go to Bali just for a beach.
You could use Phuket as a hub and take the daily ferries to PP-Lanta-Krabi, all are great places.
You could use Phuket as a hub and take the daily ferries to PP-Lanta-Krabi, all are great places.
Sep 14th, 2006, 08:54 PM
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Thank you all for your responses. Bali does sound very lovely thank you KimJapan for your insights. I know how it feels to be passionate about a place and I know how it feels to write about it! Thanks. I will consider Bali for another trip. Its too short. I think we will go to Krabi/Ko Phi Phi
Thank you also Texasslim and maisymoo using Phuket as a hub is perfect.
Thank you also Texasslim and maisymoo using Phuket as a hub is perfect.
