A TRAVZ STARTING POINT
The quiet Andaman
A considered 9-day shape for Thailand, ready to be adapted around your dates, pace and people.
THE IDEA
A route with room
for your story.
Thailand's Andaman coast has a reputation problem that is roughly fifteen years out of date in some places and entirely deserved in others. The difference between a beach that is ruined and one that is not is often twenty kilometres, and knowing which twenty.
This itinerary avoids Patong and Phi Phi entirely. It uses Khao Lak in the north, which has the same water and a fraction of the development, and then moves to Koh Yao Noi in Phang Nga bay — an island with no nightlife, one road worth the name, and views of the karsts that people fly to Phi Phi to see from a crowded boat.
The middle of the trip is a two-night liveaboard through the bay, which is the only way to be among those limestone islands early enough and late enough to have them to yourself.
Best between November and March. Outside that window the Andaman gets genuinely rough and we would move you to the gulf coast instead, which is a different trip and we will say so rather than sell you this one in the wrong month.
DAY BY DAY
The shape of
the journey.
Every day has intention, with enough breathing room to follow a recommendation or change your mind.
- 0101
Arrive Khao Lak
Fly into Phuket and transfer north, about an hour and a quarter. The rest of the day is the beach, which will be almost empty.
- 0202
Nothing, deliberately
A full day with no plan. The beach here runs for kilometres and you can walk most of it without meeting anyone.
- 0303
The Similans
A day boat to the Similan islands for snorkelling or diving. Early start, worth it. National park closed mid-May to mid-October, which is part of why the season matters.
- 0404—05
Into the bay
Board a small liveaboard in Phang Nga bay. Two nights aboard, kayaking into the hongs — the collapsed cave systems inside the karsts — at the times of day the day-trip boats cannot reach them.
- 0506
Koh Yao Noi
Disembark at the island and check in. A cycle around the eastern shore in the afternoon if it is not too hot, which it probably is.
- 0607
Longtail day
A private longtail to the sandbanks between the islands, which appear and disappear with the tide. Lunch on the boat.
- 0708
Last one
Open. Most people swim, read and do not leave the property.
- 0809
Home
Ferry and transfer to Phuket airport.
A SENSE OF PLACE
The look
of it.
THE PRACTICAL PART
What's in.
What isn't.
INCLUDED
- Three nights Khao Lak, two nights aboard, three nights Koh Yao Noi
- All transfers including ferries and the Phuket airport legs
- Daily breakfast; full board for the two liveaboard nights
- Similan islands day boat with snorkelling equipment
- Kayaking in the hongs with a guide
- Private longtail day from Koh Yao Noi
NOT INCLUDED
- International flights into Phuket
- Thailand visa where your nationality requires one
- Meals ashore other than breakfast
- Diving certification and equipment hire if you dive rather than snorkel
- Travel insurance
THE NEXT CHAPTER IS YOURS
Keep the route.
Change everything else.
Your dates, your people, your pace — one thoughtful brief is enough to begin.
Personalise this trip