Honeymoon in Thailand - Pt 1

Hire a long-tail boat. We took a trip out to "Chicken Island" by chartering one of the boats from the beach at Ao Nang.

Go on a "cooking tour" - we were lucky with this one as it was low season but we saw a lot more than we expected to!

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

We visited the Thai Village in Ao Nang right at the beginning of May, which is the start of the low season. This enabled us to get 6 nights for the price of 4 by pre-booking. We had flown down from Bangkok and had arranged a transfer from Krabi airport before we left home.

Being low season, the hotel was very quiet when we were there, but none the worse for that. The rooms are beautifully appointed, with hardwood units and tastefully furnished. They also have air conditioning, cable TV and well equipped bathrooms, and a verandah overlooking the pools.

The rooms are in two or three storey buildings arranged around the central swimming pools which are gorgeous (see pictures).

The staff are extremely friendly and helpful as well as dealing with enquiries quickly and efficiently.

I think the only potential downside is that it is a ten minute or so walk to Ao Nang beach - though you have access to another beach (Hat Nopharat?) about ten minutes in the other direction too. The pool area is so nice though, that you might not want to go to the beach.

We ate in the hotel restaurant just one evening. It was perfectly adequate, but we found the food in the many restaurants of Ao Nang to be more interesting and better priced. Breakfasts in the hotel were extensive and generous.

Thai Village can arrange trips and services in the hotel. We had some massages by the pool one day which were hard but good, and we went on the "cook school" day in the hotel, which was excellent - see additional entry on this.

There are a range of bungalows available to suit your preference and pocket at Sand Sea Railey Beach.

We booked ours through who were extremely helpful and attentive throughout the booking process.

We booked the top "deluxe" air conditioned room and it was ideal. It was well situated at the front of the resort facing out onto "sunset beach" - definitely the best location within Railey Beach (other than the exorbitantly expensive Rayavadee, which fronts onto Phra Nang beach).

The room itself was quite basic but comfortable and spacious. The bed was comfy and the bathroom (while perhaps not "deluxe" as claimed) was fine; clean and with a decent shower. It certainly seemed to be a good step up from some of the other accomodations at Railey Beach which (although doubtless dirt cheap) appeared extremely basic to say the least.

The Sand Sea complex has a lobby in the main building where newspapers (in English and Thai) are provided should you wish to catch up on world affairs. There isn't a restaurant as such within Sand Sea but there are several places to eat just next to it, and bars as well which are good and lively at night. Sand Sea does provide you with breakfast with the usual options of fruits, omelettes, pancakes and juices. Like everywhere in this part of Thailand (it seemed to us at least), the staff are all really helpful and very friendly.