The Best Thailand Islands in 2019 (…and the Worst Ones)

There’s definitely an ongoing debate about what the best Thailand islands are for solo travelers (and travelers in general!). Not going to lie, when I first went to the southern Thailand islands four years ago, they were a lot different than they are now in 2019!

For example, many of the Thailand islands tours have evolved to using speedboats that take more people. Certain islands are unaccessable because the crowds were ruining the environment. Some islands have skyrocketed in popularity thanks to their eco-friendly efforts, and some have plummeted from their lack thereof.

But the facts remain that Thailand, especially its islands, are among some of the most beautiful in the world! And that it’s an absolute must solo travel bucket list destination!

So if you’re looking for an exotic, fun, cultural and affordable travel destination, check out my list of the best Thailand islands for solo travelers in 2019!

Thailand Islands Quick Facts and Tips:

• Currency Conversion: The Thai baht is at its highest with a conversion rate of 1 Thai baht = $0.033 USD
• Best months to go to the Thailand Islands are November through March. April-July are said to be the hottest, and trust me, it gets extremely HOT! July-October are also considered monsoon season, so you might want to avoid that. However, I went in the middle of September and it was sunny (and not crowded) most of the time!
• The cheapest way to get around to each island is typically by ferry. On the islands, the cheapest way to get around is by motorbike. Taxis are ridiculously overpriced.
• Bring eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen and mosquito repellent
• DO NOT bring any plastic (and try to avoid using single use plastic)
• DO NOT engage in any animal shows or activities such as elephant riding, snake shows, dolphin encounters, etc.
  

Ok now on to my list of the best and worst Thailand Islands!

Best Thailand Islands: Koh Tao

This was my first time visiting Koh Tao and I have to say that I’m extremely impressed! For such a tiny island, there’s a surprisingly large amount of things to see and do! Both above AND below wate

It actually reminded me of a mini island version of Bali! Koh Tao makes my list of best Thailand islands not only for its gorgeous environment, incredible dive sites, and chill vibes, but also because of how eco-friendly the majority of its inhabitants are!

I had the opportunity to go diving four times while in Koh Tao with Big Blue Diving and it was pretty amazing! To be honest, it was my first time diving again after a year long hiatus following a panic attack I had under water in a cave . But the Big Blue Diving staff and dive masters coached me through my re-introduction to diving, and made sure I was Ok the entire time under water.

If you get anxiety diving, or want to learn how to dive but are afraid to, I would HIGHLY recommend going with Big Blue Diving! I’d also recommend them especially for solo travelers, if you want to meet other travelers/divers as well! Big Blue Diving Resort also provides accommodation for all budget ranges, from backpackers to “comfortable travelers” like myself.

You can stay right on the property then wake up and go diving each day! They also have a super chill beach front bar and restaurant for you to have a drink at, and indulge in some freshly caught seafood BBQ! Diving definitely takes up most of your time in Koh Tao, but if you have some free time, there’s A LOT of other awesome things.

Here’s a couple other cool things to do when you’re not driving:

• Shark Bay: We tried our luck at Shark Bay to try and see some black tip sharks but unfortunately didn’t have much luck. It was still worth it though for the views, fun rocks to climb, and warm water to swim in! To get there you just head south on the main road, and turn left where it says Q2 Restaurant. You’ll need to pay 50 baht (about $1.65) to rent a snorkel and mask, and 100 baht if you want to park your motorbike there. You’ll also need to give some sort of item-deposit like your motorbike or hotel room key, just make sure you don’t forget it! (We did and had to go all the way back for the hotel key).
• Freedom Beach: Freedom Beach is another great snorkeling area, and you can potentially see the black fin sharks and turtles here as well. The same pricing applies for the mask and snorkel, but they also charge 100 baht per person no matter what.
• Abandoned Hotel Lookout: We unfortunately didn’t have enough time to make it to the abandoned hotel hike, but it was high on my list! It apparently has an extremely steep and bumpy road to get up to it though. We were advised to ride the motorbike up as far as we can then walk the rest of the way up.

• Koh Nang Yuan Viewpoint: So I didn’t get to see the Koh Nang Yuan viewpoint from above, but I did dive near this little island right off the shores of Koh Tao! If you have enough time I’d suggest taking a water taxi there early (the earliest they told me they run is 9am…) to hike before it’s too hot, crowded, and the mosquitos come out!

Thailand Island to Skip: Koh Samui

Admittedly, I’m pretty bummed that Koh Samui didn’t live up to the expectations I had for it! I’ve always heard people say Koh Samui is beautiful and even luxurious, but that’s now what I saw.

It may have been the irrationally expensive taxis, or perhaps the mind boggling still-existence of inhumane animal tourism but… No wait, those are definitely two reasons why I would say Koh Samui is a Thailand island to skip.

It really bothered me to see elephant riding with hook usage still happening. And I literally stopped, gasped, and made a huge scene; loudly announcing on my Instagram Stories that I was shocked that Koh Samui hasn’t evolved to no-riding yet. I saw several ads for elephant riding, in addition to snake shows, and even buffalo fighting.

But I still made it a point to try to do the things other people have said are nice to do there. I booked an island hopping tour to Koh Taen and Koh Mundum (AKA Pig Island) but wasn’t incredibly impressed with those either.

Here’s my thoughts on the small Thailand Islands off of Koh Tao:

• Koh Taen: You stop off the shore of Koh Taen first to snorkel. Where we stopped wasn’t the best reef and there weren’t many fish. The visibility was also pretty bad BUT to be fair, I’m an extremely experienced diver, and it had been raining before I arrived, so maybe that’s why. After Koh Mudsum you come back to Koh Taen for lunch, but there’s only a small stretch of sand with a malfunctioning swing.

• Koh Mundsun: This tiny island was definitely prettier than Koh Taen with an added attraction: Wild beach boars! It’s uninhabited, with only a small beach snack bar whose owner apparently owns the pigs, and gets mad at the boat companies for bringing veggies to feed them because he wants people to buy his potato chips to feed them instead… Anyway. There’s a picturesque sandbar that juts out into the water that nearly everyone crowds on for photos. if you walk a little farther past it though, you’ll have a nice stretch of white sand and shallow water all to yourself.

Best Thailand Islands: Koh Phi Phi & Surrounding Islands

Despite the fact that they are way overcrowded these days, I can’t deny that a boat trip to the Phi Phi Islands should be on your bucketlist.

They’re the iconic islands that jut straight out of the water towards the sky, which look similar to those in Ha Long bay (Vietname) and El Nido (Philippines). You can get to them from two major areas: Phuket, and Ao nang/Krabi. The tours are different from each place though and I’ll explain how.

Ao Nang to Phi Phi Island:

I’d recommend this way of getting to Phi Phi Islands way over the tours from Phuket. The islands they take you to are just so much more unique.

You’ll get to see the famous James Bond Island, two islands connected by a sandbar, and the popular Railay Beach. When i went five or so years ago, most of the tours were by longtail boat, which is what I suggest taking. Those are the photo-worthy boats, as opposed to the newer speedboats.

Phuket to Phi Phi Islands

There’s a couple different options for the Phuket to Phi Phi Island tours. Basically you just need to pick if you want to go to Bamboo island or Kai Islands in addition, or both.

I chose Phi Phi Islands plus Bamboo islands by speedboat (there wasn’t longtail boat options) thinking there would be some cool bamboo forest on the island but there wasn’t. We also didn’t get to see the parts of Phi Phi that I remember loving from five years ago, which I realized a few reasons why later.

Phi Phi Islands are farther away from Phuket (an hour ride each way) than they are for Ao Nang, so you don’t get to go to the same areas. I’d say the best places are James Bond island and Railay Beach, which you only go to from Ao Nang. The parts of Phi Phi Islands you go to from Phuket aren’t as impressive.

Bamboo Island was just a flat island with a long stretch of beach for everyone to hang out at for an hour. It seems to have just endured a bad storm because there were massive upturned trees everywhere, and a storm-shattered house.

We stopped to snorkel off the coast of Phi Phi Don which was actually surprisingly nice. The visibility was great and there was a lot of coral and fish. After that we stopped for lunch at Phi Phi Leh which was incredibly disappointing.

It was just a small area with three big outdoor seating areas for the buffet lunch that overlooks a beach…which you can’t really enjoy because it’s constantly occupied by the speedboats hoarding its passengers on and off like an extremely organized cattle wrangle.

After lunch we didn’t have any more stops where you get off the boat. We stopped about a mile away from Maya Beach — which is famous because it’s where the Leonardo DiCaprio Movie, “The Beach” was filmed. Now no one is allowed to go to it because of course after the movie, the massive influx of tourists and boat tours wanting to profit from the popularity completely trashed and destroyed the beach and all of the coral/wildlife in the water.

We also stopped at a little nook called Monkey Beach to see a family of monkeys that live on the cliffs. They were cute. And the area around them was beautiful. But you can’t get off the boat to enjoy it. Which is probably better for the environment anyway.

Then we stopped by the Viking cave which was also underwhelming. It’s basically just a cave on the side of the island with tons of bamboo poles and ladders in it that people use to collect bird nests. The bird nests are then turned into “Bird Nest Soup” which is apparently a Thai delicacy…served in most Seven Eleven’s.

Thailand Island to Skip: Phuket

I purposely have avoided going to Phuket ever since I heard about it. Since I have no interest in full moon parties, partying in general, or backpacking, it’s just not a destination that has ever appealed to me.

But, in order for me to get to a wonderful eco-resort north of Phuket, I had to go there, so tried to make the best of it by doing that Phi Phi Islands tour. Although I (purposely) didn’t spend much time in Phuket or it’s infamous party beaches, I saw enough to confirm my dislike for it.

Every where you look is ads for Full Moon Parties, not to mention, elephant riding and Tiger Temple, Phuket edition. While looking for hotels and a place to get my hair done, I also realized that the most popular beach area in Phuket was wildly over priced. It makes sense of course because it’s such a touristy destination, but in my opinion, there are WAY better Thailand Islands worth that money, who charge half as much.

Best Thailand Beach Towns: Khaolak

If you want to experience an area of southern Thailand that’s still relatively un-infiltrated by tourists, head to Khaolak! I’d never even heard of it before I was invited to an eco-friendly jungle resort called the Khaolak Merlin Resort, but I was extremely impressed with the experience.

It was exactly what I needed after diving in Koh Tao, and the chaos of Koh Samui and Phuket. The entire area is mostly jungle, and the resort is built right in it. It’s also on the beach, giving you the best of both worlds; the jungle and the sea!

As a huge nature lover, I really enjoyed the hundreds of plant and flower species that grow all in and around the massive property. What I enjoyed even more though was the freaking 5+ pools all over the resort, including ones with waterfalls, and some with private room access only!

My room had its own private access to the main pool which I thought was awesome. I could literally step off my patio into the pool, and swim under the waterfall next to it or the swim up bar! It was also steps away from the Andaman Sea beach, and another one of my favorite features, the kids’ (or fun-adult’s) waterslide!

I was also really impressed with the meals at the Merlin Khaolak, and the wide variety of foods they had to offer. Some favorites were the fresh seafood and traditional Thai dishes, but we definitely had Hawaiian pizza (minus the ham) a couple times!

The town near the Merlin Khoalak is small, but has everything you could possibly want in a Thailand beach town. There’s several massage places with cheap prices (a back and foot massage was about 600 baht), a good pharmacy (I got really sick), a convenience shop with lots of food and alcohol options, clothing/souvenir shops, and cheap restaurants and bars.

There’s for some reason also a couple of tailor-made suit shops…I’m not really sure who would need a suit in Thailand, but it was slightly annoying that the men kept approaching my (tattooed, yogi) boyfriend for a sale.

Other than that, my experience in Khaolak and the Merlin were very peaceful and refreshing!

Best Thailand Beach Towns: Ao Nang

I know I already mentioned Ao Nang being the best place to go for the Phi Phi Island tours, but it’s also one of my favorite Thailand beach towns!

To get there you would fly into Krabi then take a tuk tuk or taxi down to Ao nang. When I first went (also my second ever solo travel mission) an expat blogger told me to just jump on one of the local tuk-tuk-trucks with like ten other people for about 5 cents, and ride it until we got to the beach. So I did! And it was awesome!

Ao Nang has a lot of hotel options for any budget, and you can get a really nice place for just a little money! The main drag across from the beach has tons of hotels, shops, and restaurants, as well as little kiosks to book your island hopping tour.

The beach at Ao Nang is also quite nice in some spots (others are a bit murky from the boats). I remember it being one of the most beautiful sunsets that I’ve ever seen!

Other Best Thailand Islands According to Readers:

There’s so many Thailand islands, so of course I haven’t been to all of them! But I got a pretty good insight into which ones were people’s favorites when I asked in an Instagram post!

The top recommended Thailand Islands according to readers (that I haven’t been to or listed) are:

• Koh Lanta
• Koh Lipe
• Koh Yao Noi

Disclaimer: Parts of this post are sponsored by Big Blue Diving and Khaolak Merlin Resort, however all writing and opinions are my own!