Koh Chang
Koh Chang, one of my favourite islands in Thailand, you just can't really beat it. For me it's the people that really make it. I spent so long here I really became part of the island, most people knew me because I made so many connections and friends. For my first week I was hanging out with just the Thai people who lived there. On top of that it really is just a beautiful island and it has so much to offer with many waterfalls, a large jungle, mangrove forest, white sand beaches and pebble beaches. My dad also lived here when I was super young for a couple years so I finally met old family friends and had some good tips for the island.
Activites
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Lonely Beach - Lonely Beach is probably one of the main beaches same as Kai Bae. It has a few nice beach bars and is one of my favourite beaches to watch sunset at. I usually would park up at Nature Beach Resort and walk down the beach
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Fire Show - They are basically every night on White Sands Beach (the tourist place) and also on Lonely Beach at Mimos and octagonally at Rude Boy Bar
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Kai Bae Waterfall - This is my Favourite waterfall but unfortunately it does dry up dry season Its my favourite Because you go through a small trek in the jungle taking only 5-10mins then you come to this beautiful waterfall. There's usually few people here one time we had the whole thing to ourselves! I even saw a beautiful snake and saw some snake skins from ones that seemed bigger (I personally love snakes but know you do have to be wary of some as Koh Chang does have a large jungle area I'm pretty sure you an get some dangerous snakes so just don't piss them off)
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Mangrove Forest - This was planted to help the environment and make a home for the wildlife they later built the bridge walk way through it to make it accessible.
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Kayaking and Paddle boarding - You can rent kayaks and paddle boards from many places around the island I saw it mostly on lonely beach
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Kai Bae Viewpoint - A lovely viewpoint just past Kai Bae town on the way to Lonely Beach, Its free and also has a little cafe its a really nice chill spot to have a coffee and write in your journal or have a catch up with a friend
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Khlong Phlu Waterfall - This is a larger Waterfall than Kai Bae and attracts way more tourists but is still really nice to see just make sure you go when it first opens if you want to try and avoid the crowds
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Jungle Trek - one of the amazing things bout this island is that 70% is untouched rainforest, its hard for any illegal logging to happen as they would have to get it off the island so its been preserved pretty well.
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Koh Ngam Beach - this is a little island located by the far SouthEast of the island. Unfortunately I never made it to this beautiful beach so I'm not entirely sure how to get there but as its not joined to Koh Chang I'm sure you have to kayak or get there on a day tour
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Abandoned Ghost Ship Hotel - Located in the south of the island this is a giant abandoned cruise ship hotel, extremely creepy and also something I only found out about after I left but looks amazing if your into abandoned places some rooms are untouched!
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TreeTop Adventure - I think this s more of a kids thing. It wasn't open when I was there but I knew someone who was volunteering helping restore it, as through covid it wasn't maintained and was slowly destroyed. He told me it used to be much bigger but at the minute they was restoring the smaller ones.
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BB Gym - a small gym located in Lonely beach town area but has everything you need
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Klong Kloi Beach - A beach located in the south of the island just past Rasta view its large with many places to eat and drink and also stay
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Wai Check beach - This is a beach in the south of the island you have to follow an old beaten dirt road down to it and you'll have the whole thing to yourself almost, other than the boat trips that come but they don't stay for long. Theres a time stall on the beach ran by a couple that sells cold drinks and a few snacks, I don't know if they are there everyday so make sure you take some with you.
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Long beach - located on the SouthEast side of the island this is a beautiful beach unfortunately plagued with rubbish there's a restaurant there and its run by some wonderful people who have really felt the effects of covid because they are on the non-touristy side on the island
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Salak Khok Fishing Village - Located on the SouthEast side of the island close to the mangrove forest I have a friend who lives here and it's probably one one the most Thai authentic places on the island.
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Klong Proa Beach - This is one of my favourite beaches on the island mainly because it's so quiet its a massive beach so you can easily find a place to yourself even if there is someone else there. The only thing is because its quiet it is very susceptible to those bastard sand flies.
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Rasta View Vintage Store - Loads of cool stuff here and it's run by my 2 very good friends so make sure you check it out!
Food & Drink
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Cafe Del Sunshine - This is one of my favourite places to eat, the food is amazing, the music is good and the people are really some of the best on the island. It also has one of the few pool tables I found so that's a bonus.
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J&K Restaurant - This was probably my second favourite, the fried banana fritters here take top place and the food is delicious and cheap! there's one woman in the kitchen who cooks the food and the other takes orders and helps when she can from my observation so be patient its definitely worth the wait
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Magic Garden - Its one of those places you expect to be super expensive and it is a little more pricey than the rest but its not too bad and Is easily affordable even on a budget
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Rude Boy Bar - Looking like a ship this little bar is lovely for a late night catch up and drink. They also have fire shows but I'm not sure when or how often
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X Bar - A late night bar down the Lonely Beach town bar strip. It does amazing shroom shakes that will knock you out and is a great vibe, honestly. Personally I think X is the best DJ on the island and always bangs out the good techno (and I'm not a big techno lover, even tho I have got more into it recently)
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Beautiful Bar - Located in the LB Complex on the rocky front of the sea its another bar good for shroom shakes a little more chill with and one of the best bars to watch sunset from
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Tofu Garden - On the road behind Kai Bae a good little tofu food place good for veggies and vegans
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Nid's Reggae Bar & Kitchen - I always drove past but never got the chance to actually go so I can't say what its like. I am always very drawn to the reggae bars you would always find me at one, I was always at Shanti Shanti next to sunshine cafe but unfortunately it was closed down when I went back for the 3rd time.
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Morgans Sports Bar - Now I found out about this place when decided to throw myself off a motorbike in a rainstorm, this Irish guy stopped and helped me because I was in a little shock, got me back on my bike and told me to follow him here. They cleaned me up went to the pharmacy for me and told me there's no need to waste money at the hospital, they fed me and helped me. The dinner is amazing here but the English breakfast and baguette's there's nothing else that tastes like home
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Mimo Beach - a lovely place on Lonely beach to watch the sunset (funny because the guy who runs t is called sun) even a nice place to chill in the day. They don't do food but the place next door does and its amazing!
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Mimo Tree - Theres 3 Mimo bars and this is the last one to open and unfortunately I wasn't there. I can say I've seen it on many of my friends stories who live there and it looks nice, I know Mimio beach is good so this has got to be good too
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The CoCo Restaurant - Also in the LB Complex this is a restaurant a little more expensive but the food is really good. I was lucky because my dad came to visit me and we had a little reunion with his friends that still lived there so I didn't have to pay and because they had eaten there before they knew all the best foods to order. We ate Thai style with much selection and amazing food
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PorPar - Was a cheap restaurant on the same street on the seafront n the LB Complex. When I went back the process had gone up and I don't think it was worth it as much but maybe check it out prices change
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Ting Tong Bar - Late night and opposite the X Bar this is Half club and half building site, its a little weird but the owner just didn't have the money or couldn't be bothered to finish it another bar that plays techno
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Himmel Bar - The only late night bar that plays all the commercial music with the shittiest asian music drops, request songs and you'll get told to fuck off by the rudest DJs on the Island. Do not recommend but that's just my personal preference, this type of place is wayyyy to mainstream for my liking
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Reggae Hill - On the way to Bang Boa from Bailan at the top of a hill on its own. speaking to one of the guys who owns it, they are building luxury tree houses there and have a private trail and a private pebble beach bay. The bar itself is really cute, pretty good Mary Jane and a really nice vibe with some of the cutest most friendly dogs
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Rasta View - Has to be my 3rd favourite some of the people that work here are now like family to me. Good for a smoke, for some food, for a drink or even just to sit and look at the beautiful view. Also has a vintage store that's recently was expanded, used to be on the top floor but is on the ground floor and is run by 2 of my good friends. I bought a shirt here and some hand panted jeans that are so cool.
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Casamia Restaurant & Pizzeria - I was getting a tattoo with my dad by my adopted Thai dad and he recommended this place so we drove and picked up some up for take away. It's delicious and there's lots to chose from
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View Talay Cafe - A really nice cafe on Bang Bao Pier One of the only places I found reasonable prices or coffee with caramel syrup (one of my guilty pleasures) Also as its located on the pier it has a beautiful view out to sea
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The Dirt - This is between the LB complex and the Lonely Beach bar it plays live music almost overnight and few of my very good friends play.
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Moleys Bar - Good for a nice pie and a drink on the river bank
Stay
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Sunshine Cafe - My favourite cafe has a hostel as well and its in lonely beach which is a great place to be. However, it does have the late night bars down the same street so it is very loud and noisy. You can definitely save money by staying in hostels but I just think its worth paying that little bit more for your own private bungalow.
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Oasis Hotel - This is probably the best you are going to get for your money this is a really nice hotel with rooms for just 600baht a night
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Jungle Bungalow - I stayed here with my mum the 3rd time I went back. These are basic bungalows but has the necessary things you need and a nice little front porch for you to chill on.
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Magic Garden - A little more expensive, I didn't ever stay here but my friends did and it was lush so if you have the money or plan on treating yourself I'd defo recommend staying here.
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Mimo Guest House - Located in the LB Complex gives you your basic needs and is pretty nice. Most of the bars in this area don't stay open too late and you are still in the Lonely Beach area so its a good place to be.
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Cliff Cottage - This is ran by the person who runs BB Divers its a little more luxury than the others that I have suggested but is gorgeous, I haven't seen the rooms but the downstairs area is really nice to chill at, I saw this when doing the first day of my Open Water
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Rasta View - They have a range of bungalows here and again they are basic but give you what you need (normal SEA bungalows) or they have some nicer ones
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Beach Box - I always thought about staying here but never had the chance to it seems like its a reasonable price and an interesting place to stay and I never saw it but I'm pretty sure its close to the beach but is located in the south of the island (honestly I really like it here anyway and as long as you have transport its not. that bad wherever you stay especially if you don't plan on partying late.
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Freedom beach - Now, when I was saying basic necessities I don't think I really thought about what was saying. I didn't stay here but my friend Flow did. I'm pretty sure he had a window with no glass for reference. He did also see a lot of cool wildlife cool bugs, snakes and tokay geckos.
Transport
There is not much transport on the island honestly you'll find this with most islands so its good if you can drive and especially for this island because the roads are very windy at points and also really hilly. I had driven like once before driving here and even I fell off I'm a pretty good driver but when it rains it gets really slippy and gong down a hill can fuck you up.
Islands are like this because they like to keep the money with the community so they don't usually have grab or bolt unless its a really built up place that's quite touristy like Phuket or Samui. You'll usually find the public taxis are overpriced and expensive for Thai prices
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Hire a bike - You can find mopeds for as cheap as 180baht a day - 250baht+. If you want a good one its going to be on the more expensive side if you want one with a good cc to get top those hills and especially if your driving with someone or more lol. But, it isn't necessary, always went with an average cc bike and had up to 3 people on it and it was fine, defo struggled at times but it was fine. I always paid 200baht a day and got a relatively new bike in good condition (always take a video of the bike when you first hire it). The places I used were rasta view and jungle bungalows their bikes are very reliable
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Public Taxi - There are public taxis that run from the ferry port down the west side of the island down to the south. They don't tend to go to the east side as its not as touristy and these are pick up trucks, you won't be the only one in it and they will stop for other people on the way, they know that most likely they won't find anyone on the east side so its not worth taking one person but if you are in a group it might be a little different. These are also pretty expensive (a one way trip, depending on how far you are going can cost you the price of a bike for one day) and they don't run all night so be aware of the time if you are out late
