Koh Phayam at Ranong in Thailand

Diving from Koh Phayam at Ranong

Since many years we pick up our guests at Ranong, Koh Chang and Koh Phayam for liveaboard diving to the Surin- and Similan Islands...

Location of Koh Phayam

The small island Koh Phayam is situated in Ranong Province in Thailand. It is the second largest island of the province (the largest being Koh Chang, which lies in near distance to Koh Phayam). Many describe Koh Payam as a last treasure, some compare Koh Phayam to Koh Samui in the seventies.

Is it Koh Phayam or Koh Payam?

Sometimes you'll find the name of the island written as Koh Payam, sometimes it's written as Koh Payam, Ko Payam or Ko Phayam, but the same island is meant here.

How to get to Koh Phayam?

You can reach the island Koh Phayam via boat, which depart regularly every day day from the island pier at Ranong. You can choose to take the slow boat (traveling time approximately 2 hrs) or to take a speedboat (traveling time approximately 30 min).

 

Accommodation at Koh Phayam

At Koh Phayam island you'll find lots of resorts. You'll have the choice between basic simple huts, varying moderate cosy bungalows and more luxurious villas. If you need some help with finding the right place for you, just let us know. We'll be happy to help you finding your right spot on the island.

Dining at Koh Phayam

At Koh Payam you'll find some lovely restaurants offering great food. We recommend you to try the dishes with cashew nuts, which are a local product of the island. The cashews are hand picked each year during the month February. The new harvest is yearly celebrated during the Cashew Nut festival.

Aladdin Dive Safari's dive shop at Koh Phayam

You can find our dive shop at Koh Phayam at the Crossroad, just at the intersection before the entrance to the beach of Ao Yai Bay.

Getting around in Koh Phayam

Ko Phayam has no roads suitable for automobiles, thus motorbikes are the chief means of transport. You can rent a motor bike at and near our dive shop and also at the pier. You'll find also many motor bikes taxis available at Koh Phayam island. Take care on the motorbike: tracks and trails are narrow at the island!

Beaches of Koh Phayam island

The biggest beach of Koh Phayam is called Ao Ya Bay. This beach is about 3km long and offers great views during sunset time. Ao Kao Kwai, or translated as Buffalo Bay is much smaller then Ao Yai Bay and is also definitely worth a visit. At both beaches you can find nice accommodation.

Koh Chang near Ranong - from the 90's till today

Koh Chang from the 90's till today

 

Our first visit to the island in the 90's

Back in the 90's, during a first visit to Koh Chang island, things were all different and quite adventurous compared to today. There was basically only one resort, Cashew Resort, which had just been opened for a short time. Cashew Resort offered at that time 5 basic bamboo bungalows and a small cosy laid-back restaurant close to the beach.

The owner of the resort had some special arrangements with his friend in Ranong, who had a boat to bring us to the island. We met up in the friends' restaurant in Ranong and from there we started the long but beautiful boat drive to the island. The drive was like a fairytale, we had to pass numerous islands, an amazing view throughout the ocean.

During the stay at the island, the brother of the very friendly owner of Cashew Resort gave a tour around the island, including visiting the almost top of the hill of the biggest mountain of the island. A panoramic view of which several shots were made with an analog camera. Candles and starry skies gave light to the nights: there was no electrical on the island. All in all it was definitely a place to come back again.

Starting up the dive shop

In 1999/2000 we returned to Koh Chang and started our dive shop at the very same resort, Cashew Resort. Cashew Resort had by that time about 15 bungalows and would renew the restaurant short time after. The candles in the night were still used, but now also a generator was used to give lights to the bungalow- and restaurant visitors in the nightly hours. Longtail boats now ran fairly scheduled between Ranong and Koh Chang island, though sometimes you still may had to wait a while for the taxi boats to arrive. Besides Cashew Resort, quite some resorts had opened up in the meantime, like Sunset Bungalows, Contex Bungalows, Golden Bee Bungalows and Changtong Resort.

Koh Chang in 2015

Nowadays you'll find quite some accommodation at Koh Chang island. Along the main bay, Aow Yai Beach, you'll find resorts starting with Longbeach Bungalows at the west side of the bay to Crocodile Rock Resort at the east side of the bay. In between you can find basic bungalows, fancy bungalows and more expensive bungalows. A mini market offers all your basic needs on the island. Little restaurants give you the possibility to try another taste during your stay. Tracks and trails into the island invite for a long walk. Some years ago, a lake was dredged, which gives nowadays a nice possibility to enjoy a swim in sweet water on the island. A speedboat runs since 2015 every day during the high season from the island to Ranong and vice versa. For those who like to enjoy the authenticate rides to the island: longtail taxi boats are still the most common transport between the island and the main land. Koh Chang has developed over the last 20 years, but managed to stay a beautiful island in the Andaman Sea, where locals maintain the good vibes of authentic island living in Thailand.