Koh Tao versus Koh Phi Phi

Southern Thailand has quite a few islands located in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. There are many well-known islands (Phuket, Phi Phi, Phangan) and other less-visited islands.

We visited two islands during our stay in Southern Thailand. The first 6 months of our round-the-world trip have been quite hectic, and we had shared with you our intention to find a quiet island in Southern Thailand to relax 4-5 days. For this purpose we chose Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.

Koh Tao is renowned for being one of the best diving spots in the world. The island is not renowned for being a party place (unlike Koh Phangan to the south), and this is exactly what we wanted. We arrived on May 4 and stayed five nights on the island. Since this is monsoon season, many hotels were empty and we found some great bargains. The beaches were almost totally empty. We also found some nice snorkeling spots around the island. All in all, this was a much needed vacation from our vacation: no running to the next destination.

After our rest, we decided to visit Koh Phi Phi in the Andaman Sea. Koh Phi Phi is one of the most well-known islands in Thailand because it is on this island (Koh Phi Phi Leh) that the movie “The Beach” was filmed. Naturally we expected the place to be crawling with tourists. Sure enough there were plenty of tourists, probably too many. We stayed three days on the island.

So what is my recommendation? Koh Phi Phi is more scenic than Koh Tao for sure. Koh Phi Phi is more developed and has better infrastructure as well. The snorkeling is better, although you’ll need to join a tour. On the other hand, Koh Phi Phi is enormously touristy, which means that you won’t be able to find a deserted beach. So if you want peace and quiet, choose Koh Tao. If you want a scenic island, more things to do, and a chance to go to the “Beach”, choose Koh Phi Phi. All in all we liked Koh Phi Phi a bit more. If you choose to visit the island, make sure you do it in low season (May to October). It will be too crowded during high season.