Koh phangan - Travelling with a 1 year old!

The hover craft/boat over to koh phangan from Samui, is around £6 each, it is a VERY bumpy ride! You'll arrive within the hour, there can be a big queue and LOTS of waiting around, and there is often the phrase 'thai time' used so don't plan to the exact minuet! When travelling with kids there are certain privileges, the big queue i was talking about...not so much when you have a buggy in toe (slings can be mistaken and you could be overlooked as bags! Buggies are more obvious to the naked eye for travelling with child) you are usually first on and first off, and you wont be short of helping hands. The privileges tend to follow you throughout the holiday, so you often get to jump lengthy queues, so it does pay to travel with kids in that respect, we've been on a few breaks without our little one and enviously looked at families skipping through!

When we got off the boat, conveniently our hotel and home for the next week had a mini bus waiting for us! (If your hotel does not offer this free service, you can flag a taxi down, don't just take the first offer, shop around...you can even rent a scooter or car within walking distance of getting off, there are plenty rental companies near by and all cheap enough!) We stayed at 'The coast' resort, a fairly new hotel, beautiful scenery and right on the beach, the most amazing food and lovely clean modern rooms! This was around £50 per night and included breakfast, which consisted of different types of pancakes and eggs, juices, CURRIES, toast, fruit and cereal and was of a really high standard.

The coast was a little out of the way, but taxis wait outside and you can walk to villages. We usually rent a car (the same old jeep for about £17 a day) petrol costs pennies and is available all over the island. We also walked along from the beach hotel to other beach hotels with treehouses and restaurants, they are beautiful and relaxing and all family friendly. If you are coming to Phangan, I recommend staying out of the way and not on the party/busy side of the island, you will come across lots of other families, and a quieter more authentic setting.

In koh phangan we often visit the 'walking street' market, again this is super cheap and has everything you need, sit down meals or quick buys, I typically get a fresh fruit and ice shake, a pizza and a curry with a pancake for about £3! Pizza is about 40baht, shake about 70baht, pancake about 50baht and curry about 80! You can be as healthy or as naughty as you like, there are lots and lots of vegan market stalls, I often eat at these (or the above if I fancy a rotten feast!), Cass will usually have rice, a vegi curry, a shake or some fries, vegetables or a pizza, there is endless choice even if you have a fussy little one!

We love to stay in the 'hippy' area, many yoga centres, healing centres, vegan and vegi restaurants, its so so relaxed and chilled out, perfect for a quiet family break. We visit waterfalls, drive to get lost and find giant lizards in the middle of the road! We often look for a shack for lunch, a family run hut usually on the side of a road, with curries as little as around 80p!

For us, Phangan is about relaxing and spending time together, we don't usually make plans or a schedule, there are a few places we like to visit more than once....CRAVE or NIRAS BAKERY or the IRISH PUB just as you get off the boat is friendly and has great food, THE MASONS ARMS....we have been back every time we have visited, the sign was imported from the owners pub in england, its very family friendly, they have children's games and a LOVELY dog, we met her when she was a puppy and she is a big girl now! She is great with kids! The staff always remember us and are all so lovely to Cass, the thai's are VERY family orientated and have the most welcoming nature.

I honestly cannot describe the feeling and beauty of Koh phangan, it is fantastic in so so many ways, easily or best destination and I know we will be visiting for years to come! xx