Ko Yao Island Resort and 9Hornbill review

KO YAO ISLAND RESORT

What would’ve happened if Naga (our Thai friends Water Dragon) wouldn’t have sacrificed himself on his way to Krabi because he was hurt that his (probably mythological creature as well) girlfriend married another creature… We’ll tell you what: Ko Yao Noi and Ko Yao Yai wouldn’t have existed because it is speculated that this is how the 2 islands came to life — by the sudden collapse of the enamored water dragon and the forming of a narrowing between the 2 paradises from Phang Nga Bay.

How to get there

I don’t know where I got this fear of traveling by car, by public transportation, by ferry or by boat because there’s no reason to compare the Philippines to Thailand. In other words, it never happened for us to not know when we are leaving, when we reach our destination or how we’ll get there. Therefore, from Patong (where you’ll most likely find us whenever we’re in Thailand 🙂 ) we took a cab to the Bang Rong Pier. The trip takes about 40 minutes and costs approximately 800 baht. The cheaper option would be the local bus that leaves constantly until 2:30 PM from the local market in Phuket, while another option would be renting private transportation offered by the hotel that picks you up from the Phuket or Krabi airport and leaves you on a sunbed in front of your villa 🙂 We chose the second option, so we will continue our journey and discussion about costs.

Once arrived in Bang Rong we had the option of getting a ticket for a ferry or long-tail boat to the Manoh Pier (the boats leave every half hour and the last one leaves at 4:30 PM). We decided to take the 2 o’clock ferry and it cost us 300 baht/person. Thirty minutes later and another cab that cost us 100 baht, we arrived at Ko Yao Island Resort, bathed in lemongrass fragrance and indulged in a view we’ll tell you everything about later if you let us draw the line and calculate that we’ve traveled 63 km (20 of which on water), in almost 2 and a half hours and the total cost of this “expedition” was 1600 baht aka 230 lei or 50 euros (well, yes, baht’s exchange rate goes up from year to year, good for him, bad for us :))

Where to stay

Warning: The view could possibly take your breath away, therefore we advise you take it easy and stay at a villa on the beach, leaving 9Hornbills last 🙂 It’s better to look at Phang Nga Bay from your level at first and then pick up the courage to look at it from above, like you own the entire thing 🙂

No matter which villa you chose, they’re all facing the beach so that you don’t miss any change in shadows or colors 🙂 The pool offers a clear view to the gulf, while the terrace soothes you after an entire beach day with coffee (Nespresso, of course 🙂 ).
All villas are built with local material and you have all the space you need to relax on the 220 meters of private beach. We were here in October, in the late rainy season and with all due honesty, we report back that, although the hotel was at 80% occupancy, everything was spread out so naturally and pleasantly that you would seldom come across other people closer than 10 meters away, if we don’t count in the restaurant area. Speaking of which…

Like any self-respecting restaurant, service is impeccable (and when we say impeccable, we can lightly put it in caps and spell it out for you if you let us:)). Ok, so service is IM-PEC-CA-BLE! Thank you 🙂 Everything could be turned into a vegetarian dish in a split second, there was nothing we needed that couldn’t be accommodated, and let us give you another tip: Tomatoes Tartar (because we come from the Philippines and we wanted to eat as mush Thai basil as we could before we came back 🙂 )

Currys, cocktails, Pad Thai and Som Tam, that’s what our menu sounded like if we’re not willing to admit that we only ate tartar, that we sweetened ourselves with ice cream and mango pudding a bit too often, and that we might have overdone it with the Broccoli Med Mammuang (not gonna tell you what it is, hehe) 🙂

What to do

No one wants you to get bored (in the sense where the beach, food, pool, sleep, relaxation, massage would be synonymous with boredom :)). Therefore, the resort offers bikes for free to explore, kayaks to enjoy the water and snorkeling equipment to enjoy the “underwater”. If you haven’t heard of Phi Phi Island and James Bond Island already, you have the opportunity to discover one of the biggest attractions in the gulf. (the nice thing is that you can opt for a private tour to increase your chances of enjoying the surroundings without a lot of people around).

When it comes to 9Hornbills things get luxe with African-safarian tents. Ko Yao Island Resort’s little sister or more spoiled brother (however you wanna call it), 9Hornbills, is just a smidge away from its bigger sibling. To be more precise, a 5-minute drive with the resorts private buggy.

We can wholeheartedly tell you that rarely (for the first time, even, as we got there:) ) have we seen such a spectacular view. All of the tents are oriented towards sunrise and in the morning you are mindblown by the colors. And since beautiful views make people stare, here is the answer to the question “ what can you do here?” 🙂
Because this place is indeed meant for full relaxation and charging of batteries. On or off-topic, this side of the resort is dedicated to adults only, just so you know when you’re planning your vacation.

Ko Yao Island Resort takes care of everything related to 9Hornbills, therefore you are one phone call away from being picked up by a buggy and taken to the restaurant or just chilling on the terrace and dining under the stars. It’s your call and they’re here to fulfill your wildest wish.

We chatted a bit and showed you more because we want the location to speak for itself. The last round of praises begins now: Ko Yao and its faithful 9Hornbills are 2 of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been to, where the view took the breath away of sensitive people already “hurt” by so many spectacular places like the Philippines, where we live our day to day life now. Impeccable service is something often come across in Thai hotels, so we checked that box from the beginning.

We haven’t even finished this story and we were already invited to the opening of a new hilltop and restaurant opening soon. So… we’ll report back swiftly on location 🙂