Koh Yao Yai is only about a 10 minute boat ride from Koh Yao Noi. A good swimmer could probably swim between the two islands, but I wouldn’t recommend this!
Koh Yao Yai is a slightly bigger island than Koh Yao Noi but not by much. It is still very quiet and peaceful with only a few more tourists than Koh Yao Noi.
Like Koh Yao Noi, there isn’t a great deal to do on Koh Yao Yai in terms of activities and it certainly isn’t a party destination. However, it is ideal for relaxing and unwinding.
Here is what we got up to when we visited Koh Yao Yai…
How to get there-
We travelled to Koh Yao Yai from Koh Yao Noi. We got a taxi from our accommodation in Koh Yao Noi to Manoh pier. Here we paid a local man around £5 to take us to Koh Yao Yai. It was only about a 10 minute journey so it was easily the shortest travel day we have ever had!
Where to stay-
We stayed in an Airbnb called Green Mountain Resort. It was a very peaceful resort with only a few rooms on site. The room was very nice and comfortable. I would definitely recommend staying at Green Mountain Resort.
We were able to rent a motorbike directly from the accommodation which was great. I would say it is essential to have a motorbike to get around the island because although it is a small island, everything is spread quite far apart. You would struggle to get to the beaches and restaurants without a motorbike, especially in the heat.
Places to eat/drink-
Swiss coffee shop- we had the best iced mocha here, you have to try it! The lovely lady who owns the coffee shop also gave us some delicious mango for free.
Gu restaurant- we ate here several times during our time on Koh Yao Yai. I had the veggie fried rice and veggie Pad Thai, and Jacob had the chicken satay. Everything was delicious and we would definitely recommend Gu.
Kitchen Our Home- this restaurant was one of the closest restaurants to where we stayed at Green Mountain Resort, and is within walking distance. The food was okay, and we were very kindly given a free fruit platter!
Rungtawan restaurant- this restaurant was located closer to the beach so you could see and hear the sea which was lovely. They were more than happy to make dishes vegetarian which I always appreciate. The man who owns Rungtawan also booked our onward transport to Koh Phi Phi which was helpful. They did seem to be closed on random nights though so be aware of this.
Things to do-
Laem Had beach- this is a beach where even when the tide is high, there is still a strip of sand that you can walk out on into the sea. We went once during the day and once at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful at sunset so I would recommend going at this time.
Watch the sand crabs- whilst on Laem Had Beach we saw so many sand crabs. These are little crabs that filter through the sand to find food. Any sand they don’t want gets rolled up into a little ball and they throw this back on the beach. It creates a sort of pattern on the sand and it’s fascinating to watch.
Yao Yai beach club- this was a nice beach club that did delicious frozen fruit shakes. We tried the strawberry and pineapple ones. They have lots of very comfy seats so you could easily spend an afternoon there relaxing.
Watch the sunset on Ao Muong beach- we found this to be a nice place to watch the sunset. There were some seats and swings to sit on, and apart from one other couple we were the only ones there.
The best time to visit-
The best time to visit this part of Thailand is between November and April. We visited at the beginning of April. When we visited it was particularly hot as there was a heatwave in the south of Thailand. Every day it was 35 degrees but felt like it was above 40 degrees because of the humidity. We did struggle with the heat and had to take things very slowly.
Down to Earth Travel 
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