Koh Mak & the Seavana Resort

When my hubby suggested this island which he discovered on Google Earth, I had never even heard of it let alone knew where it was. But after googling a few pictures and hotels, I gave him the go ahead and we booked four nights here, the first stop on our 3 week trip to explore Thailands islands.

Koh Mak is part of the Trat Province in Thailands South and is more of a quiet, beach bungalow style island than its neighbouring larger siblings Koh Chang and Koh Kood.

To get to Koh Mak we flew Perth to Kuala Lumpur with Airasia (picked up an amazing sale a year before hand, $750 return for 5 of us!!) then booked a flight to Bangkok. We stayed a night in Bangkok, before taking a 5 hour drive in a very comfy minivan to Trat. From here its a quick 1 hour speedboat trip and you are there!

Our pickup from the pier was a traditional tuk tuk which took us to the other side of the island to the Seavana Beach Resort – our home for the next four nights. We were greeted with the most warm and friendly staff who made an effort to get all our names – which they would personally greet us with every day for the next four days. The resort is a family run hotel and we have discovered recently the difference between small family run resorts and large chains – you are made to feel so special and welcome!

For our family of five we stayed in a Deluxe Beach Bungalow, which had two double beds and a small mini bed in-between for my littlest. It had an enclosed bathroom which was large enough to fit all the suitcases and both an indoor and outdoor shower. We were literally metres from the ocean and the views were amazing! The porch had an inbuilt hammock aswell as some chairs to sit and watch the sunset.

Dining

There is one restaurant at the hotel called Daybeds where you can have a small buffet breakfast (and a small a la carte selection) aswell as lunch and dinner, and cocktails later in the afternoon. They serve a great variety of cuisines and the food is delicious! There is also a small bar at the pool which serves fresh fruit smoothies, juices and beers.

Beach facilities 

The resort is a private owned beach with over 1km of calm crystal clear water – which is perfect for the little kids. In the afternoons the tide goes out so best to swim first thing in the morning when the water is cooler and deeper.

The hotel offers free kayaks each day or stand up paddle boards, which was our favourite activity. In the mornings we would grab two kayaks, load up the snorkels and kids and paddle out to some nearby islands for some snorkelling! Being able to just jump off the kayak whenever we saw fish was incredible and the boys especially had a great time. This facility is a major drawcard for us and defnitley something we look for when booking island resorts.

Pool

There is a stunning infinity edge pool overlooking the ocean which makes the perfect base to cool off at the end of the day – or to enjoy a Pina colada while watching the sunset over the ocean! And gosh, were the sunsets here AMAZING!! All shades of pink, orange and purple!

Around the Island

To be honest we didn’t leave the hotel too often (why would we?!) so I couldn’t tell you everything to do on the island, but for those wanting to get out and have a meal there is some restaurants and bars just a short walk up the beach which looked lovely, aswell as restaurants on the other side of the island. To the left of the resort there is a fantastic bar on the pier called Ccocape Pier, where you can enjoy cocktails, snacks and an amazing view of the sunset!

There are a couple of mini marts to stock up on snacks or essentials, and a clinic for those needing medical assistance. There are no Banks or ATM’s so be sure to take cash with you.

Sandflies 

Ok – so this was something I read about but didn’t take to much notice of beforehand. Big mistake! The island has an ongoing issue with sandflies on most of the beaches and they are nasty little buggers! The first night, being a little excited and tired and weary from travelling, I got stuck into the cocktails. And while I did spray the kids with mosquito spray – I neglected to spray myself. And boy did I suffer for the next few days! I woke up the first morning covered in the itchiest bites I had ever felt and it really did make me miserable. But after that first night, I was extremely vigilant with the repellant and hardly got another bite for the rest of the trip. 

So as long as you SPRAY SPRAY SPRAY,  you will be fine. 

Snorkelling Trips

I cannot recommend the snorkelling and island hopping tours enough. We booked one of the island trips through the hotel and had the most amazing day! The beaches we went to were crystal clear, the snorkelling off the boat was incredible and the guides were fantastic with the kids. We had lunch provided, unlimited soft drink and water and plenty of fresh fruit. There was a small number of people in the speedboat which was much more comfortable than trips we went on at some other islands with people crammed in everywhere.

This island really is something special and I have no doubt that the Seavana is the best resort on the island. We love small resorts where everything is close by, the beach is beautiful and calm and we can snorkel straight off the hotel – so this ticked every box for us. We had an amazing four days here and will defnitley be back in the future….just armed with plenty of repellant next time 🙂