Gold Coasters

Happy 500th post "woo hoo"

Thanks for the pic of the sunset, i have always wanted to go there, looks great.

Mark.

Don

No-one has mentioned what I would do in your shoes so I will mention it!

In fact we just did it.

From Singapore get a cheap flight up to Phuket and have a great family holiday in Thailand.

Advantages:

1 hour flight
friendliest country on earth
delicious food, very cheap
3/4 star hotels, very cheap (out of season, extremely cheap) - we paid GBP18 a night for decent 3+* hotel incl full brekkie, 2 adults + 2 kids
excellent beaches and water clean
Karon Beach and Kata very nice

debsy

Don - did you just order a stopover in singapore and arrange the rest yourself? What about the airport at phuket is it far from the hotels? Thanks

bondipom

Koh Samui is a similiar distance from Singapore. The airport is a short cab ride from the resorts. Similiar pricing etc to Phuket.

Tarryn

Hey Debs

Been to the Maldives twice! Amazing, fantastic...... beautiful. We spent a week there the first time (5 dyas really) and the second time 2 weeks.

We slept, ate (food on the 2nd island was fantastic), lay in the hamocks (delightful), watched sunsets, slept, dived, slept, snrokelled, slept.

What a great way to start off you new life in Oz.

I say go for it!!

We satyed at Taj Coral Beach resort - Hembadoo island. Just lovely!!

Enjoy

Don

Exactly. We just broke our journey by 3 weeks and organized a cheap return flight Singapore -Phuket-Singapore, you don't need to organize a taxi from Phuket Airport to your hotel as there is a fixed fee service (about GBP8), 1 hour transfer typical. Best to book hotel first, at least the first days http://www.gothailand.com/phuket/indexhotels.htm . We paid about GBP100 each adult return incl taxes for the airticket. We stayed at Karon which is totally un-sleazy unlike Patong.

We really enjoyed it! And it cost the same or less per day as living in our house in NZ so was a 'free' holiday.

debsy

Thanks everyone will investigate now.

pockygoes

We are due to fly to Perth on 3/1 - trying to arrange a stopver for a week in the Maldives of Thailand or Coco islands - any links or agents that you used would be appreciated - have left it witha couple of consolidators but they seemed reluctant - help please!!!

cheers

pockygoes

debsy

Don could you pleae let me know the names of the sleazy resorts and any other suggestions welcome. What hotel did you use?

We are interested in 5*.
Thanks

karenvirginia

we have stayed at the peach tree resort in phuket after staying in the centre of patong and not being able to stand it anymore! booked online from an internet cafe whilst there, try asiahotels.com for cheap deals. (we paid £15 per night) it was actually 3 star but was delightful, included breakfast too. great place to visit, ask around and hire a local guy, cab drivers are good, they will take you out all day for a small fee.
we experienced better snorkelling in coral bay than we have ever had even in australia! that was when we hired a local guy with a longtail boat btw.
good luck and see you when you get to currumbin.
karen

debsy

Thanks Karen. Do you know what the weather is like in September in Thailand? Its not a reainy season is it?

karenvirginia

sorry deb, not sure about that, it was june/july time 2002 when we were there, in fact THAT may have been the rainy season!
when we emigrated in september last year we came ba/qantas via los angeles and stopped over 5 nights in las vegas btw. just another thought for you, and luggage allowance was 2 x 32kg's each! yes 64kg per person!
kar

Don

We stayed in the Karon Princess which was 3* and I see now is even cheaper! (Low season prices.) It was great quality for 3* (more like 4* IMO) and brand new. Maybe 3* because the rooms are not so huge as 4* and the TV was crap. Recommend it.

If you're looking for 5*, maybe try the Phuket Arcadia? Seen it from the outside and looks OK. The South Sea Resort looked good, too. Thai 4* is as good as Spanish 5*, so don't think you're not gettng excellent quality if it's a bit lower down the scale.

Sleazy? Well, most places have a gogo bar or two but at Karon and Kata they aren't in yer face as much as in Patong. Also, Paton looked much more like nasty Benidorm in style along with the full-on sleaze whereas Karon, Kata and the like are more like Mallorca - not so developed, huge expanses of delightful beach and clean water. (Patong is only a 15-20 minute taxi ride away.)