Thailand, Gulf of Thailand (Trat)
Koh Chang is the quiet end of Thai chartering: a handful of yachts based on the island's east coast for Koh Wai, Koh Mak, Koh Kood and the Koh Rang marine park, 5 to 25 NM apart, in a November-to-April season while the Andaman is at its busiest. The fleet is small and mostly skippered, so we source the boat with the operators rather than list it.
YACHT TYPES
Catamarans 38 to 45 ft and a few sailing yachts 33 to 40 ft, most of them skippered; day boats and speedboats from the Koh Chang piers for the islands.
A typical week around Koh Chang
Charters start on the island and head south; the islands are close, so the days are two hours of sailing and an afternoon in the water.
Day 1, Salak Phet to Koh Wai (8 NM). The reef off the resort beach for the first snorkel, a buoy or a sand anchorage, dinner ashore at the only restaurant.
Day 2, to Koh Mak (8 NM). A flat island of coconut and rubber plantations: anchor off Ao Kao on the south-west or Ao Suan Yai in the north, bikes ashore.
Day 3, to Koh Kood (12 NM). Thailand's fourth-largest island and its quietest: the fishing village of Ao Salad in the north, then Klong Chao bay on the west coast with the waterfall a walk inland.
Day 4, south along Koh Kood (6 NM). Ao Phrao and Ao Jak, the beaches of the south-west, one resort each and nobody in between.
Day 5, to Koh Rang (12 NM). The marine park islets west of Koh Kood: the clearest water of the gulf, buoys for the day boats, an anchorage for the night in settled weather or back to Koh Mak.
Day 6, to Koh Chang's south coast (15 NM). Bang Bao, the stilt village and pier, or the anchorage off Klong Prao beach on the west coast for the sunset.
Day 7, to Salak Phet (10 NM). Round the southern tip and back into the bay for the afternoon.
Two weeks simply slow the same loop down, with more nights at Koh Kood and Koh Rang; Cambodia's islands are 30 NM further but outside the charter area and the insurance.
Practical points for a Koh Chang charter
Licence and skipper
Thai bareboat rules match Phuket's: a recognised licence and a sailing CV, and the operator can ask for a check-out sail. In practice most Koh Chang charters are skippered; the skipper knows the reefs and the resort buoys, which no chart shows.
Wind and sea
The north-east monsoon gives 8 to 15 knots in the morning, dropping to nothing by mid-afternoon, and a short chop rather than swell; nights are calm. The islands' west coasts are the sheltered sides from November to March. From May the wind turns south-west and the anchorages open to it.
Fees and services
The Mu Koh Chang national park charges an entry fee per person for Koh Rang and the park beaches, collected by the rangers or the operator; resort buoys are free with a meal; anchoring is free. Fuel and water are taken on before leaving Koh Chang; there is no fuel dock on the outer islands. Bring cash: cards work in the resorts of Koh Mak and Koh Kood, nowhere else.
Getting there
Bangkok Airways flies Bangkok to Trat in one hour; the airport is 20 minutes from the Laem Ngop ferry piers and the ferry to Koh Chang takes 30 to 45 minutes. By road, Bangkok to Laem Ngop is five to six hours. Koh Chang has supermarkets and markets in Klong Son and Klong Prao; provisioning on the outer islands is minimal.
Why does this page say ask our adviser rather than search?
Because the Koh Chang fleet is a handful of boats, mostly skippered, and the availability lives with the operators. Tell us your dates and we ask them the same day.
Koh Chang, Koh Samui or Phuket?
Phuket for choice and bareboat; Samui for the Ang Thong park with a very small fleet; Koh Chang for the quietest islands, a shorter transfer from Bangkok, and the same November-to-April season as Phuket.
Can we sail to Cambodia?
No: the charter area stops at Koh Kood and the insurance with it.
What does Seeksail need to advise us?
Dates, number of guests and cabins, skipper or bareboat, snorkelling or sailing as the priority, and we come back with the boats the Koh Chang operators actually have free.
PLAN WITH CONFIDENCE
More destination-specific guides are being prepared.
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