Koh Bulone
Introduction
If one of your perceptions of paradise is lying in a shady hammock on a tranquil beach and listening to waves gently lapping a sun-kissed shore, then don't forget to pinch yourself regularly while on Koh Bulone, to remind yourself you haven't died and gone to heaven.
While the sand isn't quite up to the talcom-powder standards of nearby Koh Lipe and Koh Lao Liang, it's still so clean that it squeaks when you walk on it. The beaches aren't as broad as Railay's Phra Nang beach, but they are much quieter, and to to all but the fussiest of beach afficionados, Bulone will seem like an architypically tropical dream come true.
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Maybe Bulone is the destination for you, but maybe not - there are no swimming pools or air-conditioners on the island - but also no cars, no high prices, no crowds even in peak season, and minimal noisy longtail boat traffic. |
| Air-con isn't necessary for most people, even during the hottest month of April, if they have a seafront bungalow cooled by seabreezes. Swimming pools are also a debatable benefit, when the surrounding seas are good for swimming at all times of the day and for all ages, and contain decent snorkelling right off the beach. |
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Many visitors feel that the location of the top two resorts provides such a balm for the senses, and such a great cure for overstretched nerves, that they don't notice the sland's lack of fancy facilities. |
| Koh Bulone, located 23 km offshore in the less frequented southern reaches of the Thai Andaman Sea, is the pickup point for, arguably, the best snorkelling day-trip in Thailand. Those who love coral but loathe crowds are highly recommended to take this day-trip, which for many people will be the best snorkelling experience of their lives. |
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Every night generators switch on around 18:00 and Bulon lights up for another laid-back evening. Many travellers come back again and again, to enjoy the particular tranquillity they've only found on Bulone.
There are no banks or ATMs on Koh Bulone, so be sure to bring enough cash with you. |
While none of the resorts offer really top-quality Western food, the Thai food here is excellent, and particularly cheap if visitors take the pleasant and not arduous leg-stretch to the fishing village, and buy their own seafood.
Your resort will charge you to cook it, but not much, and you'll end up with a feast for a fraction of the price it would cost back home. For about THB 150 altogether, you can eat your fill of delicious curried king crabs, which in Thailand are regarded as posh seafood, more expensive than either shrimps or squid. |
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The only vehicles on the island are the few motorised tricycles used for moving visitors luggage around. The absence of roads and cars gives the tropical fauna the ability to make make its presence felt, and one can easily hear hornbills, cuckoos, and crickets calling among the lush green jungle flora of the island. |
| There is lots of other wildlife to be seen on Bulone too, including large birds of prey and many descendants of dinosaurs - but don't be alarmed if a 60 centimetre-long lizard ambles past your bungalow, they're as perfectly harmless as they are unafraid of humans. On the way to the fishermen's village, keep an eye out for much larger specimens. |
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Surrounded by the southern Andaman Sea’s signature clear waters, Koh Bulone also has more than its fair share of inland attractions too. |
The interior is laced with good walking trails through forrests alive with birdsong.
Beautifying the margins between sea and sand and reminiscent of a Salvador Dali dream, there are some bizarre rock formations along the coastline, including two large caves well worth exploring by kayak.
Gracious Koh Bulone is in that perfect phase of being developed enough to offer comfortable facilities, yet not so popular that the environment, or the local peoples' friendliness, has been degraded.
Koh Bulone - happy smiles, beautiful memories, unrolled tears. |
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Koh Bulone Tours
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The snorkelling trip that runs from here is sensational, click here for more on the snorkelling day-trip. |
Koh Bulone Resorts
Onwards Afterwards
Bulone is easy to visit on an Andaman Sea island hop. You can get there straight from the mainland pier of Pakbara, or you can catch a boat to/from the following destinations:
Contact us and we'll design you a customised itinerary that includes all your accommodation, transfers and tours, at no more than you would pay if booking them direct - we earn our income from the commissions that tour, hotel and travel operators pay us, not from our customers, so our services are completely free, to you.
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