Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort Review
We went on a wonderful 2 week Thailand vacation and one of the stops was a relaxing beachy vacation in the south of the country. It was really hard to narrow down a resort out of all the options in the Phuket/Krabi area. But we wanted to be on an island and thus landed on Koh Yao Yai due it’s proximity to Phuket. Here’s an indepth Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort review sharing my honest opinion about the pools, food, beaches, and rooms!
Where is Koh Yao Yai?
Most tourists will book a resort on Phuket, but we wanted to do a bit more adventuring for this leg of our trip. Koh Yao Yai is a large island just east of Phuket. From the airport, it’s about a 30 minute car ride to the port and then another 30 minute boat ride to the resort. During the boat ride, we saw the island come into our view and it honestly felt like a White Lotus moment! We opted to pay for the transfer service offered by Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort for a more seamless experience and I think the price was pretty reasonable.
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The Rooms at Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort
One of the big reasons we picked this resort is how spacious and luxurious the rooms are! We chose the Supreme Deluxe Sea View room. The decor is based on traditional Thai design and there is a lot of wood. Although some resorts had more modern designs, we wanted to lean in to the traditional wood aesthetic. There are some room types with private pools but I was really happy with the hot tub and lounger on our balcony already. It was clean with great service throughout!
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Free Breakfast – Super Scenic + Delicious
One of the highlights of this resort is definitely the breakfast buffet served in the Saaitara Restaurant. Most of the other restaurants are on ground level close to the beach. But this restaurant is perched on the cliff with breathtaking views of the Andaman sea and surrounding islands. There are a few seating options including tables by the open air window or the seated mats. Breakfast is included and was an amazing value!
Not only were the views are stunning, the food is excellent too! There’s a very large variety of Asian and Western selections. I’d start the day with coffee 2 ways, and a few juices. I liked the congee which was really nice when you’ve been traveling for a while. And of course they had made to order items like scrambled eggs and omlettes.
Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort – Pools
There are two pools to choose from at the resort. One main pool and one infinity pool. The main pool is closer to beach level and has a nice rock formation, lots of sun loungers, and these fun longtail boat loungers in the pool. I can’t believe I didn’t take any good photos but here’s a peek.
We spent most of our time at the infinity pool which is located higher up in the resort. I loved the views here especially at sunset. There’s also a bar nearby so you can enjoy a drink. Seating is a bit limited but we usually came in the morning and was able to get a good seat.
Food Options- 4 restaurants
There are 4 restaurants available at the resort so it’s a nice variety if you’re staying for a few days. The food was good but not something I’d rave about. The pricing is pretty reasonable but obviously more expensive than local restaurants. Most of the entrees are around $8-13 CAD. The furnishing and design of the restaurants were quite modern though even though it keeps the wooden Thai aesthetic.
A hot tip for you though is to walk 10 mins on the beach towards Loh Pared Beach. There are a number of street vendors here we loved including Zeaza Roti Pancakes (we had this twice), fresh coconuts, and noodle soup from an unnamed restaurant and it’s all around ~$2 CAD
Are the Beaches nice in Koh Yao Yai?
If you are imagining a Caribbean beach, this is not it. I’ve been spoiled by Turks and Caicos and unfortunately no beach ever compares to it. The beaches in Thailand are more golden sand, and the water is more green than blue. With that said, we still enjoyed sitting by the beach everyday and soaking up the sun and waves.
The resort offers free rentals of kayaks and paddleboards and we took advantage of both. It was actually my first time on a paddleboard and a great low risk way of trying it out since I only paddled until the water is up to my thighs haha!
Overall, this stay felt very luxurious totally fulfilled our White Lotus fantasies. The cost was around $350 CAD per night during high season (late November) but rates drop to as low as $150 CAD during low season. There was plenty of areas to relax and lounge but also enough activities to not feel bored. During our 3 night stay, we took a private longboat tour which I’ll be sharing shortly as well!
