It actually took less than two hours by road to get from Elephant Hills Rainforest Camp to Apsara Beachfront Resort and Villa in Khao Lak. It was great that this time, unlike our journey from Bangkok to Elephant Hills, we didn't have to get on a plane or even travel that long of a distance to end up in a third, completely distinct landscape.
On our arrival, we were greeted with glasses of delicious iced tea before being shown to our room. And it was quite a room - so spacious and with a beautiful honeymoon-themed display on the bed.
One of the best features of the room was the balcony, which overlooked big coconut trees, where we would often see squirrels scampering around!
On our first afternoon after arriving, I took some time to fully unpack my bags for the first and only time during our time in Thailand. I always like to do so in order to feel properly settled into where I'm staying, but given that our stays in Bangkok and Elephant Hills were quite short and my suitcase was big, it made more sense to just live out of the suitcase during that first week. I'm naturally a person who likes to be organised (though I'm not always that good at it), so I definitely felt a lot more relaxed and ready to enjoy our time at the beach after I'd put everything away in its correct place!
Later, we went out to explore the resort, which is so beautifully thought out.
It has two restaurants...
...two swimming pools...
a garden with chickens...
...and even a library!
There's a bridge next to the resort that crosses over an area that turns into a lagoon at high tide. On the other side of the bridge, you can find the Apsara villas. This area feels very secluded and is a good place to spot wildlife!
On our first evening, we went for pizza and cocktails right on the beachfront at Karkinos restaurant - the perfect way to kick off the second week of our honeymoon. (I loved the pink coasters so much that I actually bought a couple from the gift shop later!)
We tried to have a bit of a nighttime stroll along the beach afterwards, but nearly stepped on something that looked suspiciously like a scorpion, so went for a walk around the resort instead, which looked really magical.
In fact, the following night we started an sunset routine of swimming in the infinity pool overlooking the beach, which we did nearly every night afterwards. It was an amazing way to end the day, and one of the things I'm missing most now we're back in the UK!
Our first two full days were spent chilling out at the resort, spending hours swimming in the pools and the sea, which is our idea of heaven.
One highlight from our second day was trying some delicious cakes and drinks at the Ila Lounge café. I was very excited to try Thai tea, which is a milky iced tea. It was really nice, though I was slightly disappointed to find out afterwards that the orange colour is just a dye rather than any particular spice added to the tea!
On our third day, we went on an excursion to James Bond Island and other exciting places. But while we stayed in Khao Lak on our fourth day, it was no less adventurous - this was the day when we learnt to surf at Memories Beach.
You can reach Memories Beach by crossing over the bridge to the villas and then walking a short distance through a forest. This beach definitely has a more "Gap Year" vibe to it, which is an interesting contrast from the resort.
This is where we came across Better Surf Thailand (which is actually now known as Memories Surf House). We've both wanted to try surfing for a long time - I previously learnt windsurfing in the Cotswold Water Park a long time ago, and back in 2022 we tried indoor surfing in Mall Sport in Santiago. And of course, we had a go at stand-up paddleboarding the previous week!
So when the waves started picking up on our fourth day, we decided to take the plunge and take a surfing class. The class began with a tutorial on the beach itself for us to learn the basics, and then we got into the water and tried to put it all into practice. It was definitely a lot more difficult than stand-up paddleboarding! Claudio was really natural and could stand up by himself pretty much straightaway. I struggled a bit more at the start, but by the end we were both standing up, staying up and surfing some waves!
We were pretty exhausted but the end of the session, but full of endorphins. It was so much fun! We'll absolutely try to go surfing again at some point in the future.
The next day, we came back to Memories Beach, but this time to eat, drink and chill out! The bar is a lot cheaper than the restaurants at the resort, so we thought we should check it out, and it turned out to be some of the best food we ate during our trip - I don't think I've ever had a better Massaman curry in my life.
Another fun thing that happened that day was seeing a small monitor lizard wondering around the resort. I felt a bit sorry for him or her, because he or she seemed rather lost!
That evening, we decided to take a taxi to Coconut Beach, which is known for being one of the most beautiful beaches in Khao Lak. We definitely were not disappointed! It was an amazing place for a sunset walk and an ice cream sundae. The taxi ride was also pretty fun!
The following day, we went on a snorkelling excursion to the Surin Islands, and after that we had just one full day left. We chose to spend part of it having a traditional Thai massage next to the lagoon. It was our first time having this time of massage, and it was certainly an experience. Every muscle of our bodies was stretched out, and afterwards we felt as if we'd done a long restorative yoga session - without having to do any work ourselves!
We then went to Coconut Beach for lunch and an afternoon of swimming and sunbathing, before coming back to the resort for a final sunset swim. We packed up our suitcases and then finished the day with dinner and (very strong!) cocktails at the Apsara Villa restaurant.
All in all, it was a wonderful week in the most beautiful location, and we couldn't have imagined a more perfect way to finish our honeymoon. We've been through our fair share of stressful situations over the last year or so, and our engagement period and start to married life were quite different to those of most couples. These two weeks in Thailand, and particularly our week in Khao Lak, were a time where we could forget about all that and just really enjoy life and being together.
The honeymoon may be over now, but I'm not done blogging about it just yet! Check back here soon for a couple more posts about our adventures in southern Thailand...
