What to Expect: {Magic Bay Hacks}
7 Important Things to Know Before Coming
We are so excited and honoured to welcome you to our beautiful jungle home. I, myself have been living in this completely unique community for almost 7 years now, and its amazing. Here, you’ll connect with the elements, sand between your toes, sunshine on your face – in epic nature, with a friendly and open community all around. We know that you are going to love this off-the-beaten track gem of a community.
To help you feel fully prepared, to ensure you have a comfortable and easeful journey here,
we’ve consulted with past students, and here’s what we all want you to know before you come.
Please Read through this Carefully
BEFORE YOU ARRIVE:
Getting Here: The Final Leg
Taxi Boat guys & the Walk Up to Bamboo
From the mainland of Koh Phangan, you will need to take a taxi boat from Had Rin to our location at Haad Yuan. If you are in Thongsala you will have to take a 40 minute tuk tuk ride to Had Rin.
You can often get a taxi boat right outside of where the ferry drops you off, although sometimes you will need to walk across town to get a boat from the full moon party beach.
Typically, the cost is 300 baht. That being said If the waves are big, or if you are the only one, you may be charged anywhere from 1000-1500 baht.
They may also say that they cannot take you to Haad Yuan, but only to Tad Thien. This is okay too. You can pay one of the Sanctuary staff 100b or so to help you carry your bags up and over the hill to Bamboo. It about a 5-minute uphill jungle walk to get to Bamboo Huts from here.
Once you arrive on Haad Yuan, you will be dropped of on the beach. If you need help with your bags, you can tip the taxi drivers from Peace and Love Bar 1-200Baht and they will help you carry your bags up. Its a 5 minute walk up a hill and across a boardwalk to the Bamboo Huts.
How to prepare: This negotiating process with the taxi drivers can feel really frustrating at times. It’s a good opportunity to remember that we are guests here and to put things into perspective. We highly recommend managing your expectation by knowing that this may happen.
Internet
At the time of writing, Bamboo Huts and Whynam now have Free Wifi.
There are severally places on the bays to connect more reliably with Wi-Fi with paid services at the Sanctuary and big Blue,
How to prepare:
If you feel you need connection in your bungalow at Bamboo Huts, we would recommend getting a DTAC or TRUE MOVE SIM card wit ahead of time, with a 4G data package. The best and easiest place to get this done is at the airport in Samui. You cannot buy a SIM card here on the bay.
Off the Grid:
No roads, no motorbikes, no ATMS
One of the things that make our bays so magical is that we are truly off the grid. This means that our electricity is run by generators. Also because we are so remote, this means that there are no main roads, no motorbikes and on ATMS. There are a few shops with basic things you may need, but otherwise, come prepared.
How to prepare: Take out as much money from the ATMs as you think you may need for the week. Come prepared with all other odds and ends that you might like to have with you while you’re here.
Weather:
Rainy Season
We live in a beautiful and warm tropical jungle rainforest. So expect that in November – January,/February it can be rainy. There are still long and beautiful periods of sunshine and blue sky, but definitely know, that if you are coming at this time, to expect some fluctuations in the weather.
How to prepare: Bring a rain jacket or umbrella, bring a good book for the hammock on those rainy days
ONCE YOU”RE HERE
Jungle Life
Amongst the many new friends you will make here, there are also some jungle friends: Gekkos, spiders, cockroaches, cats, dogs, mosquitos, and more rarely to be seen are the monkey and snakes. Most buildings have at least a family of Geckos living in them. We love them as they help eat mosquitos, and their “hello” sound often echo’s a deep truth that has been uttered in the room. Nothing is really dangerous.
How to prepare: Bring natural mosquito repellant. Know that you will be sharing your space with jungle life. If you want to upgrade your package, then we invite you to self-book at nearby Pariya or Sanctuary. Both places have rooms that are 2-3x the price, but have AC, hot water and are less rustic.
The Bathrooms @ Bamboo Huts
Bamboo Huts are a favourite amongst locals, for their delicious restaurant with world-class views and excellent service, and also the beautiful simplicity and awesome location of the huts. That being said, they are simple, comfortable and rustic huts.
The bathrooms are very very simple. At present, there are only cool water showers that are open to the jungle, and bucket flush toilet.
Weekend Parties
If you are planning to stay longer than 1 week with us, you will most likely encounter one of the all night parties nearby that this island is famous for. Even though its only a 10 minute boat ride away, the full moon party itself feel a world away. That being said, there are 2 main parties that do run most weekends: Guys Bar and Eden. Koh Phangan has that yin/yang thing going for it. People come here to expand their consciousness in one way or another…The music can get loud on Saturdays.
How to prepare: We recommend bringing earplugs if its hard for you to sleep with loud music. We also recommend having fun and going for a dance!
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Hope that helps and please feel to reach out to us or to the community if you have any questions.
With Love
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For those of you who’ve been here before,
We’d love if you let us know in the COMMENTS below 🙂
Were there things you really wish you knew before you came here to the bay for your retreat?
Thanks for sharing!
XOXO
Francie is an experienced life-transformation expert from the Yoga perspective, having curated and led more than 150 + retreats, workshops and programs with over 500+ students from all walks of life from all over the world. She is a passionate and free-spirited Yogi, hula hooper, musician, social entrepreneur and world-traveller dedicated to uplifting, inspiring and empowering people to live embodied and awakened lives. She is the inspired founder of the award-winning Pure Flow Yoga, True:Nature Experience and Hoop Love Tribe. Francie is currently living her dream between Thailand, Bali and the rest of the world, sharing intimate, magical and life-changing experiences, including her signature Retreats in Paradise, as well as festivals and community gatherings. To follow Francie’s personal calendar, to receive her music, playlists, blog posts, like her Facebook page: Francie Fishman :Yoga Hoop Music Love
E-RYT 500 Yoga Alliance | Post-Grad Dip. Education, Queensland University of Technology | BA Psychology / Philosophy, McGill University
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