Family Trip to SOA - Summer 2025 - Searching for ideas

[DanielM85]

Hey,
I am new to this forum and I am hoping for some suggestions / ideas for a possible summer vacation in Summer 2025.
We are a family with 2 kids (6 and 9 years at that time) and would like to go to South East Asia for around 4-5 weeks.

As I am the only diver (Divemaster) we would like to find a compromise between diving / costs and family holiday (Big City like BKK, Sin, some easy rainforest experience and of course snorkeling and diving)

Before we got kids we have been to SOA a few times (Thailand, Malaysia and Nunukan Island) - we have never been to SOA with kids before so we are currently discussing different options - maybe you could give us some additional ideas

1) Thailand inkl. Samui, Phangnan and Koh Tao
2) West Malaysia with Singapur, Cameron Highlands, Taman Negara + Perhentians / Tioman / Redang? e.g. fly to East Malaysia / Borneo as well - not sure about that effort
3) Singapur+ Sulawesi (e.g. Kuda Laut Resort or Coral Eye (quite expensive))
4) Mixture of 2 and 3
5) Seychelles (probably not the ideal months)
6) new ideas ?

We would like to have a holiday for all of us - so a resort / area only for diving without a house reef is not an option for that holiday.
Raja Ampat and Palau would be to far / expensive and probably not the best for us 4.

Best regards from Germany
Daniel

 

[Centrals]

1 + 2.
Starting at Bangkok and slowly work your way down to Singapore via the East coast of both Thailand and Malaysia.
Koh Chang might be a good idea from BKK as well.
Koh Tao should be the best for the family. Forget about Samui.
How about Tenggol Island in the East coast of Malaysi but staying on the island is relatively expensive?

 

[diveUAE]

We've often travelled with our kids and made the compromise between diving and holiday for kids. But both my husband and I are divers and the kids are not that keen on snorkeling (although they do like it).

Some of our favourite places are:
Thailand - during the summer months Koh Tao for diving is ok, but you're definitely compromising. We combined with Bangkok, Kanchanaburi for Bridge over river Kwai (did the train ride on the old train there and the kids liked it at lot) and Hua Hin (did not like Hua Hin at all and did not find any diving while there)

Malaysia: In 2008 (when the 2 oldest were 8 and 6) we did Sandakan/Sepilok/Sukau, Lankayan, Seligan island (turtles), Mabul/Sipadan, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Did not at the time know, there was advisory of not traveling to Mabul/Sipadan, Lankayan and Seligan, which make our travel insurance void, just lucky to not need it I guess. Mabul/Sipadan was amazing and Lankayan was great. Kids loved Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Sepilok/Sukau, Seligan they we're a bit tired and the resort was/is run down.
This summer we're doing: Perhentian island (Bubbles resort, hoping for turtle nesting or hatching - our youngest can maybe join their program), Sepilok/Sukau, Poring hot springs, Kota Kinabalu (diving in the national park) and KL. (I've ruled out all the areas with travel warnings from the Danish government, but you would need to check the warnings from your country).

Indonesia: Bali! We all loved Bali. First time we stayed on Nusa Lembongan, a few days in Ubud and then Amed, it was great for everyone. 2 years ago we stayed in Padang Bai and Ubud. The diving from N Lembongan, Amed (Tulemben) and Padang Bai is great - much better than Koh Tao and there was enough for everyone to do - we did cooking classes, bike rides, volcano walk and various other trips.

 

[DanielM85]

Hey,
we are currently planning to book the flights from Germany to BKK for July/August 2025.
So we will probably stay around 4 weeks there.

One Idea is to start in BKK and fly down to Samui after a few days and then doing Samui/Phangnan and Koh Tao.
We thought about flying back from Phuket to Germany that we do not have to go back to BKK.

Alternative Idea: After BKK go to Koh Lipe (rainy saeson - so not sure if it is worth the risk with the 2 kids).

I also had the idea of flying to the real cool places like Raja Ampat / Palau but it seems that BKK is not the ideal "Hub" for that and we are not sure if it will be to stressful for the kids.

Do you know any cool dive / snorkelling island / spot that is easily reachable from BKK?

 

[Centrals]

@DanielM85
Wrong time of the year around Bangkok because of the rainy reason.
Forget about Koh Lipe as well.
Koh Libong for dugong watching but it is also on the "wrong side" of the Kingdom.
Khao Sok, the rainforest is very good but you need to decide if you want to visit it during the rainy season. It is also on the West coast.
I was in Khao Lak for couple days recently and it was wet. But Surat Thani(gateway to those three inlands on the Gulf) was dry. I turned south to Nakhon Si Thamamat and beyond.
I would take the overnight train to Chumphon and onwards to Samui instead of flying.
Travelling with 2 kids are not easy.
Phuket was flooded not too long ago, landslide killing 13 migrant workers.
Have fun.

 

[diveUAE]

Our trip to Thailand in July/August 2012 was 31 days (big hassle as we had to get visa from the embassy as we could only get 30 day visa on arrival). We mostly had great weather.

Our kids were 2, 10 and 12. We spent some days in BKK including a lovely day trip to Ayutthaya (private).

We then took the slow train to Kanchanaburi- kids loved it. Visited the elephant sanctuary there (and of course bridge over river Kwai + war memorials) Kids loved the elephant experience the war stuff not so much

After that we went to Bang saphan Noi, where we had the whole beach to ourselves and it was a really, really quiet part of our trip, but very nice.

Then to Koh Tao. It was ok for diving and our 10 yo got certified there. But I didn’t really like the fact that all transportation is by “songthew” - pick up truck with benches in the back - no seat belt or any other kind of safety in sight.

If you fly to Samui (and yes, I would fly as it’s fast and you avoid the train/ferry, but of course also more expensive), then travel to Koh Phangnan/Koh Tao you could easily make that a 4 week trip.

If you want to do something else there’s a direct flight from BKk to Cebu in Philippines- go to Bohol - heaps to do for both divers and non divers. (Our favorite land excursion was the firefly trip, but you may need to check, if July/August is a good time to go). Diving is better than Koh Tao (in our opinion) with Balicasag being the best (you can go for a day trip where you dive and the rest of the family snorkel - book in advance!)

Alternatively fly to Flores - Labuan Bajo (much longer and more complicated) and see if you can book Mimic boat with Wunderpus for a snorkel/dive safari in Komodo - this is the best trip we’ve ever done with our kids and our friends did a snorkel trip with them last year and had a fantastic time as well.

You may look up my trip report via my username - boat is basic and you sleep on the upper deck (no cabins), but I would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[Barrel SpongeBob]

Hey,
we are currently planning to book the flights from Germany to BKK for July/August 2025.
So we will probably stay around 4 weeks there.

One Idea is to start in BKK and fly down to Samui after a few days and then doing Samui/Phangnan

That time of year is holidays before returning for school. Probably best to check family beach/parts of Phangnan if full moon falls within your 4 weeks. The whole area will be lit.

Bali is a 2hr flight from BKK or SG and not as remote as Raja or Borneo which has issues with WIFI and speedboats. Once you land in Bali, you are there in the tourist section and less than an hour taxi to rainforest/rice paddies. Resorts can book activities throughout the island. There are a few diving options sub par to remote parts of Asia.

 

[DanielM85]

Thanks for your replys - we just came back from Mallorca (Diving was nicer than expected ) - so my responseses are a bit delayed.

According to your hints according to Bohol and Komodo:
Do you have additional tipps according to hotels / islands / trips to do?
How could we plan e.g. a 2 week time over there?
The Idea with the Liveabroad on Komodo sounds nice - do you think it would be okay for a 6year old one?

We have been to Bali and we only liked the Permuteran Area - so we could consider this with kids, but we are not sure if it will fit (black sand, "long journey from Airport" etc.)

If we want to combine Thailand with e.g. Komodo / Philippines, we probably have to start in BKK, go to Philippines / Komodo first, fly back to BKK, than down to Samui - or the other way around.

Alternatively we thought about flying back to Europe via Maledives / Seychelles, but the flights seem to be quite expensive and we are not sure if it would be better to stay in SOA for the 4 weeks and do Maledives / Seychelles separately.

 

[diveUAE]

Thanks for your replys - we just came back from Mallorca (Diving was nicer than expected ) - so my responseses are a bit delayed.

According to your hints according to Bohol and Komodo:
Do you have additional tipps according to hotels / islands / trips to do?
How could we plan e.g. a 2 week time over there?
The Idea with the Liveabroad on Komodo sounds nice - do you think it would be okay for a 6year old one?

We have been to Bali and we only liked the Permuteran Area - so we could consider this with kids, but we are not sure if it will fit (black sand, "long journey from Airport" etc.)

If we want to combine Thailand with e.g. Komodo / Philippines, we probably have to start in BKK, go to Philippines / Komodo first, fly back to BKK, than down to Samui - or the other way around.

Bohol is quite easy to plan - the area around Alona Beach is very touristy, but we liked it. It’s easy to book a day trip to see the tarsiers and maybe do zip lining, if your kids like that. Firefly afternoon/night trip we just arranged the day before as well.
We used Philippine Fun Divers for dives - as mentioned book ahead for Balicasag.
But again: I’m not sure summer is the best time.

For Komodo the Mimic is a great choice with kids! They sent a snorkel guide for our daughter and a dive guide for us. Our daughter loved it and the memories of lying in the front of the boat as nights falls and watching the stars “come out” with nothing but the sound of waves are still some of the best we have as a family - priceless.
I booked a night at a hotel (don’t remember which) prior and after the trip and found some nice food in Labuan Bajo. Was also looking at a trip driving from Maumere-Labuan Bajo, but scrapped that in favour of a week in Alor.

I’ve posted my review of diving and staying at Bubbles resort on the Malaysia forum - kids would like it for sure and you could combine with Malaysia Borneo - Sepilok and Sukau is great for kids.