f1ape

Im going to be in Guangzhou for the entire month of October for the Trade Fairs but I am going to have a span of about 5 days free and wanted to visit a beach somewhere in SE Asia. Thinking maybe Krabi or Boracay... As I am somewhat limited on time Krabi maybe difficult. It appears that Boracay is a little more accessible from HKG or CAN. Anyone have any better suggestions? Big Thanks!

Crocodile

No need to travel to HKG if you want to just access the beaches. Although, from HKG, there are direct flights to Phuket and Koh Samui, but those flights are not cheap.

From CAN (probably the cheapest option), you would need to fly to BKK or MNL first, then on to the beach destination, so time-wise you still need to take two flights to get to the beach.

From BKK, you have your choice - Phuket, Koh Samui, etc, etc.
From MNL, you have Boracay, Palawan or any number of smaller places.

Probably depends on how adventurous you want to get.
Thailand has more luxury resorts to choose from.

HawaiiO

I'll suggest Sanya on Hainan island.
It's a nice beach resort town and you can probably fly direct from Guangzhou. It's a really short flight.

There are also little beaches on Hong Kong which are also quite decent.

Dandel

5 days is plenty to reach quite a few beach destinations in my opinion. Phuket and Koh Samui (as mentioned), Krabi, Langkawi and even places such as Bali could be reached without too much difficulty.

Hainan I haven't been but have heard some pretty okay reviews about as well.

As far as beach and water quality I would definitely opt for one of those over HK for example. Which all though the beaches in HK can be nice as a day retreat from the city, they are not something I would recommend if the beach is the main draw...

davistev

Actually, Silvermine Beach on Lantau Beach as well as others are excellent places to laze the days away. No one will bother you unlike in other places and the beaches are spotless. Just another perspective!

Chinatrvl

AirAsia (and CZ) fly to Kota Kinabalu - one of my favorites, check out the Shangri-La Rasa Ria or the Nexus.

Sanya is a good one as well, flights are on the very cheap out of CAN.

f1ape

Wow great suggestions all! Now just waiting to see what these "Mind Blowing" fares are going to be for Air Asia X on Aug 17. Thanks!^

whackyjacky

There's an AA direct flight from HKG to HKT right ? Lots of options there. Phuket airport is pretty close to Krabi & Khao Lak too. I like Meridien Khao Lak if you want to get away from the throngs. The new Westin Siray Bay has some super cheap opening specials too. Oh, wait Oct is still Monsoon ! You'd better check out the weather patterns. You may want to go to Bali. I think it doesn't pour then there. wj

Thunderroad

I'd ordinarily strongly second the Le Meridien Khao Lak (Thailand) recommendation, since it's a very nice hotel on a wonderfully long stretch of beach, with lots of great, inexpensive open air restaurants and massage shacks within walking distance. But you could get a lot of rain in October. I believe that October is getting into the start of the rainy season in Bali, but the weather/climate sites I've checked indicate that it gets substantially less rain then than most of Thailand does.

Bali's beaches are actually not the best in SE Asia, and some (such as Kuta) are frequented by some serious hawkers who hassle you. So you might need to do a bit more research to figure out where specifically to go there.

Sorry to point you toward yet more research, but definitely check into what the climate tends to be like in a given place in October before deciding where to go.

Sandibeck

You have to know that october is one of the worst month
to make beach holiday in SE Asia

In Bali , most parts of Malysia (redang tioman side) the rainy season begins, in thailand , PHL, Vietnam, Burma, Malaysia (langkawi side) ... the rainy seasons ends with a mostly "heavy rains" and "rough sea" month...

So beach vacation in ths month could be very rainy, (at phuket area with very rough sea :-) - no swimming, to dangerous)

I would trie hua hin /Thailand .. there are realy nice luxury hotels on a middle good beach (marriott, IC, Hilton, Sofitel...) , and you have the possibilty to do something (good infrastructure) - its about 4 hours car drive from bangkok. I can recommend you a trustable shuttle service if you need one. I was there two times in september , and the weather was relatively good.

jiejie

I've been to Phuket/Khao Lak in Octobers past and it's fine. Even at the beginning of October, that heavy monsoonal July/August-type rain is generally gone, and what you'll find is a relatively short shower here and there, mixed in with partly cloudy days. Though it's not unheard of, you'd have to get really unlucky to get a washout during this time. The odds are in your favor. The Andaman sea is usually not too rough, especially at low tide. But if it is and their are rip tides out there, hop in the pool instead. The Gulf side starts to go bad weather-wise at this time, skip it.

Sandibeck

Maybe you was on the lucky side, usually september and october are the worst months in this area. - Look at http://alexmalcolm.net/weather.html - it is a local guy who lives in patong - he made every day weather recordings for a period of 5 years.

Akiestar

The Philippine case has less to do with weather (Boracay and Palawan, as well as lesser-known places like Panglao in Bohol, are outside the typhoon belt) than with the calendar: end-October is the mid-year break for students, which essentially is high season. It's our local version of spring break, so expect lots of tourists if you intend to come to Boracay or Puerto Galera.

PETEFLYS

I have booked a week in Bali for February but I have come to realize it is the rainy season. How rainy not sure? Would I be better off going somewhere else? I am already in Bangkok so was thinking of maybe staying in Thailand.
The question being stay with Bali or find a destination with more sun.

mario33

Phuket - weather should be nice in february & beaches are far better than those in Bali, plus its closer to Bangkok & you dont need an indonesian visa !