Thailand with kids (Part One)- Dolphin Bay Resort

We just returned from 8 days in Thailand. The kids are off for 2 weeks due to Chinese New Year, so everyone takes off for somewhere.

My heart is full after a truly wonderful vacation. Normally, coming home makes me depressed. But this time, I just feel happy. I won't lie, the warm weather (75 today) and fact that I have another week off of work helps. So does the fact that I really like my life right now. But the real reason is that I just feel full to the brim with happiness about our trip. I loved watching my kids explore and learn about travel, another culture, animals. I had worried that they would be difficult during the Bangkok sightseeing part of our trip; instead, they were amazingly accommodating. We had a few days of relaxation, we swam with elephants, I finally went to a floating market. It was the best.

We first flew to Bangkok and rented a car service to drive us about 3.5 hours southwest to Sam Roi Yot, 38km south of Hua Hin. I had wanted to go to one of the famous islands like Phuket or Krabi, but could not find affordable flights or lodging by the time we were able to book. Sadly, Dolphin Beach was not particularly attractive (I am a beach person, so this was a big disappointment), but the hotel and sealife in the water made up for it.

 

The Dolphin Bay Resort is an adorable family resort with bungalows and 2 & 3 bedroom apartments. Our 2BR (including kitchen, balcony, and buffet breakfast) was spacious and comfortable. The hotel pools are right next to the restaurant so you can literally sit down, order your lunch/dinner, and call the kids out of the pool when the food arrives.  There were dozens of kids there who all played together from morning til night. Best of all, the restaurant was really affordable, so I wasn't stressed all the time about how much we were spending. I tend to stress about that...

We only did one outing- to Monkey Beach and a cave. The hotel sets up excursions to help local fishermen earn some extra money, so we rode on a basic fishing boat.

Upon arrival at Monkey Island, the fisherman gave us a bucket of bananas, and we looked around, not sure what to do. Then, the monkeys started arriving and they knew exactly what to do! Soon, the mamas and babies arrived. It was too cool!

After that, we boated over to see a local cave- about a 30 minute hike. There was a temple in the cave- really beautiful. We finished up with a refreshing swim.

Back at Dolphin Beach, L and I discovered that the beach was home to thousands of little hermit crabs! The tide was usually out, and you could dig your hand into the sand and come up with bunches of hermit crabs. On our last day, we convinced M to join us down there, and they didn't want to leave! We spent 2 or 3 hours swimming around in the warm water, finding crabs, starfish, and sand dollars...it is one of my most treasured memories. I wish I had a photo of that afternoon, but I will just have to carry the memory in my heart.

We are already planning our next trip to Thailand. The people are kind, the water is warm, and the food is amazing. What more can you ask for?