Club Med Cherating Beach

Club Med Cherating calls itself an eco-nature resort and it was clear that they try to leave their piece of rainforest in its natural state as far as possible. Indeed we encountered three snakes in the resort in just five days – one up a tree on the beach, one near the tennis courts and a bright green and no doubt venomous one sunbathing on a wooden bridge over a picturesque lotus pond. My son nearly placed his hand on this last one by accident. On hearing the commotion, one of the resort’s staff (or G.O’s as they are known) came over to investigate. This guy from Mauritius picked up a stick and tried to impress some female guests by showing off his snake handling skills. However the snake wriggled off, fell into the long grass and scattered us in all directions.

Apart from this minor incident we found the G.O.’s to be entertaining, helpful and friendly.

The highlight of the stay for me (and, I suspect, most of the other guests) was the food which, we all agreed, was probably among the best we have tasted anywhere.

Every eagerly awaited mealtime, the buffet tables were groaning under the weight of delicious dishes of every imaginable cuisine – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Indian, Italian, International and more. The excellent freely-flowing house wines which, together with beer and soft drinks were all included in the package price, slipped down very nicely. It would have been easy to over-indulge but we managed to keep food and alcohol intake within reason.

There was only one swimming pool – perhaps surprising these days for a resort of this size – but it had different sections including a shallow part for young kids. There was always a vigilant life guard on duty.

The main beach was beautiful and almost deserted. The sea was quite rough and potentially dangerous but another beach where the kayaking and sailing took place was calmer and safer.