Bangtao Beach is a 4.5-mile (7-kilometre) arc of shoreline that ends with a small cape in the south, where numerous windows and red villa roofs peek through the greenery on the hillside. The opposite northern end of the beach (Layan beach) is also enclosed by green hills, though these are much less developed.
Along almost the entire length, a wide strip of beach is framed by casuarina groves. The overall atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful. It’s quiet, spacious and uncrowded. Compared to neighbouring Surin, which lies south beyond the cape, Bangtao feels rather rustic and melancholic.
Beach Overview
Near the southern cape, fishing boats are usually anchored offshore, with rocks beginning right under the hill. The water near the boat parking isn’t particularly clean. Before the start of high season, there are sometimes days when tiny jellyfish, no bigger than a match head, appear in the water. They do sting, but not severely β it feels more like light tingling.
The sand is fairly light, with a yellowish-grey hue. The seabed is slightly muddy, making the water a bit cloudy, though it’s actually clean. During the off-season (summer), it gets quite littered as nobody cleans up, there are hardly any people and the beach looks somewhat abandoned. No sunbeds, no scooter rentals, no beach cafΓ©s.
Around April, waves and bad weather arrive, the timid package tourists leave, and the beach sinks into its rubbish-strewn melancholy, with fragments of door frames and smaller debris bobbing in the waves.
Tourists and infrastructure β sunbeds under umbrellas, beach vendors, small cafΓ©s and shops β only appear towards the end of autumn. The sea becomes calm and gentle.
Early mornings bring complete calm and bliss. Closer to New Year, the beach blossoms, displaying all the colours of stalls selling children’s toys and colourful t-shirts. Food is passed around, drinks are served β life bubbles over. You might occasionally spot rubbish in the water, but during high season this is more the exception than the rule.
The beach gets crowded near the clusters of beachfront hotels. The highest density is around the Best Western Premier Bangtao Beach Resort & SPA 4 and the Bliss Beach Club with its small pool, comfy sofas, green lawn and eye-watering prices for food and drinks.
If you walk away from the hotels along the beach, you can easily find completely deserted spots even during high season. Of course, there won’t be any amenities either. Just casuarinas and sand. If you’re interested in reading about other locations, I have a brief overview of all Phuket beaches to help you choose.
Swimming
The water entry is fairly gradual, becoming deep about 33 feet (10 metres) out. The seabed is quite even without rocks, making it generally suitable for children. During low tide, you can splash around in shallow water. The tide schedule here is rather complex.
Towards the end of the season, in March-April, strong low tides often occur in the evenings, though not every day. During the strongest low tides, you’ll need to walk about 150 feet (50 metres) in knee-deep water, with waves still present, the sea unsettled and often windy.
Before the season, in August-September, low tides happen in the morning, but the sea is usually calm then. In summer, during the off-season, it sometimes happens that the sea rises so much that only a thin strip remains of what is normally a fairly wide beach.
During the off-season, roughly all summer, swimming here is actually quite difficult β strong, large waves and unexpected debris in the water. Once in June, we watched part of a boat being tossed back and forth by the waves near the shore. But surfers love these waves!
Sunbeds and Shade
Near the Bliss Beach Club, there are neat rows of sunbeds under umbrellas. During high season, there are often four rows. On the row closest to the sea, they sometimes ask for 150 baht per sunbed. On the others β 100 baht.
It’s often the case that the same people collect fees for sunbeds and sell drinks and simple food from small carts or beach cafΓ©s. With certain communication skills, you can arrange a free sunbed by buying a drink from them.
Casuarina trees grow along almost the entire beach, and in places where large hotels adjoin the beach, you’ll also find palm trees. The beach is positioned so that the sun rises just from behind the line of tall trees growing along the shore.
Some tourists use this time for jogging on the compact sand along the shoreline. The water in the morning is cool, clean and calm, everything is quiet and peaceful. However, to catch all this beauty, you’ll need to rise with the first rays of sun, around 6-7 AM.
By 10-11 AM, it gets very hot and crowded. The shade from the trees almost disappears. At sunset, the sun sets into the sea, so from a certain point the shade from the umbrella also becomes rather nominal.
Fortunately, this happens close to sunset when the sun is no longer scorching. And then one of the most beautiful natural phenomena occurs β the sunset, one of Bang Tao beach’s major advantages.
Beach Photos
Bang Tao North (Layan beach or Lagoon beach)
Bang Tao Middle
Bang Tao South
Amenities
The southern part of the beach is the most developed in terms of infrastructure. Behind the resorts runs a small street with cafΓ©s and shops, as well as taxi ranks where drivers will take you to the Lotus supermarket and McDonald’s for 100-200 baht. These are located near the busy road about 1 mile (one and a half kilometres) from the shore.
Between this road and the beach lies a Muslim village with muezzin calls and chickens, interspersed with expensive villas and small hotels. Beyond the road, the village continues with houses available for rent. There are also a couple of 7-Elevens, a Super Cheap and a market near the main road.
Rows of little shops and local cafΓ©s stretch along the road all the way to Surin. There are two markets. One opposite Super Cheap, about 0.6 miles (1 kilometre) from McDonald’s.
The other is an evening market, just behind Lotus towards the beach. Each operates twice a week. Massage on Bang Tao beach costs 200-250 baht. There are longtail boat rides, scooter rentals and a dive centre. In the evenings, they lead a baby elephant along the beach.
Accommodation
Right on the beach you’ll find either large expensive hotels or villas for around 200,000 baht per month. There are practically no ordinary rental houses directly by the water along the entire stretch. The 2004 tsunami, which washed away all the small infrastructure, is to blame.
Behind the casuarina grove near the beach runs a quiet, narrow road, often bordered by fields with cows and bush-covered vacant lots. Further away are villas and houses of locals (mainly Thai Muslims). The main built-up area is in the southern part.
There are several condo-hotels with rooms for 1,000-1,500 baht per night, not directly on the beach but 650 to 1,650 feet (200 to 500 metres) away. Between the beach and the main road in the Muslim village, there are many houses for rent or rooms in two-storey houses.
You can also rent a house beyond the main road β it will be cheaper, but quite a trek to the sea. On average, it costs about 10-15 thousand baht per month at a distance of 0.6-1.2 miles (1-2 km) from the beach. A room costs from 7-9 thousand.
About halfway along the beach arc is a lagoon with houses along it:
There’s a very large hotel complex with its own infrastructure and ponds, next to which is the Laguna Phuket golf club. The northern part has almost no accommodation and is generally quite deserted.
How to Find the Beach
From the airport, it’s a 20-30 minute taxi ride to the beach, costing 600-1,200 baht. From Phuket Town it takes about the same time. From other beaches it takes longer, at least 40 minutes, because you’ll need to go through Phuket Town rather than along the coast. A taxi from Phuket Town costs 500-600 baht. You can take a motorcycle taxi, which is cheaper.
By public transport (songthaew), you can get here from Surin and Kamala for 40 baht, from other beaches with a change in Phuket Town, and from Phuket Town for 80 baht. If taking a songthaew, get off at McDonald’s.
Lotus is also there, with a tuk-tuk stand (motorcycle with trailer) where you can reach the beach itself in five minutes for 100 baht. In the off-season, you might negotiate down to 50 baht, while in high season they might ask for 150. By taxi β 200 baht. It’s about a 20-minute walk from the road where the songthaews run.
You can park your car by approaching the Bliss Beach Club or on the beach street behind the Best Western Premier Bangtao Beach Resort & SPA 4. You can squeeze a motorbike in almost anywhere.
