Nai Harn could be called a dream beach for its charm and lush nature. The beach is located in the southwestern part of Phuket Island, neighbouring the beaches of Yanui and Ao Sane.
It’s just my opinion but I’d say that Nai Harn is the best beach in Phuket for a long stay. You’ll need to rent a house in nearby Rawai and it’s essential to sort out some transport along with your accommodation.
Beach Overview
The shoreline is straight, just under 2,300 feet (700 metres) long and a bit more than 160 feet (50 metres) wide. During the day there are sunbeds on the beach but not nearly as many as at Patong or Karon. The thing is, Nai Harn has caught the fancy of not only foreign tourists but Thai locals who often come here for family picnics.
Even during high season the beach doesn’t feel overrun with people. The Nai Harn area is perfect for a holiday retreat. It has all the standard tourist facilities: cafés, restaurants, bars, sports grounds, souvenir shops and currency exchanges.
Nai Harn is surrounded on both sides by palm groves which adds to the bay’s cosiness and gives it a cinematic quality. Night life on the beach is practically non-existent so restless souls get bored here and head off looking for livelier spots.
Most people staying at Nai Harn set up camp in one of the few bars right on the beach and spend their days over cocktails watching the sunsets. There aren’t many noisy motorboats or jet skis cluttering up Nai Harn which has a positive effect on the overall atmosphere.
In case anyone’s interested in reading about other places, I have a brief overview of all Phuket beaches to help you decide which beach to choose.
Swimming
Although the whole beach at Nai Harn is suitable for swimming, people usually settle near the sunbeds which are concentrated in a couple of specific spots on the beach, mainly in the centre.
The entry into the water is smooth and during the autumn-winter months there are practically no waves, so the beach is full of children. The water itself is clean and clear and the sand on the beach is fine, in warm beige tones.
In late spring and summer the monsoons come, which means frequent rains, storms, waves and dangerous underwater currents. At this time of year, red flags indicating danger when entering the water are constantly put up at Nai Harn. It’s best to refrain from swimming as rip currents are very dangerous business.
Sunbeds and Shade
Nai Harn somehow resembles a lost lagoon from films about paradise life on tropical islands. Palm thickets, a wide strip of sand and lazy transparent waves create a feeling of seclusion and peace.
The sunbeds on the beach are arranged in just 2-3 rows and stand quite freely from each other, not creating a feeling of overcrowding and discomfort.
The price for renting a sunbed with an umbrella is 100 baht. Right in front of the beach, in the palm grove, there’s a small village of bars, restaurants and other buildings – in general, there’s more than enough shade here.
Beach Photos
Amenities
Everything necessary for a tourist holiday can be found right at Nai Harn, but the selection is very small. The beach is intended more for lazy, peaceful relaxation, when you don’t really need much and a couple of cafes and the hotel restaurant are enough to brighten your leisure time.
If you need something more, you’ll have to travel to some other place deeper into the island. If you plan to explore the island, ideally you should have a rented bike or car at hand.
You can snorkel at Nai Harn, although of course for proper snorkelling you need to go somewhere further out to sea with an excursion. In summer you can go surfing. Given that the beach is quite popular with the Thais themselves, there are no major entertainment establishments here.
Locals often come there for picnics with family and small children, and they have no use for all these bars and discos.
Near the beach there are only a few attractions: the Buddhist temple-monastery Nai Harn Monastery, Nai Harn Lake (the central place for active sports entertainment) and the Windmill viewpoint near the windmills, but it will be difficult to get there on foot as it’s uphill.
Accommodation
Nai Harn Beach is not very developed in terms of accommodation. Most of the land around the beach belongs to the Nai Harn Buddhist temple which doesn’t bless the construction of hotels.
Therefore, there are only 3 hotels on the beach itself and several villas located deeper on the island. The place of their construction is strictly verified and presented in the form of a village.
And beyond the territory of the Buddhist temple, a large number of hotels for all tastes have been built, but – the road from them to the beach is about 10 minutes. The price for a hotel room starts from 700 baht per night, and for a villa you’ll have to pay much more.
The well-known hotel The Nai Harn 5 is located directly on Nai Harn Beach.
This is a high-class hotel with the highest levels of comfort. Participants of the royal regatta stay there. Of course, the cost of a room there is extremely high and starts from 6500 baht per night.
The hotel is well equipped. In addition to comfortable amenities, you can rent a car there, order a transfer to Phuket airport or to the city.
It’s precisely because there aren’t many hotels here, which means no package tourists, that many long-stayers live here. Yes, they don’t live right by the shore, but 5-15 minutes away by bike. All the surrounding areas, including the Rawai and Chalong districts, are rich in housing and in particular houses for rent. We ourselves once lived here.
How to find the beach
To get from the airport, you’ll have to take a taxi or rent a car/motorbike as there’s no public transport. Buses run from Phuket Town to Nai Harn Beach at a price of 30 baht per ticket. From one of the nearest beaches (Kata, Karon or Yanui) you’ll also have to travel on your own.
If you still decide to get to the beach on your own, keep in mind there’s no direct road to Nai Harn, you’ll have to turn off the main highway and follow the signs (several turns). As a landmark, you can use the sign to Promthep Cape.
Since the beach is located in almost the southernmost part of the island, a road passes through it, encircling the southwestern part of Phuket and passing through Nai Harn and Yanui.
That is, if you follow strictly south from Patong along the shore, first there will be Karon Beach, then Kata, after which you need to go deeper into the island to the Nai Harn area (a small town with the same name as the beach), from which follow the signs to the south until you reach the beach of your dreams.
