Picturesque, quiet and quite extensive, Nopparat Thara is located next to the most popular beach in this area – Ao Nang. The further from Ao Nang you go, the less developed the beach becomes. At the far end, civilisation disappears completely. At the furthest point from Ao Nang, the beach ends with a beautiful casuarina grove and a boat pier where the river meets the sea.
The beach is located within Hat Nopparat Thara National Park but is completely free and accessible to everyone. However, there aren’t many tourists here as it’s much less popular than neighbouring Ao Nang. So you can quite easily enjoy some peace and quiet here (except on weekends when Thai locals come for picnics and leave quite a bit of rubbish behind).
Beach Overview
The part of the beach adjacent to Ao Nang is more developed in terms of infrastructure. There are several large expensive hotels, tourist cafes and entertainment options. A road runs along the beach, and between it and the sand there’s a narrow strip of trees, a path and a concrete barrier – a favourite resting spot for local Thais, especially at weekends.
As you get closer to the end of the beach (if travelling from Ao Nang), the strip between the road and the sea widens, and there’s a proper casuarina forest (the national park). The beach isn’t particularly clean, though it’s picturesque in its own right, even if it’s not exactly picture-postcard perfect. Usually, most people go to Ao Nang beach as it’s more attractive.
Swimming
In the part of the beach that adjoins Ao Nang, the sea is very shallow, knee-deep. On one hand, it’s convenient for children to swim. On the other hand, just like the neighbouring beaches, there are significant tides, during which the water recedes so far that swimming is out of the question. The seabed at low tide is slightly muddy with lots of crabs and small pebbles. The sand on the beach is light grey with a yellow tint.
At the far end from Ao Nang, where the river flows into the sea, the water is deeper. It’s best to come here timing your visit according to the tide table. That’s what we did, otherwise it was like this – you arrive and there’s no sea, so we had to go back home. We chose roughly the middle of the beach for ourselves – there’s parking space, it’s relatively clean, not many people, and far from the river.
Sunbeds and Shade
There’s plenty of natural shade from trees along the entire beach. But the shade is only available until noon. Occasionally, you’ll also find benches along the beach. Further towards the pier, tall casuarinas grow along the beach, where the national park begins. There are no sunbeds on the beach.
Beach Photos
Amenities
At the far end from Ao Nang (right side), where the boat pier is located, a picturesque sandy spit extends far into the sea which you can walk along. You can go especially far during low tide. There are also several small rocks here covered with bushes on top. There are virtually no cafes or shops right on the beach, maybe just a couple.
However, if you cross the road that runs along the beach, there’s a continuous row of cafes, shops, salons and stalls with all sorts of things – everything for tourists. If you venture deeper into the area, you’ll find a 7-11 and a market near the mosque that operates on certain days.
Accommodation
Almost the only major beach resort here is AO Nang Beach Resort 2, located where Ao Nang beach transitions into Nopparat Thara, across the road from the sea. There are also hotels, but they’re not on the beach but across the road from it, and they’re quite basic, bungalow-style. The main part of the hotels is a bit inland.
Near Holiday Inn there’s another similar one – Aonang All Seasons Beach Resort 3.
About midway along the beach, there’s a guesthouse with good ratings and not expensive at all – Massage Corner Guesthouse 2. This beach area is currently being developed and many construction projects have started, so there will probably be more large resorts on the beach in the future.
The main part of houses for monthly rental is in Ao Nang, but there are also houses in the Nopparat Thara area. None of them are quite within walking distance from the sea, the closest are a 15-minute walk away (1 kilometer), but there aren’t many of them.
How to Find the Beach
The road along Ao Nang beach goes around the mountain and continues along Nopparat Thara beach, so finding this beach is no trouble at all.
