What can one expect from a beach in the middle of a large bustling Asian city, alongside which runs a busy road? Not everyone fancies a swim at Pattaya Central beach. It’s more likely to be merrymaking tourists and local children. The water near the shore is a bit mucky, with floating rubbish and empty bags visible.
In principle, they try to keep the beach clean – the pavement is neatly swept, sunbeds are arranged in orderly rows, palm trees grow green and rustle in the wind, the sea pleasantly laps with waves… But, since this is a busy city centre, there’s always someone sitting on the wide steps of the promenade eating something. Around, in Thai tradition, they sell all sorts of food and various goods.
Beach Overview
Pattaya Central Beach forms a neat symmetrical arc nearly 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long. The width of the beach varies depending on the tide phase, plus there are wider sections and narrower ones. At high tide, the width is about 50 feet (16 meters) on average; at low tide, the beach is much wider. The sand on the beach is fine, yellow, with flecks of small pebbles.
To the north, Pattaya Beach is bounded by a cape, beyond which begins Wong Amat beach. At the southern end of the beach is the famous Walking Street, followed by a pier with ferries to Ko Lan. Beyond the pier, the beach ends with a cape with a lighthouse and park, where huge red letters spelling PATTAYA are located, and above them, on the hill – an observation deck with an excellent view of the city centre and beach.
Often the beach hosts various public festivities and celebrations. All this makes keeping the beach clean rather an uphill struggle. Many see rats on the beach at night, and all sorts of horrible rubbish in the water. Moreover, tipsy tourists often don’t behave in the best manner. Despite all this, however, during the day and at sunset the beach looks quite idyllic.
Especially for those who love being in a crowd. Quite a few people always come to watch the sunset, Thais (and tourists too) spread mats and have traditional group picnics on the beach. It’s also nice to sit in a sunbed with a bottle of whatever you fancy, soaking up the pulse of life of this somewhat peculiar Asian resort.
Swimming
During high tide, only a small strip of beach remains, especially where there are many rows of sunbeds. The bottom is silty, on the northern end of the beach it’s a bit mucky. Near Walking Street and further, by the pier, urbanisation reaches such a scale that going into the water tempts one only hypothetically. Entry into the water is not very steep in most parts of the beach.
At low tide, the beach is wide, the water recedes far, tens of metres, the coastal strip becomes a marsh with shallows. Very large waves are rare; it’s mostly quite calm.
Sunbeds and Shade
Along the beach runs a wide pavement, with tall palm trees planted, and more trees grow along the edge of the pavement on the beach side, but not in a continuous line – with gaps. Sunbeds under umbrellas are also not continuous, but in clusters, though in many rows. Wednesdays are days without sunbeds. Natural shade can be found in principle, but usually on the beach there are many not only holidaymakers but also locals and vendors. So there might not be enough shady spots for everyone.
Beach Photos
Amenities
Since this is the very centre of a large tourist city, along the beach there’s literally everything a tourist’s rich imagination could desire. Shopping centres such as Central Festival and Mike Shopping Mall face directly onto the road along the beach. On the second road, in the northern part of the beach, there’s Big C Supercenter.
On the pavement along the beach, you’ll find stalls with drinks and food vendors; in the evenings and especially during festivals, they also sell all sorts of Chinese knick-knacks from stalls. Across the road from the beach, there are many 7-Eleven and Family Mart shops, simple Thai shops and stalls, markets, cafes and restaurants. The famous Walking Street also consists of clubs, cafes and shopping.
There are plenty of attractions around too. The southern part of the beach ends with Walking Street and, beyond it, a cape with a hill. There’s a park with huge red letters spelling PATTAYA, an observation deck and a large golden Buddha statue. On the first beach street, there are also Ripley’s museum, teddy bear museum, and on the second beach street – the Art in Paradise 3D paintings gallery museum, Alcazar show and many others.
Closer to the north, not far from the centre, there are several large souvenir shops (Otop, Lukdod) and the Gems Gallery precious stones factory.
Accommodation
All accommodation is located beyond Beach Road. Among others, there are several high-rises with expensive hotels:
- Hilton Pattaya 5
- Holiday Inn
- Amari Residences
- Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya 4
- Siam Bayshore Resort Pattaya – Sha Extra Plus 5
Budget accommodation is also available, but slightly deeper into the streets, without sea views. Condos can be found, but this will be the very centre of the city with all the downsides of such a location.
There are almost no houses for long-term rent here, but you can find a small hotel with green grounds. For example, Twin Palms Resort 3 – with a garden and simple rooms.
How to find the beach
The beach is right in the centre of Pattaya, along it runs a busy road – Beach Road. At the southern edge, the beach transitions into Walking Street, one of Pattaya’s symbols. Also in the centre of the beach, across the road, there’s a brown high-rise, with a large Central Festival shopping centre at the bottom, and Hilton hotel on the upper floors.
Behind the first Beach Road, parallel to it and the beach, runs the Second Beach Road, and even further parallel to the shoreline runs the large Sukhumvit Road, where intercity buses travel, including those from Suvarnabhumi Airport and Bangkok. Three major roads connect Pattaya Beach and Sukhumvit: North, Central and South. Regular tuk-tuks run along these streets.
If you arrive at the North station or the station on Tappraya Road, it’s easy to get from there by public transport to Beach Road or Second Beach Road in central Pattaya. Traffic on these two streets is one-way. On the first – from north to south, on the second – from south to north.
From Sukhumvit, you can change to a regular tuk-tuk to the city centre at one of the three intersections (with North, Central or South streets). In the opposite direction, from the centre to Sukhumvit, you can also travel on them. Besides public transport, you can also use a taxi (in the form of a tuk-tuk or car or motorbike taxi) from virtually any point in the city.
