Relax Beach is a small beach that comes right after Long Beach and quite possibly belongs to it administratively – or rather to Ban Phra Ae village. But Relax is located quite far from the main Long Beach, so tourists consider it nothing other than the beach near Relax Bay Resort.
Cosy, wide, hidden from passing traffic behind 660 feet of palm groves and rural buildings. Not the cleanest of Lanta’s beaches. I’ve noticed that Lanta doesn’t have longtail boats, which throughout the rest of Thailand love to park along any beach. On the island this is apparently forbidden by law, and indeed – I didn’t see them on Long Beach or Klong Dao. But on Relax Beach, tucked away to one side, about five were standing there.
Beach Overview
The sand on Relax Beach is the same as all Lanta beaches: white-yellow when dry, and dark yellow when wet. In the water underfoot you encounter lots of small stones and coral – this is very noticeable during low tide.
The whole beach is a strip of sand 40-50 feet wide and roughly 1,500 feet long with rounded stone edges – the characteristic profile of a Thai ‘bay’. Besides the rocky formations on land at Relax Beach’s boundaries, there are stones underwater too, especially in the left part of the beach (if you’re facing the sea), whilst on the right there are far fewer.
The beach is maintained on one hand. You can see that on sections adjoining the resorts, the sand is cleaned and raked. But the deserted stretches of shore are littered with sea and human rubbish, which isn’t always cleared up promptly. I’d say this is a beach for those who love semi-wild or wild places, without amenities but also without crowds. A day or two maximum, then it gets boring here.
Swimming
If you stand facing the sea opposite Relax Beach’s central road on Lanta, you’ll have a cleaner water entry on your right, and a rocky, trip-hazard one on your left. So during Lanta’s low tides, Relax Beach remains swimmable on the right, whilst on the left the rocks are exposed and no one goes swimming there – it’s impossible.
At low tide, I measured that you need to go 33 feet from shore for roughly neck-deep water, whilst at high tide everything looks much more interesting. Already after about 16 feet it’s roughly neck-deep and you can swim along practically the whole beach length: there’s quite enough water level to swim with your feet down. There aren’t as many people as you get used to seeing on Thai beaches, so there’s definitely a relaxed atmosphere here.
Sunbeds and Shade
There’s no shade on the beach during the second half of the day. The reason is that the beach has been well washed by waves, and all the old trees were swept away long ago, leaving only wide sandy space. All the trees closest to the sea grow on private territory, where you simply can’t just wander in and flop down with a towel in the shade.
There’s good natural shade at the far edges of the beach, at any time of day, but this pleasure is offset by the flanks being unswimmable. However you look at it, swimming enthusiasts at Relax Beach will be doing a lot of walking in the sun. There are loungers and umbrellas at the beachfront cafés, plenty of them, but only for their own customers.
Beach Photos
Amenities
The whole shore is lined with ‘bamboo style’ cafés where they cook food, sell drinks and universally offer sun loungers.
From Relax Beach on Lanta to the main road is relatively close, but Ban Phra Ae village’s infrastructure on the road itself is already poorer than it was at Long Beach or Klong Dao. There’s paintball, a couple of little shops, some buildings, a motorbike service and lots of empty plots.
I’d say the beach is better suited to one-off visits than for staying, though if you’re getting about on foot rather than by motorbike, there’s everything necessary here for a tourist’s holiday life. Especially since Long Beach itself with its infrastructure is right next door.
Accommodation
The choice at Relax Beach isn’t particularly rich, so this selection of options is offered not by accommodation rating but purely by availability. On the front row are:
- Lazy Days Bungalows 3
- Andaman Bay Bungalow 2
- Relax Bay Resort
Getting to the Beach
According to the map, there are two routes to Relax Bay, and I only drove along one of them – it’s a proper concrete road, straight, leading from the main road to the sea. The landmark for the turn is the sign towards Lanta Happy Hill Resort 2, only you need to turn not towards Happy Hill but towards the sea.
The road to the beach is good, about 660 feet without dirt tracks and ends at parking right by the shore, with spaces for both motorbikes and cars. If you go by taxi, you’ll get there without problems, and if independently, then satnav will help – all the points are on the map below.
