Actually, the correct way to say it is Si Tanu, not Srithanu or Shrithanu, but everyone says “Shri”. In general, there are three beaches in this area of Phangan that flow smoothly into one another: Si Thanu (also known as Srithanu) beach in the south, Ao Niad beach in the middle and Chao Pao beach in the north. Even at the planning stage, reading tourists’ reviews and long-stayers’ advice, I concluded that there’s always confusion with these three.
Most likely because long-stayers living on Phangan don’t use these toponyms, preferring to generalize all three beaches with one word – Srithanu. Perhaps that’s how it is, and the conditional division into parts appeared because all three beaches are separated from each other by stone scatterings.
I’ve made a separate post about Chao Pao beach because it’s quite isolated, while Srithanu and Ao Niad share common infrastructure, so the description will be the same for them, only the photos are different.
Beach Overview
Si Thanu (Sri Thanu) beach will be the first you encounter if you’re driving north from Thong Sala along the coast. Srithanu begins near a cluster of fishing boats, not far from the fairly well-known Orion café, then passes by these resorts:
- Phangan Cove Beach Resort
- Nice Sea Resort
- Seaview Rainbow Bungalow
- Phangan Cove Beach Resort
- Nice Sea Resort
and ends approximately opposite Laemson Bungalow.
The main feature of the beach: a channel runs parallel to the shore, which cuts off Srithanu from the rest of the island and you can only access it at certain points – more on this below.
Ao Niad beach is the second in the direction of travel and is located far from the main road (Hin Kong Road), in a sort of nature reserve pocket with a lake and palm groves, which is why the beach isn’t visible at all from the road.
Looking at it on the map, you can see that Ao Niad curves around the lake from the Laemson Bungalow huts to Golden Rock Bungalows. By the way, Ao Niad beach is sometimes called either Zen Beach or Naked Beach.
Chao Phao beach is a place where long-stayers don’t go at all, and it’s mainly inhabited by guests of local hotels, and I’ve already written about this beach in detail here. And one last clarification: if you stand on Zen Beach facing the sea and look to the right – there will be a part of the beach nicknamed the nudist beach. That is, Ao Niad is Zen plus Naked, that’s the beach arithmetic.
Swimming
All parts of the beach are the same in terms of sand and water entry: fine fluffy, light yellow sand closer to the grass, and small stones with coral fragments closer to the water, sometimes there are quite extensive scatterings of larger boulders.
If you’re lucky enough to catch the sea during high tide, at a distance of 16 feet (5 metres) from the shore the depth will reach your shoulders, and in general the sea depth at Srithanu varies greatly depending on the stage of the tide. Swimming here is nothing special: you can lie on your back or even attempt a front crawl, but at any moment you can stand up and catch your breath.
Srithanu is perfect for holidays with children; on normal days with good weather and a slight breeze I didn’t see serious waves here, but we’re not considering the storm season for obvious reasons.
Sunbeds and Shade
Sunbeds are only available on Si Thanu itself and only on resort territory. I assume that if you order a drink at the café, you can use the sunbeds, because there are always free loungers. I didn’t notice any unreal crowds of people at Srithanu, even in high season and peak daytime hours. As for Zen and Naked beaches – I didn’t see any sunbeds there, neither for rent nor private ones.
Shade is very sporadic, but firstly: trees along the water only grow on Zen and Naked beaches. And secondly: during low tide, the sea goes out so far that the beach becomes incredibly wide, and all the available shade ends up too far from the water – you’d get tired running back and forth.
So you have to choose – either swim or hide from the sun. Although, to be honest: during low tide on Phangan, there’s no point in swimming anyway – it’s too shallow, and this is typical for all beaches on the east of Phangan.
Beach Photos
Srithanu Beach
Zen Beach
Naked Beach
Amenities
Srithanu has loads of shops and cafés, with Thai and European establishments scattered along the road, and in general the streets are teeming with restaurants offering all possible cuisines of the world. There are two yoga centres, a bathhouse and lots of decent local cafeterias. Here, the infrastructure matches the colourful crowd that has taken a shine to Si Thanu for their holidays.
This area is constantly packed with yogis, raw foodists, vegans, all sorts of esoteric types – if you’re spiritually close to this lifestyle, you’ll definitely like it here. In my experience, the main hangout is at Orion, where people with laptops gather under one roof, working online, having snacks and socialising.
There are the well-known 7-Eleven and FamilyMart mini-markets and many purely Thai local shops. Among the attractions: Sweet Water Lake, which few people know was a flooded former tin mining quarry, the soil from which was dumped directly into the sea, which didn’t improve the already shallow bottom relief at all.
According to local long-time residents, no one has yet reached the bottom of the lake without special equipment.
Srithanu is home to the Orion wellness centre, where you can do yoga and visit the bathhouse; there’s also the Agama yoga centre, as well as a mass of cafés with cuisines from different countries of the world, ranging from a Jewish eatery (for example, Taboon) to an Italian restaurant.
By the way, Orion makes good burritos and fruit salads, and at the north of the beach there’s a Belgian restaurant with amazing beer. For vegans, there’s the famous Macrobiotic establishment. In short, I didn’t manage to visit all the establishments that my eyes saw, but this is understandable – you could really spend your whole holiday going to a new place every evening. While I lived at Si Thanu, I didn’t eat Thai food at all – I didn’t have time.
Zen Beach got its name thanks to the adjacent bungalow complex. Sometimes it’s called Dzen Beach – perhaps because musicians come here who, during the high season, arrange a daily jam session in the evening. With drums and wind instruments, they put on mini-concerts that gather a bunch of listeners.
I went to listen several times myself; they usually start at sunset, around five o’clock and continue until about seven o’clock, that is, until complete darkness falls. The point where these jams gather is on my map, there’s a dirt road leading to it, and in the worst case if you miss the exit to the beach, you can easily navigate by the crowd of people and music.
Accommodation
Si Thanu Beach is one of the areas of Phangan where not only tourists but also long-stayers like to stay. Houses are rented here right on the shore of Zen Beach, and there are several housing complexes a bit further away. There are many options in general, whether it’s the first line, the second, and there are places where houses stand right on the sand by the sea. I had friends who lived there for almost a year and say it’s a decent place.
There’s no problem with hotels either. If you’re not fussed about proximity to the sea, then you can not only live between the road and the sea, but also calmly look for a hotel deeper in the island, there are plenty of options. But here are, for example, 3 decent bungalow resorts at Srithanu, in two of which I stayed myself, all first line:
They’ve essentially taken over a bit of Srithanu beach: standing wall to wall. By the way, Phangan Cove Beach has a cool Thai café, civilised with a pleasant interior.
How to find the beach
Let’s consider several options, applicable to each of the parts of the Si Thanu area described above. All options assume we’re driving from Thong Sala along the shore, not through the centre of the island. That is, from south to north along the west coast.
Srithanu Beach. As I’ve already said, the peculiarity and problem of this beach is that a river channel runs from the lake to the sea, which goes parallel to the shore and thereby, as it were, cuts off the entire beach from the rest of the island. Therefore, you need to know the places where there are proper bridges across this river, which you can cross, or even better – drive across on a bike.
There’s a turnoff before reaching the main Si Thanu. The turnoff begins at the point where Hin Kong Road turns 90°. I can’t name landmarks, they’re all somewhat unreliable there, except for the turn itself. About 164 feet (50 metres) after the turnoff, the path will run off to the left towards Orion, but you don’t need to go there.
As soon as you spot advertising posters, turn right onto the path, and you’ll notice a bridge. After crossing it and following the path, you’ll reach Phangan Cove Resort. Another option is the Nice Sea Resort bridge, which you can access directly from the main road. Look for signs on the main road, drop your bike at the bridge and walk to the sea – this is normal, everyone does it. At Phangan Cove, by the way, there’s excellent Thai cuisine and you can have a good lunch.
Ao Niad Beach and Naked Beach. It’s better if someone shows you the way here, of course. Because in words, the description of the road looks somewhat complicated. Drive past the local 7-Eleven, there’s an inconspicuous turn towards the beach before the ticket office of the lake attraction (there will also be a large sign “Thai Cultural School”) and move along the road to the very end.
Ahead there will be a fork where you need to turn right and drive to the houses on the beach. You’ll see where many bikes are parked, leave your vehicle there and walk to the beach.
There’s another way to get to Naked Beach. You need to drive along Hin Kong Road past the lake and look for the Golden Rock Bungalows sign. When you see it – turn onto the narrow road. There’s a nuance: the path is shorter and more convenient here, but – you can’t ride a bike because this is a private road and Golden Rock Bungalows requires that you don’t use motorbikes.
So at a certain point, you’ll have to abandon the bike and walk to the beach. In theory, if you eat at their café or order a drink, then you can drive through the territory.
