Top Things to do in Ko Pha Ngan
The 10 Best Things to Do in Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand
We're guessing they don't have a werewolf problem in Koh Phangan, because every month on the full moon, thousands of people take part in the Full Moon Party's all-night festivities, including music on the beach. By day, you'll find a lovely island with coconut trees and plenty of sandy white beaches. If you're a diver, visit Sailrock for a spectacular wall dive.
Restaurants in Ko Pha Ngan
1. Diamond Muay Thai
Overall Ratings
5 based on 199 reviews
Diamond Muay Thai is an authentic Thai boxing camp on the picturesque island of Koh Phangan, south Thailand. Our gym offers outstanding technical Muay Thai training for professional fighters, Muay Thai enthusiasts and tourists alike. We provide intensive Thai boxing instruction whilst maintaining a friendly and open atmosphere. At Diamond Muay Thai we are passionate about Thai boxing and see it as our purpose to share authentic, unfiltered Muay Thai with our students. There are many reasons why visiting the gym is a good idea for you. If you are interested in losing weight, improving your fitness…or if you are travelling through Thailand and are looking to experience another aspect of Thai culture- Diamond Muay Thai welcomes you.
Reviewed By Alexander020 - Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
We had a great time at Diamond Muay Thai. Loved the trainers, who are very focussed on learning students the correct technique and know how to deal with students of different abilities and ambitions. We both train boxing / kickboxing in The Netherlands and were looking for some good technical training in Muay Thai, and that is what we got. Good student-to-teacher ratio in the group lessons, and I would recommend doing some one-on-one trainings as well. Food after the morning and afternoon training was delicious.
We stayed in one of Diamond Muay Thai's Deluxe rooms, which was basic but clean and comfortable. Just one thing: would have been nice if towels were provided.
Will definitely come back! Thanks to the team.
2. Kobra Muay Thai Boxing Stadium
Overall Ratings
5 based on 189 reviews
Reviewed By tomer k
the best place for your "over active" kids.
the owner of this club, and his team, are amazing with kids. took us in to a real scheduled practice.
allowed the kids to experience and explore the Muay Thai techniques.
the kids trained with other grown-up trainees, and felt part of the "real thing".
it was so good, that we visited twice.
do yourselves a favour and take the kids.
by far, this ia an attraction to remember.
3. Thong Nai Pan Noi
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 920 reviews
4. Thong Nai Pan Yai Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 471 reviews
Reviewed By Mari B - Durbanville, South Africa
Lovely beach with lots of beach bars and restaurants to choose from. Powdery white sand and small waves.
5. Haad Yuan Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 190 reviews
Reviewed By blackeldo - Kiama, Australia
Half the people who stay at HAD YUAN are FULL MOOM PARTY overflows who haven’t found accommodation at HAD RIN to the south. But the fact is, HAD YUAN is a pretty sweet beach and can stand on its own any time.
THE SCENE
A medium length (400m) beach of white sand, plenty of width, usually fairly clean, surrounded by steep slopes. Water tend to be fclear (although I’ve not visited in WET SEASON when wind blow flotsam is more likely to end up on eastern facing beaches) and seems to reach swimming depth normally. All but one of my 5 visits has seen CALM conditions, although wet season is known to bring strong easterly winds which whip up the surf. YUAN is not a snorkeling mecca although there is a bit of fringing coral and plenty of fish along both headlands.
The beach and headlands are lined with accommodation options. Most are backpacker-flashpacker standard although PARIYA RESORT is mid-range. Barcelona and BIG BLUE may class their top priced options a step up from flashpacker too. I’ve stayed at BAMBOO and CLUB BAR EXCHANGE – both budget with great views from their restaurants. Prices had increased at BAMBOO latest visit – figures, the BURMESE OWNERS like most immigrants, try harder. This along with the great position attracts diners from right across the beach.
CAVEAT – all is not serene on YUAN. On the northern headland, budget bungalow EDEN throws a party each TUESDAY and SATURDAY with loud music all or most of the night. Noise sensitive people staying at nearby resorts (BAMBOO, BIG BLUE or DREAM may be discomforted – in MARCH 2017 at CLUB BAR EXCHANGE across the bay on the opposite headland I could hear distant music but it wasn’t a big deal.
Note too that my 2017 visit saw one of the bars on the beach offering a SUNDAY day-evening party. This didn’t seem to last into the early hours.
SERVICES/SHOPPING – there is no village. BIG BLUE has a good little supermart with most things visitors have forgotten. Lotsa shopping back in HAD RIN of course, but a longtail there aint cheap.
TREKKING
–TO HADS THIAN and WHY NAME - the LEAST CHALLENGING is the hike north to these adjoining Beaches - 30 mins. Short but rewarding – these are lovely spots. Gets a bit steep over the divides but for 3 mins max.
-TO HAD RIN over the high steep divide is way more challenging; only keen experienced trekkers should try. 90/120 mins each way – some very steep slopes. The start of the track is 350-400m to the RIGHT when you hit the road to BAN TAI from BIG BLUE’s access track (look for the marker bottles) – the first 50m is a narrow scramble up a steep bank, after which the track is pretty well defined– marked by frequent bottles on bushes. At the top a short side track leads to a good viewpoint over YUAN, but all potential views of HAD RIN are severely bush filtered
-UP THE EAST COAST – I heard it’s possible to trek the entire east coast but this has eluded me – certainly there is no path beyond WHY NAM beach. But the latest GOOGLE EARTH image suggests some tracks heading north off the BAN TAI road. These seem relatively recent and more like rough roads – the rugged east coast between WHY NAM and HAD SADET is PHANGAN’s last frontier – has to be opened up to resorts sometime soon.
ACCESSS
-FROM HAD RIN - a road comes over the rugged Mountains from BAN TAI on the south coast a few km west of RIN, but it’s very rough and steep, sometimes impassable in bad weather. Hence, mort people come in from RIN EAST/SUNRISE beach on longtail taxi-boats. The trip is short - 10-15 minutes. Cost is steep – 300b in MARCH 2017 which I’ve always considered a rip-off (particularly since boaties will not take off with fewer than 10/12 passengers) but having seen the difficulty of getting boats off the sand as the tide drops and out through the rough surf (not too common) I’m a bit more relaxed about this. The boats supply life jackets for the nervous - great for kids.
The latest GOOGLE EARTH image shows someone has cut a dirt road up the steep divided between RIN and YUAN, starting about a km west of RIN. This seems to peter out at the top – maybe it’s a work in progress or maybe GOOGLE’s image definition fails to show its continuation.
-FROM PHANGAN’s MAIN PIER AT THONG SALA – Ferries from the Mainland and KOs SAMUI/TAO arrive at this main pier in the south-west of the island. Public songthaews (pickup truck taxi buses) waiting for the Ferries shuttle the 12km (30mins) across to HAD RIN. 100baht latest trip which I think is getting a bit pricey - they will drop you at the entrance to the short lane down to the beach and longtails. The trip tends to be dusty and uncomfortable. If you charter one as your personal taxi rather than share insist on sitting in the aircon cabin and negotiate the fare beforehand.
-FROM SAMUI’S AIRPORT AND NORTH COAST – the quickest way from the 3 islands’ only airport is via a small ferry, the HAD RIN QUEEN, which shuttles between a pier near Samui airport and HAD RIN’s small harbour at the western end of the cross peninsula street several times a day.
You can grab a longtail at the pier to YUAN but this is triple the distance compared to HAD RIN SUNRISE – I’m not sure how much this would cost. WALKING across the narrow peninsula to HAD RIN SUNRISE is 10 minutes, no hills but maybe a bit of a hassle with bags in the heat. If so charter songthaew taxis are waiting – I wouldn’t pay more than 50 baht per person for this short trip.
WHEN TO VISIT.
Dry season of course is best –the driest months tend to be mid JAN into late MARCH from where there is a BIT more rainfall, but it doesn’t get into REALLY WET SEASON until late SEPT/early OCT. Rain starts to trail off from mid DEC into early JAN. PHANGAN and the Southern Gulf have a DIFFERENT WET SEASON to most of Thailand’s APRIL/MAY into NOVEMBER deal.
Wet season is usually no reason not to visit– many days have scattered showers/storms interrupted by warm Sunshine. Some days see the rain at night and dry days with maybe not a cloud in the sky. You can get a string of rainless days (not necessarily cloudless). But one difference in the Southern Gulf – prolonged rainy, blowy periods sometimes lasting several days can set in. Happens one in every 3 to 4 years, not necessarily on a regular basis. For this reason all but one of my dozen wet season Thai visits has avoided the southern Gulf.
However if my itinerary dictated a wet season visit to this area and I really wanted to see it, I’d go for it.
My latest MARCH trip saw blustery EASTRLY WINDS all 6 days in the area. This is the first time I’ve experienced these but I’d suggest the LEAST chance is super dry mid JAN into late MARCH – this will increase a bit until late SEPT/early NOV with most chance in the real wet period thru to mid DEC.
Note you can get some very good accommodation deals in the wetter period. Also in shoulder season – mid MARCH into APRIL even though weather is usually good. Tourist numbers pick up after that because wet season is kicking in at OTHER Thai beach areas, but it rarely gets as busy as PHANGAN’s high season late DEC-early MARCH. SEPT sees tourist numbers again start to taper off –another shoulder even though the area’s wet season is usually a month away.
Hope some of the above info is useful in your planning for HAD RIN gang.
6. Bottle Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 837 reviews
Reviewed By Mikael D - Copenhagen, Denmark
We experienced this little pearl of a clean and nice beach - both at high and low tide. It's a windy beach with a tendency for waves and it gets deep fast when you go into the water. It's very easy to fall in love with this nature beach and just stay and relax in the sun, wind and water noises. A few restaurants supplies with everything you need to feel well. Must recommend this place
7. Haad Yao Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 302 reviews
Reviewed By davidwilliambarnes - Blackpool, United Kingdom
A pleasant enough beach that was sandy and soft - great for walking. The water was warm and clear but shallow for swimming. Although there some restaurants/ bars we didn’t use them - the main attraction for us was the stunning sunset. Well worth the short walk to experience.
8. The Secret Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 188 reviews
Blissful and idyllic. White sands to sink in, calm waters to chill in. Cocktails, fruit shakes, good food, gorgeous sunsets. We think: paradise.
Reviewed By Vasco P
Nice beach bar with good food and drinks. The sand is pristine with the occasional algae that the tide brings. The water is calm and usually transparent. On the right side on the beach, besides the snorkeling spot, one can find a bar/restaurant with more consistent and diverse offer. Lots of people take this shortcut to dive in the snorkelling spot.
9. Hat Sadet Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 127 reviews
10. Salad Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 847 reviews
Reviewed By Tripfan7 - Ireland
This is a beautiful beach, with some wonderful local restaurants. No jetskis due to reef which you can easily swim out to . At high tide, there is wonderful swimming, but at low tide, you have to wade out a long way to swim. Ideal for children. Very safe. We returned after 5 years, and found it virtually unchanged which is such a relief, as we found other areas of Thailand very changed, and not for the better. We stayed for 2 weeks in Salad Hut, and loved it.
