Cha-Am Beach

Running from north to south, Cha Am Beach faces east and catches the morning sun as it rises over the Gulf of Thailand.

A road runs the complete length of the beach with pine trees acting as a barrier between the two. At places this barrier is only a few meters while at others areas it could nearly be called a forest. This makes some stretches of sand more busier than others with the ease of access. The hotels, resorts and restaurants run up the landward side of the road and provide easy access.

For a quick cooling off after breakfast this is extremely convenient. If your after a bit more relaxation than fun then quieter stretches of the beach can be found a short walk up or down the road. We found the northern end of the beach much more deserted and of better quality.

The northern end of Cha Am beach nearly completely deserted apart from a few people under the trees.

In close up these turned out to be Buddhist Monks taking the solitude to contemplate something spiritual.

The busier places of the beach are the places for fun. Sitting under the shades hired for the price of a few Bhatt or taking and exhilarating ride on the inflatable's plus much more and all this is just a few steps from your resort.

While we can’t honestly say Cha Am beach is the best beach in Thailand is does score lots of points for it’s ease of access. Just a few hours from Bangkok along with a good range of affordable accommodation. Spend a just little more money and you have a luxurious resort like Baan Pantai where we stayed for a relaxing few days.

The beach slope was quite gently and there was never much risk of suddenly falling in to a hole and being over your depth. At the time we too to the waters a few jelly fish were spotted. These seemed to be quite harmless and the only stinging we had was from salt water in our eyes as we pretended to be 20 years younger and had a little fun in the waves.

Cha-Am Town

Moving inland from the cooling beach area is the town of Cha-Am. Around half a mile will take you to a more commercial and industrial location with a lot less sand. Most international vacationers might not find much to entice them here but it still worth a visit and say you’ve been there.

Walking all the way in the heat could be too far and it might be a better idea to take some transport. Motorcycle or bi-cycle hire are plentiful around the beach as well as the local form of Taxis, the back seat of a motorcycle so hold on tight. Even if you do not go all the way to town there are a few restaurants, mini markets and a stall market near the beach side.

Once in the town the beach life is left behind and we find a place more suited for Thailanders to work and live. These photographs are from a bridge over the road looking south (above) and north (below). At the time it did feel quit high and the railings a touch too low.

The day was hot and the heat was starting to have it’s effect so we really just had a short look around and decided to head back to a cooler location, the beach.

We never came back to see if the evening had more to offer, it might have became a bustle of activity as the day got cooler. This was a short break and we already had enough for us down nearer the sea front to keep us occupied for a few days.

Baan Pantai Boutique Resort

We had pre-booked our hotel online really through a process of elimination. Striking a line through the resorts that seemed on the large side, removing the ones that had no pool or what seemed like a long walk to the beach. That left us with just a few and prices to consider. We choose Baan Pantai or rather that is what we were left with on our list.

Having never been to Cha-Am before and nor really knowing much about the resort we did not have any idea what to expect apart from a few references from the web.

Just taking those few steps from outside on the beach road revealed what seemed like a different location. We were transported to a lush tropical garden with a massive pool. The busy beach road and bustle, although just a few meters away, seemed to vanish.

Altogether the hotel has just over 30 rooms, some are garden villas sprinkled around the pool. Sometimes it seemed that we were the only people staying there but even with full capacity I can still see this place being extremely quiet and spacious around the poolside.

We lazed around the gardens and pool and our only noticeable companions were the pool boy keeping the pool clean just in case we decided to take a cooling off and the wildlife in the garden. Birds singing as they hopped around the trees and the floating colours as large butterflys passed by.

The pool was actually three pools in one artistically set amongst the garden and water features to seem as natural as possible. The large pool was divided between a shallow side suitable for children or us adults who just wanted to immerse ourselves from the heat, the other side was a bit deeper but not deep enough to go over your head. The water overflowed into the third pool not that we needed more than one.

Baan Pantai hosts with a fitness centre where you could work off your overindulgence should you feel guilty. Somehow we never felt that guilty. Adjacent to the road side is the bar and restaurant with brilliant open views of the beach.

Staying here does cost a bit more than the cheaper places but you do get an extremely lot of quality for the cost. Other places that cost less might not even have air conditioning never mind a pool.

When we go on holiday we see a room as really a place to sleep and all the luxurious extras a bit unnecessary when you should be there for the culture, people, food, beaches and locations. The room was not the most luxurious available at the resort but was extremely high quality never the less. The house keepers were attentative every day, spacious and quality decoration thorough. But for me the balcony was a nice place to site out and enjoy the last moments of the night. To give an idea of how relaxing it felt, every day we had our morning coffee with a little bird no more than a few feet ways building its nest. So even the wildlife felt comfort here.