TrongpaiExpat
March 4th, 2010, 21:48
I was looking to explore the beaches of Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat Provinces having in the past only flew by as a point of embarkation to Ko Samet or Ko Chang. I notice on the map the names of beaches that you seldom hear anything about: Phueng beach,Suanson, Pines, Hin Suai, Ban Swan, Khung Whitman and Chao Lao beach. . Lonely Planet describes Ban Phe as only a place to get the boat to Ko. Samet and of no interest there or further down the coast. I was intrigued by the names of the beaches and ignoring the travel books we set off to explore the coastline. Rt. 3 follows the coast but there's a smaller road that hugs the coast line, rt.3145, it breaks up every now and then but then resumes following the coast.
The hotel options by internet searching did not offer much in the mid range, it's either high end or low. We went with the high end option, the Novotel Rim Pae Resort Rayong. The ground and pools were nice but the room we had was just your basic western style hotel room, with a rather small bathroom. I book via Agota and perhaps did not get the best room for their prices. It was at 100% occupancy. Full of Euro families, middle aged Euros and some Thai couples. Most do not have their own transportation and there's no local transportation, they get met at the airport and are shuttled directly to this resort where they live at the pool and the beach.
Food at the Noveltel was ridiculously overpriced but might have been nice. Since we had our own transportation, we were not tethered to this resort. The beach and the water was pristine. There's not much in the way of beach chairs, or umbrellas, no beach concessions , just natural beach, sandy bottom, clean water and few people. No rip currents, waves manageable and nearly deserted.
The coast line of Rayong has some scattered development. The land side of the road is mostly undeveloped. One or two new condos are going up and a scattering of "resorts". There's a lot of cleared sea side land that looks like it's just waiting for a buyer. Some have access roads where some take advantage of going to their own little private beach. We found a few on our own that were unoccupied.
Ban Phe has a nice little aquarium and for 30B entry you can't complain. Starting at Ban Phe and working our way down the coast in the direction of Trat along Hwy 3145. The first beach you come to is Pines Beach, named for the pretty tall pines that lines both sides of the road. On the weekend this beach was quite busy with Thai picnickers who back up their pick-up's to the wall, leaving one hell of a pile of garbage along the beach. Some at sunset then venture out for a swim and the water looks a lot cleaner than the beach. Perhaps a weekday would not be so offensive. On the far end of Pines Beach there's some roadside wooden and thatched roof food concessions and since you can't back a truck in at this point the beach is cleaner. The food is inexpensive and excellent. You can see the lights on the beach at Ko Samet at night.
The next beach comes to an interesting cove ending in a Wat overlooking the sea, Suanson beach. The beach here is clean and good for swimming, sandy bottom. This beach has the same wooden style roadside Thai eateries but are more low keyed, quiet and it's less of a party beach. Some of the restaurants offer beach chairs covered in thatched covered roofs, total shade. Again, most Thai venture out at dusk for a swim, only the children (perhaps mad dogs) venture out in the mid day's sun.
Next beach is Cape Mai Phim. This is were the Novetel is located. There's two sections of Mai Pim on either side of the cape. The far side is a huge beach with roadside concessions, covered beach chairs and food service. It's a soft sand beach with good swimming. The water depth says about 2 meters for quite some distance for the challenged swimmers. Waves were moderate and no rip currents.
There's a few roads that dead end into the beach from Rt 3. and one expanse that not assessable. I see that there's a Royal Palace in there someplace. The road picks up in Chanthaburi province and there's three beaches along the coast, Witmam, Laem Sadat and Chao Lao. These are nice looking and nearly deserted beaches. There's a few places to stay and several places for good food. These beaches are more natural than those in Rayong but not as good for swimming.
Just before getting to Trat province, the coast gets jaggeder in mangroves and inlets. I noticed but did not have to time to explore this area by boat or sea kayak. We headed off to Laem Ngop to take the ferry to Ko Chang for a few nights. I noticed on the map another series of beaches that line that narrow section wedged between the sea and Cambodia. Perhaps someone has explored that coast and can comment?
I'll file a second report on our stay at Ko Chang when I get a chance.
The hotel options by internet searching did not offer much in the mid range, it's either high end or low. We went with the high end option, the Novotel Rim Pae Resort Rayong. The ground and pools were nice but the room we had was just your basic western style hotel room, with a rather small bathroom. I book via Agota and perhaps did not get the best room for their prices. It was at 100% occupancy. Full of Euro families, middle aged Euros and some Thai couples. Most do not have their own transportation and there's no local transportation, they get met at the airport and are shuttled directly to this resort where they live at the pool and the beach.
Food at the Noveltel was ridiculously overpriced but might have been nice. Since we had our own transportation, we were not tethered to this resort. The beach and the water was pristine. There's not much in the way of beach chairs, or umbrellas, no beach concessions , just natural beach, sandy bottom, clean water and few people. No rip currents, waves manageable and nearly deserted.
The coast line of Rayong has some scattered development. The land side of the road is mostly undeveloped. One or two new condos are going up and a scattering of "resorts". There's a lot of cleared sea side land that looks like it's just waiting for a buyer. Some have access roads where some take advantage of going to their own little private beach. We found a few on our own that were unoccupied.
Ban Phe has a nice little aquarium and for 30B entry you can't complain. Starting at Ban Phe and working our way down the coast in the direction of Trat along Hwy 3145. The first beach you come to is Pines Beach, named for the pretty tall pines that lines both sides of the road. On the weekend this beach was quite busy with Thai picnickers who back up their pick-up's to the wall, leaving one hell of a pile of garbage along the beach. Some at sunset then venture out for a swim and the water looks a lot cleaner than the beach. Perhaps a weekday would not be so offensive. On the far end of Pines Beach there's some roadside wooden and thatched roof food concessions and since you can't back a truck in at this point the beach is cleaner. The food is inexpensive and excellent. You can see the lights on the beach at Ko Samet at night.
The next beach comes to an interesting cove ending in a Wat overlooking the sea, Suanson beach. The beach here is clean and good for swimming, sandy bottom. This beach has the same wooden style roadside Thai eateries but are more low keyed, quiet and it's less of a party beach. Some of the restaurants offer beach chairs covered in thatched covered roofs, total shade. Again, most Thai venture out at dusk for a swim, only the children (perhaps mad dogs) venture out in the mid day's sun.
Next beach is Cape Mai Phim. This is were the Novetel is located. There's two sections of Mai Pim on either side of the cape. The far side is a huge beach with roadside concessions, covered beach chairs and food service. It's a soft sand beach with good swimming. The water depth says about 2 meters for quite some distance for the challenged swimmers. Waves were moderate and no rip currents.
There's a few roads that dead end into the beach from Rt 3. and one expanse that not assessable. I see that there's a Royal Palace in there someplace. The road picks up in Chanthaburi province and there's three beaches along the coast, Witmam, Laem Sadat and Chao Lao. These are nice looking and nearly deserted beaches. There's a few places to stay and several places for good food. These beaches are more natural than those in Rayong but not as good for swimming.
Just before getting to Trat province, the coast gets jaggeder in mangroves and inlets. I noticed but did not have to time to explore this area by boat or sea kayak. We headed off to Laem Ngop to take the ferry to Ko Chang for a few nights. I noticed on the map another series of beaches that line that narrow section wedged between the sea and Cambodia. Perhaps someone has explored that coast and can comment?
I'll file a second report on our stay at Ko Chang when I get a chance.