Staying in Haad Salad: resorts and villas on Koh Phangan's north-west sunset bay

Who should stay in Haad Salad?

Haad Salad is the family bay of the west coast: calm water, sand that stays wide at low tide, resorts with pools set back among coconut palms, and a village small enough that nothing is more than ten minutes' walk. It suits couples who want a quiet beach with a sunset and a choice of restaurants without the yoga-village bustle of Srithanu, and snorkellers who can walk to Koh Ma in the morning. It also has one of the island's oldest yoga retreats, on the hill above the bay, and a growing number of upmarket holiday homes on the slopes, which is why it appears in searches for pool villas as often as for beach resorts.

It is not the place for nightlife, which is limited to beach restaurants and a couple of bars, nor for anyone without transport who wants to explore: Thong Sala is half an hour away and the road south along the coast is hilly. Mae Haad is quieter still, with a few resorts, a beach whose west half is beautiful and east half is unsuitable for swimming, and almost no services beyond the resort restaurants.

Resorts, bungalows and villas in Haad Salad and Mae Haad

The 60 properties listed here run from bungalow resorts on the sand at 1,200–2,500 THB (US$38–78) a night through mid-range and beachfront boutique resorts with pools at 2,000–5,500 THB to hillside pool villas and holiday homes at 4,000–10,000 THB, several of them new, with sea views over the bay and a car or scooter recommended for the hill. Mae Haad adds simple bungalows and a few mid-range resorts close to the sandbar, typically 1,000–3,000 THB. High season adds 30–50 %, and Christmas–New Year rooms on the beach go weeks ahead. Each listing gives the distance to the beach and to the village junction, and whether the property is on the sand, on the hill or in Mae Haad.

How do you get to Haad Salad?

From Thong Sala pier a songthaew costs about 200 THB a person and takes 25–30 minutes on the west-coast road through Srithanu and Haad Yao, hilly north of Haad Yao; the alternative is the flat road north to Chaloklum and then west, a little longer. Private transfers cost 500–800 THB and most resorts arrange them if you send your ferry time. Scooters are the normal way to get around from here, but the descent from the junction to the beach is short and steep, and the coast road north to Mae Haad has some steep sections; the listings mention when a hillside villa needs a car. Mae Haad is 5–10 minutes further by road; on foot the headland path takes longer than it looks.

What is there to do in Haad Salad and Mae Haad?

Swim and snorkel off the rocks at both ends of Haad Salad, where the water is clear and the coral close in; walk out to Koh Ma along the sandbar at low tide from Mae Haad, mask rental about 100–150 THB on the beach, the best free snorkelling on the island; take a boat from Mae Haad or Chaloklum to Bottle Beach and the north-coast reefs. Wang Sai waterfall is a short walk inland from Mae Haad, small and free. Sunset is the daily event, from the beach restaurants or from the viewpoints on the road to Mae Haad. Yoga classes and retreats run on the hill above the bay, and Srithanu's studios, vegan cafés and night market are 20 minutes south for an evening out.

When to stay in Haad Salad

The west coast is sheltered from the north-east monsoon, so Haad Salad stays swimmable through October–December when the east coast is rough, with more rain in October and November and quick clearing afternoons. February to April brings the calmest, clearest sea and the best conditions for the Koh Ma sandbar; June to September is the green season with cheaper rooms and occasional south-west swell that makes the bay livelier for a day. Sunsets are best in the dry months, when the air is clearest over Koh Ma.