Klong Prao Beach — Attraction in Ko Chang

The beach area near the the mouth of the river is beautiful and clear on the first day we visited. We had a wonderful swim as it was deep enough , and we could see under the water for any stones. It was mostly sandy, few stones in the water. The beach in the late afternoon was not too busy. It felts pretty chilled. Not any shaded areas to sit unless you sit at one of the resort restaurants, which is fine. We accessed this with a kayak supplied by our hotel from the river which took less than 10 minutes , and we are novice rowers. We think it’s possible to access the beach from the other side without having to row there. The only down side is that near the middle of the beach there is a waste water system where this water looks like it flows into the sea. Therefore although it seemed clean when we were there, we are not certain if it really was , and how much longer this beautiful sea can remain clear with the waste systems. We hope that it won’t be spoiled. The second time visited later in the week. Water not as clear, we we went further north up the beach. It was still soft sand and warm waters, and swimming was possible. It’s just more apparent that there is waste water being pumped into the sea...

Khlong Prao beach is suitable for families with small children because the entrance to the sea is very shallow. There is a very big difference between high and low tides. During a low tide you have to walk to reach a little depth for a very, very long time. So you will swim very far from the shore. The whole coast is in corals, and I scratched my feet under water, they are not visible and therefore you need to walk very carefully. In general this is a long 3 km beach with white sand and trees growing right on the shore. Here everything is somehow very quiet and calm. There are some good hotels on this beach and, overall, all infrastructure is concentrated around these hotels. On the adjacent road to the beach, there is practically no infrastructure. Therefore if you depend on some other restaurants beside hotel ones or massage parlors, you will have to driver a scooter. Well, generally if you don't mind just laying on the beach in your hotel, without going much anywhere, choose...

After Klong Prao Resort, the road heads away from the beach and meanders for a couple of kilometres before reaching Klong Prao village and then running parallel to the sea again at the far southern end of Klong Prao beach. This southern section is home to several of the island’s best resort plus a couple of cheap backpacker hut options. But there isn’t anything beachfront for anyone looking for 2 star, mid range accommodation or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, an upmarket boutique resort.

The beach isn’t too bad either (see below), it’s like this for most of the High Season. In the rainy season it loses sand and gets quite a lot of debris washed up, so doesn’t always look as attractive. This is where I walk my dog virtually every afternoon. Most of the resorts are at the southern end of this section of beach, about 1.5 Km away. There’s a correlation between the more people pay for their hotel rooms, the less they distance like to walk...