Stops on the Drive to Phuket's Northern Beaches

The turnings in order from south to north

It is easier to start at Bang Tao and work upwards: then every turn to the sea is a left one, which is the only way to avoid crossing an oncoming stream on a road where speeds are high. Bang Tao comes first, then the short branches to Layan, then Nai Thon, Nai Yang and finally Mai Khao.

The turnings look indistinguishable from one another: a narrow surfaced road disappears into greenery, the sign is small and there are no landmarks around. The only method that works is marking the point in the app in advance and watching the distance rather than the scenery.

Nai Thon and Nai Yang are different approaches

The road to Nai Thon crosses a low pass with a couple of bends and drops into the bay. There is a lay by at the top with the whole bay in view, and that is the best short stop on the entire northern stretch. The road to Nai Yang is flat, through a village, with frequent driveways and bikes crossing.

Mai Khao at the end of the strip is built unlike the others: the beach runs for seventeen kilometres, several turnings lead to it, and they bring you out onto completely different stretches of shore. Choose a specific turning rather than the beach as a whole.

What it means for the car

The main northern road is wide, even and fast, and anything copes with it. The problems begin where the tarmac ends: at most northern beaches the last metres to the water are compacted sand, which turns into a loose rut after a few cars have used it.

Rental cars here have no all wheel drive, and loose sand holds an economy car and a crossover equally well. The only difference is clearance at the entrance and the fact that a higher car does not ground itself when the wheels do dig in. The rule is simple: do not put the wheels on sand at all.

Pines, shade and resin

The northern strip is planted with casuarinas, and their shade is the only decent shade on the whole stretch. The price is needles and drops of resin on the paint, which bake on hard in the sun. Water from a bottle will not shift them, and marks on the paint at handover turn into a conversation about the deposit.

The second local factor is salt. The wind off the open sea is stronger in the north than in the sheltered western bays, and fine salt spray settles on the windscreen. Wipers dragged over dry salted glass scratch it in one trip, so use the washers first.

Where to park at each beach

At Bang Tao the approaches run through a built up zone and the parking is organised: marked areas at the beach entrances and ordinary town kerb rules. Red and white means prohibited, and removal operates in this district.

At Nai Thon cars park along the road above the beach in a single row. The road is narrow, passing oncoming traffic is tight, and one car with a wheel in the lane stops all movement in the bay. Drive in so you can leave forwards.

Nai Yang and Mai Khao

At Nai Yang the parking is spread along the whole strip under the pines and there is usually room, but this is where most cars get stuck, because the boundary between compacted ground and loose sand is invisible. Park on obviously used ground rather than on fresh clean sand.

At Mai Khao the areas by the turnings are small. In high season they fill, and drivers start leaving cars on the verge of the narrow access road, which then cannot be passed by anything coming the other way. It is easier to move on to the next turning than to join a chain like that.

Fuel, water and the drive back

Fuel stations in the north stand along the main axis and near the airport, and there are none at the beaches themselves. Fill the tank before you start using the turnings, because going back out to the highway for fuel from the beach zone costs twenty minutes each way.

There are few shops near the northern beaches and almost none at Mai Khao. Water in the car answers that completely, and a bottle heating on the dashboard does not, so put it under a seat.

The drive back in the evening runs against the flow from the airport, which is noticeably more pleasant than the morning direction. The one inconvenience is a low sun in your eyes heading south, and a windscreen clean on the inside works better there than any sunglasses.

Plan the last stop with the return in mind. Leaving a beach at the same moment as everybody else is what turns a short drive home into a slow one.

When not to plan the northern beaches

In heavy rain. The access roads are narrow, the verges are soft, and on flat ground the water does not drain but stands in pools of unreadable depth across the ruts. A couple of centimetres of difference and you are finding out where the air intake sits.

On the day of an early flight. The northern strip is close to the airport and the temptation to call in for an hour is strong, but the sand, the parking and getting back out take more time than they appear to. Returning a car to a schedule fits badly with that.

And with a large group in one car. Distances between turnings in the north are considerable and there is a lot of moving about: park, walk, come back, drive on. A minivan handles that scenario better than an economy car loaded to the roof with poor rear visibility.

If two beaches are in the plan for one day, put lunch between them somewhere away from the shore. That gets you off a full morning car park and back to the second turning at a quieter hour.

If you want a car that suits the northern strip, tell us what the day looks like. Message us on WhatsApp with your dates, or Telegram if you prefer, and mention how many of you are travelling.