Asian Beaches

One of Asia's many idyllic beaches.

 
If your idea of the perfect holiday is lying about on a beach soaking up some sun, then Asia is the place for you. You're positively spoiled for choice.

To rank one destination above another would be impossible. Each beach has its own special qualities. So, the list below is our own selection of the best beaches in no specific order.

When selecting a destination, one thing to keep in mind is the season. The range of options straddles the equator, so while destinations in the north are hot and wet, in the south they are cool and dry. This makes the best time to visit beaches in Thailand, Cambodia or the west coast of Malaysia roughly November to February, while the best time of year to visit Bali is June to August.

Chawaeng Beach, Samui, Thailand

Samui island is off the east coast of Thailand, about halfway between Bangkok and the Malay border. Its roughly opposite Phuket, which lies off the west coast across the peninsula. This means that when its the rainy season in Phuket, Samui is relatively dry and vice-versa. Samui is much smaller than Phuket, but is the largest of a group of about 80 islands.

Samui has several popular beaches, but Chawaeng is our favorite. The beach is protected by a small reef, which gets exposed at low tide. The protected lagoon behind the reef is excellent for swimming, although shallow at low tide. Its the perfect beach for sipping cool drinks interrupted occasionally by a cool dip to cool off.

Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Phuket is Thailand's largest island, and perhaps its oldest "international" resort destination. The island's coast forms a series of bays, each with its own character and collection of hotels. There are in all about a dozen good beaches around the island. Our favorite is the intimate Kata bay, just south of the main beach of Patong.

Protected by long head lands to the north and south, the beach at Kata has a very intimate feel, without the crowds of many of Phuket's beaches. Much of the beach-front is taken up by the low key Club Med development, although the beach itself is public and open to everyone. There are a couple of other hotels at the southern edge of the beach, so you don't have to stay at Club Med to enjoy being right on this beach.

Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia

Picking the best beach on Bali is perhaps the toughest job there is. We definitely need to do a lot more "research" on this topic. But for now our choice is the beach at Seminyak, just north of the main Kuta area. Yes, if you want to surf or watch people surf, then Kuta/Legian is the place to be. While we like a bit of people watching, we also like the feeling of have an entire beach to ourselves. That's exactly the feeling we had at Seminyak. We also like good eats, and after a long day at the beach, its hard to beat dinner and drinks at La Lucciola at the north end of the beach near the Hindu temple.

Beach Guides

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