You can choose Ao Ko Kwang Beach as your first stop to catch your breath after crossing to Koh Lanta and renting a scooter in Saladan. It will be especially successful to get here during high tide, when the water rises to the very shore, completely covering the entire shallow water of Koh Kwang, which makes it absolutely unsuitable for swimming, but looks gorgeous in the photo.
I'm out of luck with the tide, so you get a series of shots in style «a beach that is not a beach at all». The shooting point is the path next to the Kaw Kwang Seafood restaurant. I took a short walk along the coast to be sure of my initial conclusions - this is a beach for contemplation and dinner at sunset. They swim here only from despair.
The content of the article
- one Beach description
- 2 Entering the water, depth and waves
- 3 Sun beds and shade
- 4 Beach photo
- five Infrastructure
- 6 Houses and hotels on the beach
- 7 How to find the beach
- eight Beach Map
Beach description
Koh Kwang Beach is located on the coastline that starts from the strait between the islands of Lanta Noi and Lanta Yai, and ends right next to the rocky cape of Laem Ko Kwang. Along the entire coast, along the beach, there is a concrete path from which you can go to the beach anywhere. Closer to Saladan, the distance between the road and the sea made it possible to build even some infrastructure facilities, and closer to the cape the road comes close to the sea and turns into an embankment.
The sand on Koh Kwang is dense, grayish-yellow, with a lot of red stones. The slope of the coast is so gentle that almost along its entire length, protective fences from waves have been built, which easily roll right up to buildings.
Entering the water, depth and waves
I did not personally check the entry into the water, there was no mood. But from the shore it is clearly visible that there are many stones under the water, on which it will not be very pleasant to walk. There are no large boulders, basically the same stone chips as on the shore.
And yet, despite the shallow water and the seeming unfavorableness for swimming, on the shore I met people who did not think so. Personally, the appearance of the beach did not cause any positive emotions for me, and even more so there was no thought «but it would be nice to swim here».
Regarding the waves, I can say that they happen here with high water and a favorable breeze, which causes a lot of inconvenience to coastal establishments.
Sun beds and shade
For obvious reasons, there are no sun loungers on Ko Kwan Beach - they will simply be washed away by the first tide. There are no sun loungers here even near the numerous bars and cafes on the shore.
But there are plenty of natural sources of shade on Koh Kwang beach - you can walk along the shore at any time of the day, it will be comfortable. If you go to the beach itself, then, of course, everything is bad there - there is no shadow. No.
Beach photo
Koh Kwan Beach on Lanta
Infrastructure
Along the coast, I came across only two resorts listed below, and so, basically, the entire infrastructure of Koh Kwang beach is cafeterias and bars. Many empty areas, abandoned and dirty, where palm groves grow in places and strange Thai buildings stick out.
All major infrastructure is located around Saladan Pier and closer to Klong Dao Beach. This triangle (Koh Kwan, Klong Dao and the main road) forms the most densely populated area of Koh Lanta, with adequate amenities in terms of service, facilities and shops. In fact, there is a small village here.
Houses and hotels on the beach
There are only two resorts on the first line of Koh Kwang beach, with the territory adjacent to the waterfront. In general, due to the nature of the beach, this area is not very popular with seal lovers, and the available housing options are usually mediocre and not particularly rated: Saladan Beach Resort and Coco Cape Lanta Resort .
Hotels on Lanta>
Be sure (and I insist) to check for discounts or specials on the excellent Roomguru service. He will quickly and easily show you discounts in all existing booking systems. In Asia, for example, there are a lot of offers on Agoda.com, which are much more interesting than for exactly the same hotels on Booking.com.
For the lazy, here are the direct links to the hotels listed above:
How to find the beach
Whether you are exiting the bridge between the islands, or arriving by ferry, your journey will pass by a nondescript T-junction, where there will be a blue sign for Kow Kwang Beach. It is literally a kilometer from the pier and the bridge, so you won't be able to get lost if you go slowly and carefully looking around.
For reliability, I would recommend using navigation in your smartphone, since Google maps work fine in Thailand even in offline mode, the main thing is to load the upcoming route in advance, sitting next to the Wi-Fi point.
Beach Map
Ao Koh Kwan Beach Map
Ao Koh Kwan Beach Map:
