Staying on Sairee Beach: hotels, dive resorts and villas on Koh Tao's main beach

Who should stay on Sairee Beach?

Sairee suits people who want the beach, the choice and the evenings in one place. Divers on a course sleep here because the schools are here, and many rooms come discounted with a course or a package of fun dives. Solo travellers and groups find the hostels, the pub crawl and the fire shows within a few hundred metres of each other. Couples and families who want a resort with a pool on the sand, sunset views over Koh Nang Yuan and a restaurant within walking distance also end up on Sairee, but at the northern end, where the strip turns into larger resorts, boutique hotels and pool villas on the slope.

The beach itself has three characters. The southern stretch, nearest Mae Haad, is the party end: beach bars with music until late, fire shows around 21:00, 23:00 and 01:00, and the noise that comes with them. The middle, in front of the village, is the working beach, with dive boats loading in the morning and kayaks and paddle-boards for hire. The northern stretch is calmer, with fewer bars, bigger gardens and the best sunsets. Swimming is good at high tide and along the northern half; at low tide the water retreats and the reef about 30 m offshore, good for snorkelling, becomes hard to reach without shoes. From November to March the north-east wind leaves Sairee sheltered; from April to October there can be some chop but the beach stays usable.

Hotels, dive resorts and villas on Sairee Beach

The 83 properties listed here are the broadest range on Koh Tao. Villas are the largest single group: pool villas and holiday homes on the hills above the northern beach and behind the village, one to four bedrooms with private pools and sea views, from about 4,500 THB a night to 15,000 THB and more in the peak weeks, several reached by steep concrete lanes where the listing says whether a scooter or a car is advised. Resorts come next, from fan bungalows in a garden a minute from the sand at 800 to 1,500 THB to beachfront resorts with pools at 2,000 to 4,000 THB and boutique hotels at the northern end at 3,000 to 6,000 THB. Small hotels, guesthouses and apartments in Sairee Village charge roughly 1,000 to 3,000 THB for an air-conditioned double, and the hostels, five of them in this zone, have dormitory beds at about 400 to 700 THB. Most rated properties here carry three or four stars and the average guest score is high for the island. Each listing states whether the property is on the beach, in the village or on the slope, and how far it is from the pier.

How do you get to Sairee Beach?

Every boat arrives at Mae Haad pier. A pick-up truck taxi to Sairee costs about 440 THB per vehicle (about 550 THB to North Sairee), shared by whoever is going the same way; a taxi-bike is cheaper for one person with a small bag. On foot it is fifteen to twenty minutes along the flat brick path that follows the shore from the pier to the southern end of the beach, and most resorts send a pick-up if you tell them your ferry time. Scooters rent for 150 to 400 THB a day in the village and the roads around Sairee are flat and paved; only the lanes up to the hillside villas and the road over the ridge to Hin Wong and Tanote are steep. Long-tail boats leave from the beach for Koh Nang Yuan (about 200 to 350 THB a person one way, cheaper if negotiated on the sand) and for the coves of the east coast.

What is there to do on Sairee Beach?

Diving and freediving are the business of the beach: dozens of schools have their classrooms and pools in the village and their boats on the sand, the Open Water course costs about 9,000 to 14,000 THB depending on group size, and the freediving schools that made Koh Tao's name in that sport are here too. The reef off the beach is enough for an afternoon of snorkelling; Koh Nang Yuan, with its sandbars and viewpoint, is the classic half-day trip (100 THB landing fee, cash, no plastic bottles, no drones, leave by about 17:00). In the village there are Muay Thai gyms with fight nights, yoga studios at both ends of the beach, cooking classes, pharmacies, clinics, several 7-Elevens with ATMs, supermarkets and laundries. The evening starts with the sunset from a beach bar, continues with fire shows and, four nights a week, the Koh Tao pub crawl that meets in the village at 18:00. Beer costs about 80 to 120 THB in the bars and cocktails 150 to 250 THB. The Sairee viewpoint above the northern end and the cross-island trail to Tanote Bay (about 4 km, three hours) start from here.

When to stay on Sairee Beach

Sairee is the sheltered side of the island in the north-east monsoon, so from November to March the water in front of the beach is calm and swimming is at its best around high tide, even if November brings rain and cancelled boats. February to April is the flattest and clearest period, and the busiest for dive courses. July and August and the weeks from mid-December to February are the peak for prices; late May to June and November to early December are the cheapest. Rooms at the southern end are noisy every night of the year; ask for the northern stretch or the village lanes away from the beach bars if you sleep early.