The week between Christmas and New Year we planned to visit a few Thai National Parks to the West of the Gulf of Thailand around Hua Hin, the Khao Sam Roi Yot, Kuiburi and Kaeng Krachan National Parks. This article will focus on the first part of our trip. Our first destination was a beach villa on the Kuiburi beach, a long stretch of sand in the small district of the same name, an hour South of Hua Hin. There’s also a National Park of the same name which we visited afterwards, but first we explored the coastal National Park called Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.
A nice villa, as can be seen on their website. https://www.kayluxuryvillas.com/saii-ii-pool-villa-kuiburi/
You have to get there by car, as it’s in the middle of nowhere, an hour south of Hua Hin, on the Kuiburi beach. And it’s very isolated. The owner actually warned us on Line that we should pack stuff to eat as it’s remote. We had an ice box with steaks, sausages and shrimps to grill on the barbecue. The secluded nature was not an issue, but the fact the high tide would cover the road to get there with sea water in the morning revealed complicated. It was like one of the highest tides of the year. My wife didn’t want to risk getting the car in that depth of salty water. The barbecues every evening were great, nice place to stay on the porch with the small pool. It was quite windy and not very hot so we didn’t use the swimming pool. The beach is nice and empty, you have it to yourself. We didn’t swim and it was quite agitated. The weather was good but stormy sea. The upper room facing the ocean is nice, too bad there is no furniture on the super large balcony. We had sausages from Sloane’s.
Photos on the website are genuine, it’s a good looking villa, great for a few days as a basis to discover the area, and particularly the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.
Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park means “The Mountain of Three Hundred Peaks,” which is a fitting description considering the park’s landscape is dominated by numerous limestone hills and mountains. It’s really worth the visit and has a diverse range of ecosystems, including wetlands, mangrove swamps, and a number of freshwater marshes, which provide a habitat for a variety of wildlife and plant species. It’s particularly a haven for bird watchers and nature enthusiasts.
More details and the list of birds that can be seen here : https://www.thainationalparks.com/khao-sam-roi-yot-national-park
The park was less than an half hour drive north of the villa so we went there 2 days in a row. You can drive through the park without paying, but entering park attractions requires to pay the entrance fee of 200 THB (100 THB for children, 40/20 for Thais and a work permit is not accepted). We had to pay twice as the entrance is valid only 1 day.
We stayed 2 nights in the villa. Unfortunately we were stuck there the first morning as the particular high tide was covering the road to access it, so we missed the Phraya Nakhon Cave we had planned to hike to. It’s a large cave with a hole in its roof, allowing sunlight to stream in and illuminate a royal pavilion. We heard later by a ranger that the path to walk to it was also flooded with sea water. Too bad as it’s an highlight of the park, it will be for another visit. Instead the first day we climbed up a nice view point, then drove to a very nice marsh area on the western side of the mountains.
This viewpoint is a must do when visiting the park as it gives the best views to the coast and shrimp farms area and on the other side to the limestone mountain and temple below. It requires some hiking shoes and good physical condition but it’s not that long, less than 500 meters, just quite steep an rocky. There are often some macaque monkeys around the area, we saw a troop of them on the side of the road.
The coastal part of the park has mainly salt water mangrove swamps, and many parts are actually shrimp farms. The farms were particularly visible from the viewpoint, Thailand is one of the world’s top exporter of shrimp and there’s a lot of farms on both sides of the Gulf of Thailand. We saw people sorting shrimps by hand on the side of the road.
After the hike to the viewpoint, we decided to drive to the freshwater marshes on the western side of the mountains. To access them from the main park area, you actually have to circle all around for half an hour, get out of the park and in again. It was definitely worth it.
Though the lotus blooming period was passed, this place is still very beautiful in any season, with its grandiose limestone mountains and charming marsh. A 1km wood boardwalk was recently rebuilt, as well as an observation tower. It lets you walk above the marsh to observe below the lotus and reeds, as well as many bird species. You hear a lot of bird noises, and we saw a few flashy purple blue swamp hen birds eating. When you reach the end of the boardwalk, you can call a boat to pick you up, we ended doing this right at the sunset. It’s also possible to take a longer boat ride in the marsh.
The next day we came back to check the Wat Khao Daeng temple we had seen from the view point and we took the boat trip on the local river, then we went to have a picnic on the beach.
The Wat Khao Daeng buddhist temple is nested in between steep limestone mountains which gives it an impressive decor. It’s right next to a National Park ticket booth and pier to take a private boast ride along a river to see the marshes around there. A lot of marine bird species can be seen, particularly herons, cormorants and egrets.
It costs 500 THB for a private boat ride along the Khao Daeng khlong, the boat can hold up to 7 people.
A nice and quiet sandy beach, with a few pavilions in the sand and picnic tables under the trees shade. It’s possible to camp there, there are showers and toilets. The tranquillity of this location is breathtaking. Can be accessed with the park ticket.
To avoid being stuck again the next morning, we spent the last night in a nearby beachfront resort with a nice swimming pool.
A nice though a bit outdated luxury hotel on the Kuiburi beach. Great for the price though, as the rooms are huge, with great views and a jacuzzi, and the beach swimming pool is very enjoyable.
Our next destinations were the Kuiburi National Park to the west of the district towards Myanmar, and to the north in the Petchaburi province the Kaeng Krachan National Park.
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