Where to stay on
Koh Phangan,
area by area

The five zones, in one table

• Thong Sala — the port town. Markets, banks, supermarkets, hospital, most tour pickups. Drive to the pier: none, you are there. Weakest beach on the island.
• Ban Tai and Ban Khai — the relaxed south coast. Five to fifteen minutes from the pier. Long beach, very tidal. Party venues nearby without being on top of you.
• Haad Rin — the party peninsula at the southern tip. Twenty to twenty-five minutes from the pier. Good swimming. Busiest, priciest and loudest around the Full Moon Party.
• Srithanu, Haad Yao, Haad Salad — the west coast. Fifteen to twenty minutes from the pier. Yoga and wellness, sunsets, the island's most reliable swimming.
• Chaloklum and Mae Haad — the quiet north. Twenty to twenty-five minutes. Fishing village, and the sandbar out to Koh Ma with the best beach-entry snorkelling on the island.
• Thong Nai Pan — two bays in the north-east. Thirty-five to forty-five minutes. Calm, sheltered, genuinely beautiful; the road is long, steep and often poor.
• Bottle Beach — no road in. Boat from Chaloklum, or a hike. Beautiful, and a commitment.

Thong Sala: the practical base

Everything that has to happen on time happens here — ferries, hospital, banks, the biggest markets. If you are on the island for two nights, or arriving late and leaving early, staying near the pier removes an entire category of stress. What it does not give you is a beach holiday: the town beach is not the reason anyone comes to Koh Phangan.

Haad Rin: the party peninsula

Two beaches — Sunrise (Haad Rin Nok), where the Full Moon Party is held, and the quieter Sunset side. Outside party week it is a busy beach village with everything within walking distance. During party week it is crowded, expensive, and many places set minimum stays. This is the right area if the party is why you came; it is the wrong area if you need sleep or are travelling with young children in that week.

The west coast: yoga, sunsets and swimmable water

Srithanu is the centre of the island's yoga and wellness scene, with studios, vegan cafés and retreats, and the bays north of it — Haad Yao, Haad Salad, Haad Chao Phao — are sandy and calm. If your holiday is about swimming, sunsets and a slow morning, this is the strongest area on the island, and it is why so many long-stay visitors end up here.

The north: Chaloklum and Mae Haad

Chaloklum is a working fishing village on a wide bay, with seafood, longtails to Bottle Beach and a local rather than resort atmosphere. Next door, Mae Haad has the sandbar that walks out to the small island of Koh Ma at low tide, and the best snorkelling you can reach from a beach. Bring water shoes and watch the current as the tide turns.

The north-east: Thong Nai Pan

Two sheltered bays with soft sand and water that stays shallow for a long way out — the easiest place on the island for children to swim. The trade-off is the road: long, steep and in poor condition in places, which is why guests here tend to stay put and why tour pickups often cost extra. If you are happy not to drive across the island every day, it is the most peaceful beach base here.

How to choose, in one paragraph

Pick Haad Rin if you are here for the party and want to walk home. Pick the west coast if swimming and sunsets matter most. Pick Thong Nai Pan or Chaloklum if you want quiet and accept the drive. Pick Thong Sala if time is short. Pick Ban Tai if you want the island's practical centre — the pier, the shops, the hospital, the road to Haad Rin — while sleeping somewhere calm, at a lower price than the beach resorts.

Where we fit, and where we do not

Yang Yai House & Villa is in Ban Tai: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a private plunge pool, sleeping up to six. It is a good choice if you want space, your own pool and a base that reaches most of the island in half an hour. It is not the right choice if you want to step off a sun lounger into the sea — the beach is a tidal one, and the pool is the answer to that. We would rather say so than have you find out on the first afternoon.