Bang Sare

Bang Sare is a working fishing harbour about 20 km south of Pattaya, in Sattahip district rather than Pattaya proper. It’s been a fishing port for roughly 120 years — longer than Pattaya has existed as a tourist town — and the harbour still runs on trawling, handline fishing for mackerel and sea bass, and crab traps and squid jigs rather than tour boats.

Early morning is when the village is busiest: boats come in with the overnight catch, and the seafood restaurants clustered around the piers — Preecha Seafood and Bang Saray Seafood among them — buy straight off the boats to cook the same day. The beach itself is a modest curve of sand rather than a resort strip, backed by casuarina trees and a scatter of local shops and a couple of convenience stores. On Saturday evenings, a Walking Street Market sets up in the narrow lanes near the fishing piers from around 17:00, drawing more of a local crowd than the tourist night markets further up the coast.

What Bang Sare doesn’t have is the density of Jomtien or Pattaya’s beach road: no beach chairs for rent by the hundred, no jet-ski touts, no high-rise skyline behind the sand. It’s a stop for people who want a working Thai fishing town with lunch by the water, not a beach day with amenities.

Insider Tip: Skip the main beach for lunch and eat at one of the harbourside seafood restaurants instead — the fish is coming off boats a few metres away rather than a supply truck. If you want an actual swimming beach afterward, Jomtien Beach is the closer, better-developed option back toward Pattaya.

Watch out: There’s little in the way of beach infrastructure — no umbrella rental, limited shade on the sand itself — so bring your own sun protection if you’re staying for more than a quick look at the harbour.