Sairee Beach

Sairee Beach runs for 1.85 kilometres along the west coast of Koh Tao, making it the longest beach on the island and its undisputed commercial centre. The main road behind the beach is lined with PADI dive schools — Ban’s Diving Resort, Crystal Dive, Sairee Cottage Diving, and Koh Tao Divers among them — alongside guesthouses, restaurants, 7-Elevens, and tattoo parlours. If you want Koh Tao’s quieter corners, this isn’t the place; if you want convenience and company, it is.

The water is shallow and stays calm for most of the year, which makes it easy for non-swimmers to wade out and for beginners to complete open-water dive sessions close to shore. A coral reef begins a short swim offshore — reachable with a mask and fins, though the distance, visibility, and coral health vary along the beach and by season. At the southern end of the beach, a granite boulder carved with the royal cipher of King Rama V (the จปร monument) marks his 1899 visit — easy to miss, but worth looking for if you’re down that end. Because Sairee faces due west, sunset views from the beach or from any of the beachside bars are consistently good, and the strip stays lively well into the night with fire shows and open-air DJ sets.

Watch out: Longtail boats ferry passengers and supplies in and out of the water throughout the day — swim with awareness, especially near the centre of the beach. Box jellyfish have been reported in Gulf of Thailand waters, most commonly from around July to December; vinegar stations are present on the beach, and dive operators carry treatment supplies. Noise from the bar strip carries along the whole beach, so light sleepers should book accommodation set back from the strip or at the quieter north end.

Insider Tip: The north end of Sairee, towards the rocky headland, is noticeably less crowded and gets the same sunset — walk ten minutes from the main cluster of bars and the beach thins out considerably.

For a quieter, less developed alternative on the island’s east coast, Tanote Bay trades the bar strip and dive-shop density for a snorkelling reef and a cliff jump.