Trip Summary
During this trip, which took place between 6 April 2014 and 20 May 2014, I was asked if I could provide a map of the walk, detailing individual stages. I looked at several map options, and didn't really like what I was seeing. After much consideration, I decided a Google Earth view (captured 2005/06) would provide the best visualisation of where I walked.
I'd walked the Southern Hua Hin Beach and the Northern Cha-Am Beach many times over many years. Both are quite commercialised. It was the challenge of walking the beach in between that appealed to me. I knew of the army and palaces restriction zones, but apart from that, I knew very little about that stretch of beach, or even if it was walkable. Worries I had included rivers to cross, rocky stretches and even a very remote worry of quicksand - did such a thing even exist in Thailand (I'd once fallen victim to deep mud gathering fishing bait in Plymouth, and had to be rescued)? This would be a bit of an adventure for me.
Leg 1 - Chinese Temples to Royal Palace
This was my first real introduction to this stretch. The first beach I'd seen in the area with no facilities for sunbathers or beach walkers. There were a few hotels and restaurants, but their facilities ended at their own boundaries, and there was nothing to indicate beach walkers were welcome. The sand on the day of my walk was a strange colour, and there were many hazards - my son who accompanied me was picking up rubbish as I took photos, but his efforts were negligible. There were also some very unpleasant smells along this stretch.
Leg 2 - Royal Palace to Queen's Park
I'd taken my smallest fittest dog with me on this walk, which I had to abort because he stupidly decided that he was Super Dog and attacked a pack of Soi Dogs - he received a bite on the bum. I'd mistimed the tide here, and there wasn't much beach to walk. What I could see was not very nice with a series of rocky areas close to the shore. There was quite a high sea wall here (some damaged), so this significantly restricted my view of what was beyond,
Leg 3 - Queens Park to Hua Hin Airport
I hit this beach at a very low tide. Close to land there were many rocky outcrops, but further out towards the sea, the sand was good, although there was still a lot of obstacles (glass/rusty cans) embedded in the sand. Hotels/condos were still not noticeably using the beach. Still very few facilities for beach walkers. The sea wall had been significantly damaged in places, and there was little evidence of people trying to repair them to prevent tidal erosion of their valuable beachfront properties.
Leg 4 - Hua Hin Airport to Dusit Thani
I'd timed this walk well again in respect of the tide, and we saw some very nice condos and hotels. Still no evidence of the beach being utilised by these establishments. There were a couple of places where I think beach walkers would be welcome, but still quite a negative feeling along here. Sea wall was again broached in several places.
Leg 5 - Dusit Thani to Army Restricted Zone
At last, evidence of hotels utilising the beach for their residents. There were some nice hotels along this stretch, but I'd only classify the cleanliness of the beach as average, at best. Facilities were starting to become more prevalent for beach walkers and residents alike. 'Bodged' massage places were also starting to emerge - probably for posh hotel residents wanting to taste a bit of real Thailand. This was the stretch of beach where it was obvious that a couple of large hotels or condos had been raised to the ground (maybe the significant cracking on a condo on a later walk is a clue to what may have happened). Beach bars and restaurants started to become a regular feature.
Leg 6 - Restricted Zone
This is the walk that never happened. As I approached the zone at the end of the last walk, a couple in front of me were turned around. I did not want to be arrested as a foreigner taking photographs in a restricted area.
Leg 7 - Sai Yoi to Beach Garden hotel
This started as the yuckiest bit of beach on this stretch, The sand was full of boulders and other hazards. There was a very obnoxious smell to compliment the not so nice beach. This started as a very poor fishing community, and definitely not for visitors. However, as I progressed past the village, housing and facilities improved. There was no seawall on this stretch. Initially there were a series of breakwaters to stop the sea, then sand banks provided natural protection. I cut this walk short because the tide was coming in, which would make bits of my return tricky if I left it too long, and there was also a thunderstorm coming my way.
Leg 8 - Little Shop Cha-Am to Grand Condotel
The beach was improving, and facilities were great for everybody. It was along this stretch that we encountered massage alley, and the largest/busiest beach restaurant I've ever seen. This was truly the best stretch of beach on this walk (even if it was blighted by the huge Energy construction site). Hotels, resorts and condos all looked good.
Leg 9 - Grand Condotel to Central Pier, Cha-Am
Maybe I'd already seen it all on the rest of this walk, but the highlight was probably finding dozens of dead locusts, and some colour coordinated flags.
Overall, this had been an excellent beach walk to do. If you don't have transport, you would probably have to tackle it in a single day. Outside of the restricted zones, the walk is very doable, but you need to be aware of tides - they do cut off stretches of the beach, and I had to climb walls/walk through people's gardens a couple of times.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I've been on the Hua Hin to Cha-Am road many times. This is close to that road, but when you're walking that beach, you could be a million miles away.
