An Endless White Sand Beach in North Phuket
Sai Kaew Beach (หาดทรายแก้ว, Haad Sai Kaew) is a long, quiet stretch of white sand on the far north coast of Phuket, between Mai Khao Beach and the Sarasin Bridge that connects the island to the mainland. The name means crystal sand, after the fine texture that sparkles in the sun. I have been driving up to this beach for years. It is one of the easiest places on the island to walk alone for an hour and feel like I am nowhere near Phuket.
In the high season the sea turns a proper blue and the beach fills with light. The sand is fine, the water is shallow for a long way, and the only buildings are a few bamboo restaurants tucked under the trees. This is the part of Phuket that looks like it did before mass tourism arrived.
Note: the name Sai Kaew is common across Thailand. There are other Sai Kaew beaches, including a famous one on Koh Samet. This page is about the one in north Phuket only.
Location and Setting
Haad Sai Kaew sits at the top end of Phuket, just past the northern tip of Mai Khao Beach and just before the Sarasin Bridge. The boundary between Mai Khao and Sai Kaew is blurred. The sand is continuous, and most visitors do not notice where one ends and the other begins. The main difference is that Mai Khao is inside Sirinat National Park while Sai Kaew is outside the park boundary, which is why a handful of restaurants were able to operate here over the years.
Nearby is another beach called Haad Pak Phra, known locally for jellyfish harvesting. The two beaches sit on either side of the bridge. Sai Kaew is the last beach on the Phuket side.
What to Do at Sai Kaew Beach
There is not much to do at Sai Kaew, and that is exactly the point. The beach is long, flat, open and quiet. Most people come for one of three things: a long walk, a swim in shallow water, or a beach lunch under the trees.
The beach is one of the best on the island for walking. The sand is firm near the water at low tide and the strip runs for kilometres with almost no one on it. Sunset is the best time to come. The sky over the Andaman turns pink and orange, and the bridge silhouette sits on the horizon.
Swimming is easy for most of the year, with shallow water and small waves. Like all west coast beaches in Phuket, the sea gets rough in the low season from May to October. There are no lifeguards here, so swim with the conditions, not against them.
During nesting season, which runs from November to February, leatherback sea turtles come up to lay eggs along this stretch of coast. Most of the nesting happens on the Mai Khao side inside the national park, but sightings have been recorded on Sai Kaew too. The release of baby turtles in March is a yearly local event worth looking up if you are on the island at that time.
Where to Eat Near Sai Kaew Beach
Sai Kaew Beach Restaurant
There is one restaurant still standing on the beach itself. There used to be four of them, but three were cleared when the authorities checked on illegal structures along the coast. The remaining restaurant is simple: bamboo huts on stilts, plastic chairs, a small kitchen behind. The food is honest Thai seafood and the setting is hard to beat for a long lunch with the sea right there. This is my go-to when I drive up this way.
Rimpan Seafood
Rimpan Seafood is a local favourite at the foot of the Sarasin Bridge, about 3 kilometres from Haad Sai Kaew. You eat in bamboo huts on stilts over the water with the bridge in the background. The menu covers southern Thai seafood with a few unusual local specialities. Read more
Ta Tuay Restaurant
Ta Tuay is a quiet local restaurant tucked away near the Sarasin Bridge in the very north of Phuket. It serves excellent southern Thai and Phuket dishes, with some unusual specialities from the Mai Khao coast such as sandworms and sea cicadas. The restaurant is listed in the Michelin Guide.
Address: 57/10 Mu 5, Soi Ruam Chai 1, Phuket, 83110, Thailand Open: 11.30 am – 9 pm Phone: 086 470 4807 Price: Affordable Reservation: strongly recommended, especially on weekends
Thanoon Seafood
Thanoon Seafood is on the other side of the Sarasin Bridge, on the mainland, still within easy reach of Sai Kaew. The setting is the real draw: raised platforms with the bridge in view and the water below. The cooking is a step below what it used to be, but the location alone makes it worth a lunch. Read more
More Photos
Insider Tips
- Come on a weekday if you want the beach to yourself. Weekends bring local families out for the day, but even then the beach is rarely busy by Phuket standards.
- Pair the beach with a lunch at the on-sand restaurant. Arrive around 11.30 am, order, then walk the beach while the kitchen works. Food is ready when you come back.
- Drive past the airport and keep going. Most visitors stop at Mai Khao or Nai Yang. Sai Kaew is 5 to 10 minutes further north and much quieter.
- Bring water and a towel. There is no real infrastructure once you are on the sand. No shops, no toilets, no shade outside the restaurant area.
- The bridge makes a great sunset photo. Walk north along the beach until you can see the full arc of Sarasin Bridge against the sky.
- Combine the beach with the Sarasin Bridge viewpoint. The bridge has a pedestrian walkway with a small park at one end, perfect for a quick stop after the beach.
- In the low season expect big waves and a strong undertow. Swim close to shore or stay on the sand.
- From the airport it is a 15-minute drive. This is the easiest beach on the island for an early-arrival stop before you check in to your hotel, or a final hour before a late flight out.
Sai Kaew Beach Through the Years
Haad Sai Kaew has been the quiet northern neighbour of Mai Khao for as long as I have been on the island. In the 1990s the beach was almost empty apart from a few Thai families coming up for a weekend seafood lunch. A handful of beach shacks and bamboo restaurants operated on the sand, run by local families who had been here for generations.
The big shift came in the mid 2010s when the authorities cleared illegal beach structures along the Phuket coast. Most of the shacks on Sai Kaew were pulled down. One restaurant was left standing, and the beach returned to an emptier, more natural state. The Sarasin Bridge was upgraded and widened over the years, with the old bridge kept as a pedestrian walkway and viewpoint.
Tourism never really reached this far north. Most visitors who fly into Phuket head south to Patong, Kata or Karon and never think about the coast above the airport. The hotels in the area are a scatter of small resorts on the Mai Khao side inside the national park. Sai Kaew itself has stayed undeveloped. In a part of the island where everything else has changed, this beach has stayed almost the same.
