Of all the beaches my job and our home could have landed us near, we are continually reminded of how lucky we are that they landed us closest to Nai Harn. By the time we are done here, I don’t think we will even be able to imagine how many hours we have spent there lying on the beach, running around its lake, taking in a sunset or participating in a festival.
Looking down over our favorite beach. You can see the lake behind it. Also, those three rows of beach chairs haven't always been there!!
Every weekend we spend at least half of one day lounging on a couple of beach chairs, reading the paper or doing the crossword with intermittent dips in the water to cool off. Steve is on a constant quest for good body surfing waves and Nai Harn doesn’t disappoint. Even though the beach we once had nearly to ourselves is now littered with beach chairs and umbrellas, there is something very comforting about our weekend trip to the beach. It has proven time and time again to be the best cure for a long week or the best place to spend a lazy day.
Another reason we love Nai Harn is that it is nestled in between two of the more spectacular places we’ve found to relax and really experience that tropical paradise feeling you might think to encompass the entire island. Not true. Sometimes its really hard to look past the crowds and craziness of places like Patong and remember that naturally, unaltered and untouched by the resorts and restaurants, this is a beautiful place. Ao Sane, which we have spoken of highly before, also provides us the same sense of peace that Nai Harn does. Just a touch further than Nai Harn, the short drive alone is spectacular. Recently, we also discovered they do an awesome pad thai wrapped in an omelette.
On the road to Ao Sane
Looking down over Ao Sane just before sunset
Fried glass noodles (pad thai) in an omelette, Ao Sane
This cat gets lots of smothering from us when we see him at Ao Sane. He tolerates it, but from the looks of this picture, you can tell he probably doesn't enjoy it 🙂
The other place we have discovered to be in the company of Nai Harn is Ya Nui beach, where a couple of weekends ago we were able to rent kayaks to paddle around a small island close to the beach as well as snorkels and fins to take in some of the pretty decent underwater views it has to offer. A smaller, more secluded beach, we think it’s a real treasure!
Sea Kayaking from Ya Nui beach
View of Ya Nui from the water
Nai Harn also hosts a number of events. It’s where we spent Loy Krathong, but more recently it held Nai Harn Beach Festival 2012 (a ploy, we think, to get the tourists to stick around a bit longer after New Years). For the week long beach festival, they set up a stage and tons of food vendors and stalls full of carnival games and things to buy. Although we are not tourists, we enjoyed having a reason to stick around Nai Harn after sunset and have a drink, nibble some food and do some people watching on a couple of occasions.
Sunset at Nai Harn Beach Festical 2012
Baby back ribs at Nai Harn Beach Festival
VW Bus bar at Nai Harn Beach Festival
Finally, the latest reason we love Nai Harn is because is has recently become home to Phuket’s first food truck (or the first we’ve seen), Malisa & Me. Not only were we excited to see a food truck, but one that serves grilled sandwiches that are delicious: BBQ pork and coleslaw, ham and cheese with honey, tuna and bacon, and even a grilled s’mores sandwich (which we have yet to try because they were out when we first stopped)! A very friendly couple runs the place and we are looking forward to enjoying not only their food and drinks, but their conversation, so we hope they are able stick around!
Malisa & Me food truck debuts at Nai Harn!
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