In a nutshell
- There are four places to stay at Bottle Beach on Koh Phangan: the Smile Bungalows, Bottle Beach 1 Resort, Haad Khuad Resort, and Bottle Beach 2 Bungalows — we’ve personally checked out all four.
- Our top pick is Bottle Beach 1 Resort — gorgeous bamboo bungalows with a hammock right on the beach.
- Rooms here fill up fast, so book in advance. The only ways to reach Bottle Beach are via a bumpy dirt road (Jeep) or by longtail boat — plan your transfer ahead of time too.
What You Need to Know About Bottle Beach on Koh Phangan
Bottle Beach is not only one of the most beautiful spots on Koh Phangan, but also one of the absolute highlights in all of Thailand.
It’s tucked into a small bay in the north of the island. What makes it special is that it can only be reached via a very bumpy dirt road that requires a Jeep, or by longtail boat across the water.
The bay has everything you need to fall in love with Thailand — turquoise water, fine white sandy beach, wooden huts with their own little terrace and a hammock included. Perfect!
Of course, Bottle Beach is also one of the most popular day-trip destinations on the island, and longtail boats start dropping off visitors from around 11 AM. The last day-trippers hop back into the boats around 4 PM to head home.
But even with the day-trippers around, the bay stays relatively uncrowded, the relaxed vibe is preserved, and knowing that — unlike the visitors — you get to stay puts a very satisfied smile on your face.
Because the bay is truly at its most beautiful early in the morning and late in the afternoon, when the sun disappears behind the mountains.
Bottom line: A minimum of 2 nights at Bottle Beach is a must for every Koh Phangan visitor.
Accommodations at Bottle Beach on Koh Phangan
There are many great places to stay on Koh Phangan, but only four hotels and resorts at Bottle Beach. We checked them all out and ate at every restaurant (of course!). Here’s an overview of which resort is the best fit for you.
We start at the northern end of Bottle Beach and work our way from one accommodation to the next toward the southern end.
Heads-up first: The accommodations in the bay fill up fast. We’d booked in advance and were incredibly glad we did when we arrived — because when we spontaneously wanted to extend our stay, there wasn’t a single decent, affordable room to be found.
Below we introduce all four places to stay at Bottle Beach, including our personal top pick.
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Check out all accommodations at Bottle Beach on Booking.com
Smile Bungalow Bottle Beach
The wooden bungalows at Smile Resort are built into the rocks, fitted with fans, and each has its own private balcony where you can kick back and relax.
We didn’t see them from the inside since the place was fully booked during our stay — but from the outside they looked really cozy.
Smile Bungalows also has a charming little restaurant right on the beach. We had a great time there, played board games, and enjoyed a seriously good Jungle Curry.
Prices: The cheapest bungalow costs around €18. For that you get an approximately 18 sqm bungalow with a double bed, mosquito net, balcony, and private bathroom with cold water. For about €7 more you can upgrade to a larger bungalow.
Book Smile Bungalow Bottle Beach
Photos of the Smile Bungalows
Bottle Beach 1 Resort
Right next to the Smile Bungalows you’ll find the bungalows of Bottle Beach 1 Resort.
The resort offers a wide range of accommodation types, so there’s genuinely something for every budget. Right on the beach there are about five higher-end bamboo huts, and next to them, bordering Smile Bungalow Resort, some concrete bungalows with air conditioning.
Behind the huts you’ll find the only pool in the bay, plus garden and family bungalows available in either wood or concrete. For backpackers on a tight budget, the property even offers dorm beds.
The resort also has a restaurant and even offers massages with an ocean view.
Prices: Prices vary quite a bit depending on amenities and the season. For a bamboo hut right on the beach with a private bathroom (cold water), fan, and terrace, budget around €34. But you’re in the front row — free to spend the whole day in your own hammock and let your mind unwind.
Our pick! A bungalow on the beach side at Bottle Beach 1. We spent four nights in a bamboo bungalow right on the beach (on booking.com the category is called “beach side”) and felt absolutely at home!
Honestly, we could have stayed for weeks. We wholeheartedly recommend this bungalow category. If you prefer air conditioning and hot showers, go for the concrete bungalows in the front row instead — they’re a solid choice too.
Photos of Bottle Beach 1
Haad Khuad Resort
The third option for where to stay at Bottle Beach is the Haad Khuad Resort. The modern design of the apartment-style building doesn’t quite fit in with the other resorts, but right next door it also offers simple wooden bungalows.
All rooms in the two-story building have a terrace or balcony, air conditioning (from evening until morning), and a private bathroom. The wooden bungalows next door come with fans.
The resort has a restaurant, which we found to be the least welcoming of all four. The service felt quite unfriendly — though maybe we just got unlucky.
Price: When we asked on-site, we were quoted around €30 for rooms with air conditioning including two American breakfasts, and around €20 for the wooden bungalows. On Booking.com, a room with air conditioning runs about €52.
Our impression: We looked at a wooden bungalow and an air-conditioned room on the second floor and quickly decided against both. Both options smelled strongly of mold.
So we honestly can’t recommend this place — even though it has plenty of positive reviews on Booking.com.
Photo of the Haad Khuad Resort at Bottle Beach
Bottle Beach 2 Bungalows
At the southern end of the bay you’ll find the Bottle Beach 2 Bungalows.
Bottle Beach 2 likely offers the most basic beach bungalows in the bay. Small bungalows with a double bed and ocean view are available for around €26.
When we visited, the property had just finished building two new family rooms made of concrete, each with two large double beds — and more were under construction. These also come with fans and were priced at around €37 per room when we asked on-site.
Bottle Beach 2 Bungalows also has a restaurant, where we enjoyed eating.
Bottom line: We took a look at the basic beachfront bungalows and had to conclude they’d clearly seen better days. Besides a slightly musty smell, the mattresses looked very worn out, and overall they didn’t make a great impression.
The two new family rooms, on the other hand, were genuinely brand new, very clean, and in great condition (as of February 2015).
Photos of Bottle Beach 2 Resort at the Southern End of the Bay
How Do You Get to Bottle Beach?
The easiest approach is to have your accommodation arrange transport to Bottle Beach for you.
For example, Bottle Beach 1 Resort picked us up from the beach south of the bay at Sand in My Shoes Beach Loft (by the way, our hotel and beach recommendation for anyone who finds Bottle Beach a little too remote) for 200 baht per person by Jeep.
Longtail boats also run regularly from various beaches. From Chalok Lam Beach (one bay further north), a friendly older gentleman makes several trips a day to Bottle Beach for 100 baht per person.
You can spot his longtail boat easily — it has no roof and a blue crate sitting inside. When you arrive in Chalok Lam, just ask locals about the taxi boat to Bottle Beach. During our visit he departed at 10 AM and 1 PM.
Even if he isn’t around, you’ll find plenty of other longtail boat owners at that beach who’ll make the trip — though they often charge up to 200 baht per person.
More Tips for Bottle Beach on Koh Phangan
Getting Cash at Bottle Beach
There are no ATMs and no currency exchange offices at Bottle Beach, so make sure to withdraw enough cash at another ATM on the island before you head out. At Bottle Beach 1 Resort you can pay by credit card in a pinch, but there’s a fee of around 3 percent.
Food and Drinks at Bottle Beach
There is no supermarket at Bottle Beach. Despite the remote location, prices for food and drinks are relatively reasonable. We’d recommend bringing one or two jugs of water with you if possible — that’s definitely something we’d do on our next stay.
Cell and Data Service
There isn’t any! That’s just part of what makes Bottle Beach what it is, and it only adds to the charm.
You simply have no cell service — which means people actually put their phones down for once and spend time with themselves and those around them.
Genuinely very pleasant — we’ve never seen so many people playing card games at any other beach! Wonderful!
At Bottle Beach 1 there’s a small, lonely AIS table set slightly apart from the other tables at the restaurant. Apparently you can get a bit of cell and data service there if you have an AIS SIM card — though we didn’t try it ourselves since we wanted to disconnect.
Bottle Beach 1 does offer WiFi, with two hours per bungalow included. We’d heard you normally pay for each additional hour — but we simply asked nicely for new passwords and the very friendly staff at Bottle Beach 1 Resort always handed them over without charging us a thing. The connection was even surprisingly good!
By now, virtually all accommodations have WiFi. How fast and stable it is, we can’t say at this point.
