Klong Dao is a long curved bay of about 3km from one end to the other. Due to its shape, Klong Dao’s water stays very tranquil and shallow during the busy season making it a great place for families with small children to relax and swim.
There is a great variety of accommodation on Klong Dao from a budget hostel to 4 star resort and spa and everything in between. A great attribute to this area is that even during the highest point of the season, this large bay never feels too crowded and you can always find a shady spot on the sand to relax in between dips.
Something special about Klong Dao is the presence of longtail fishing boats and two sea gypsy villages hidden in the trees just beyond the sand. Sea gypsies or “Chao Ley” (people of the sea) are a minority ethnic group in Thailand and they get their income and food from the sea.
On Klong Dao beach you can easily witness long tails boats coming in after a day of fishing and see the whole village come out to help bring in the catch and haul it off to the market in trucks (also entertaining to see the trucks get stuck in the sand and the fisherman showing their strength and ingenuity getting them out!). The Chao Ley are friendly, always flashing as smile as they pass you on motorbikes but they are a tight community so they generally stick to themselves.
For that epic sunset picture, come to Klong Dao for a cocktail and catch the sun setting with the background of the beautiful brightly colored long tails docked in the water. Klong Dao has many bars and restaurants to choose from along the white sand beach. One famous place on Klong Dao is Time for Lime Restaurant and Cooking School. Open for dinner only, the restaurant serves a brilliant six course tasting menu of Thai fusion cuisine that changes every night of the week. There is also a fun cooking class nightly for those who would love to enjoy cooking Thai food at home.
Another great restaurant on the beach is Koala Bar, serving delicious al la carte Thai and western cuisine for lunch and dinner. Koala Bar also has life music a couple nights a week as well as BBQ rib night and pizza night. In the middle of Klong Dao bay there is a bar called Indian Bar, famous for its nightly fire shows and family friendly atmosphere, owned and operated by Paz and his family. Paz welcomes all to his little bar and makes everyone feel at home, definitely not to be missed for at least one sunset drink.
Klong Dao is one of the closest beaches to Saladan town so very convenient for those wanting to be able to go to one of the island’s only main central areas. It takes about 10 minutes to drive or walk along the beach and by main road to get there between 20 and 30 minutes.
On the main road of the Klong Dao area, there’s even more accommodation and dining options to choose from. There’s also many souvenir shops, pharmacies, and even a golf driving range on the mountain side of the main road. Some of the best restaurants on the main road of Klong Dao include The Fat Monkey. This highly rated restaurant serves some of the best burgers on the island as well as other delicious western food and amazing Thai food coupled with an extensive cocktail menu and loads of wines to choose from. For more authentic Thai, The Kitchen is a lovely restaurant on the mountain side of the road where you sit in the more traditional bamboo hut dining and offers amazing local Thai food where you can choose the level of spiciness you desire. For after dinner, there is a bar called Cheeky Monkey that offers live bands on Friday nights and has a free pool table.