Laem Haad Beach

Laem Haad is at the northeast tip of Koh Yao Yai, the larger and sleepier of the two Yao islands sitting in the middle of Phang Nga Bay between Phuket and Krabi. Its draw is a sandbar. At low tide a narrow spit of white sand emerges and runs a few hundred meters out into water shallow enough to walk, with the limestone towers of the bay standing up all around you. At high tide it disappears and the beach becomes an ordinary, very quiet stretch of sand.

Tide timing therefore decides whether the trip is worth making, and it is worth checking a tide table before committing the morning to it. The walk down from the road is short but steep in places and passes through rubber plantation. Carry water, because there is little in the way of shops nearby and the sandbar has no shade at all.