Sairee Beach Koh Tao Guide: Snorkelling, Hotels & Restaurants
- Kate Colliety
- Mar 26
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 28
Sairee Beach is the longest and most popular beach on Koh Tao, Thailand, stretching 1.5km along the island’s west coast. Known for its stunning sunsets, lively atmosphere, and beachfront bars, Sairee Beach is at the heart of Koh Tao’s social scene.
During our time on Koh Tao, we used Sairee Beach as our base to explore the island and loved every second! We would wake up next to the ocean, run along the soft sand each morning, and end the day watching the sunset. Sairee Beach became our favourite spot in Thailand, which was unexpected since we usually gravitate toward quieter, more secluded destinations.
Throughout this guide to Sairee Beach, we share everything you need to know including the best places to stay, where to eat and tips for making the most of your time on the island of Koh Tao.
Contents
Where Is Sairee Beach
Sairee beach is on the west coast of Koh Tao island in Thailand. The area and beach is the most well known on the island and a popular place for backpackers, solo travellers and families to stay. From the pier it’s an 8 minute drive to Sairee Beach.
How To Get To Sairee Beach, Koh Tao
When you arrive on Koh Tao, you’ll dock at Mae Haad Pier, the island’s main arrival point. From here, Sairee Beach is just an 8-minute journey by taxi. Many hotels and resorts offer a free shuttle service, so check with your accommodation in advance to see if they provide transfers.
If you need to find your own way to your accommodation there’s no shortage of taxi drivers offering trips at the port. Make sure you agree on a price before getting in, to Sairee Beach Koh Tao it should cost around 300 - 400 THB per vehicle.
Things To Do At Sairee Beach
Sairee Beach is the busiest on the island but a great base for you to explore the rest of Koh Tao. If you choose to stay elsewhere there will be limited restaurant choices and you will be quite secluded and therefore we recommend all travellers to stay in this area.
Sairee Beach has no shortage of things to do and is a hub for backpackers to congregate, giving it a social vibe without being overwhelming. Below we share some of the best things to do at Sairee Beach, Koh Tao.
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Swimming & Snorkelling At Sairee Beach
Snorkelling at Sairee Beach is great, there are corals just metres away and along the beachfront you can find snorkelling equipment to rent. Although snorkelling here is convenient it is far from the best on the island, for the best snorkeling head to Tanote Bay.
When snorkelling at Sairee Beach be aware the reefs are sharp and can cause nasty cuts… we saw many travellers with bandaged feet which we can only assume were from coral cuts! You also don’t want to damage the reef so the best time to snorkel is during high tide.
We also enjoyed swimming at Sairee Beach, each morning we would enjoy a morning dip as the sun rose around us! Again, there are better beaches with less boat traffic and that are more secluded to swim at, but Sairee Beach is still a great place to cool off.
Diving At Sairee Beach
Koh Tao is one of the cheapest places in the world to learn to dive and it’s a great place to do it due to the rich marine life in its waters. If you are wanting to learn to dive check out Sairee Cottage Diving or if you already know how to dive you can book your dive tours here.
Some of the most popular dive sites include Tanote Bay & White Rock
If you don’t know how to dive and don’t want to learn we recommend this full day snorkelling tour around Koh Tao
Watch The Sunset
Sairee Beach faces west making it the perfect place to watch the sunset. You could either chill on the beach or stop off in one of the many beachfront bars. We loved the look of Sandbar Restaurant or head to fishbowl beach bar if you want to party.
Being Social At Sairee Beach is easy, actually we witnessed a unique event... At around sunset groups of travellers formed circles to play Keepy-uppies. We still don’t know if this is a regular thing; we saw it every night and we don’t know who organises it but it looks fun and a great way to make friends.
Running At Sairee Beach
Now I totally understand if you skip this section… especially if you’re on holiday but Sairee Beach is actually a hotspot for fitness. Due to the large numbers of expats and digital nomads there’s plenty of Muay Thai gyms and fitness centres.
If you don’t want to pay for a class or if you’re looking for something outdoors, running along Sairee Beach is super popular. We ran each morning the length of the beach and always saw other travellers, we even went for a dip straight after to cool off! The most perfect morning.
Massages At Sairee Beach
Okay I hear you, you don’t want to go running! Instead you can grab a Thai massage from one of the many parlours along the beachfront. These are cheap and feel amazing, we recommend visiting Majestic Spa.
Often the treatments cost between 300 - 600 TBH depending on what you choose.
Sairee Beach & Koh Tao’s Nightlife
The nightlife in Koh Tao is buzzing and Sairee Beach is at the heart of it. You can find beachfront bars offering happy hour and live music, there are plenty of clubs and they often have fire shows on the beach.
Shopping At Sairee beach
There is no shortage of shops lining the streets of Sairee Village. One thing we loved is the main walkway along the beach is closed to cars, this means you can perouse all the little shops without the hectic traffic. Be warned though motorcycles still come down this street and some don't slow down!
There are plenty of shops selling souvenirs, beachwear, smoothies, diving gear and of course there's the traveller's necessity, 7/11.
King Rama V Statue
One thing that came up for us when we searched what to do at Sairee Beach was the King Rama Statue. This is in place to remember the Thai King who abolished slavery. On one of our runs we checked out the statue however unless you’re into Thai history, we say give this a miss.
Sairee Beach Restaurants
There are endless restaurant choices at Sairee Beach, although we thought the food was lacking here compared to other parts of Thailand that we visited.
Some beachfront places include Sandbar Beach Restaurant and we also recommend Fizz Beach Club.
The best food we had in Sairee Village was actually in town at 995 Roasted Duck. This restaurant was always packed, affordable and served the most delicious food on Koh Tao!
Koh Tao Hotels Sairee Beach
This is where we stayed and we loved it! We only had a fan room but there were two large swimming pools, direct access to the beach plus an onsite beachfront restaurant. This is our number one choice of Sairee Beach hotels.
Savage hostel offers shared or private accommodation options plus guests can enjoy a rooftop pool & yoga, movie nights and organised tours. We love the look of this hostel which is the heart of Sairee Village.
If you’re looking for a little bit of luxury this resort is nestled at the north end of Sairee Beach. You can take it a step further and even get a private pool! This is one Sairee Beach hotel we’d love to try.
We use Booking.com, Agoda and HostelWorld for all of our stays around the world!
Best Tours In Koh Tao
Final Thoughts on Sairee Beach Koh Tao
Sairee beach is the most popular on Koh Tao and a great place to base yourself while visiting the island. There’s no shortage of things to do here from snorkelling, watching the sunset and making new friends. Sairee Beach is also the longest on the island with the golden sand stretching 1.5km, so even though it can get busy you can always find your own space to relax and enjoy your time on Koh Tao.
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