Ngapali Beach

Arriving at Thandwe airport, we could tell that Ngapali Beach was going to be a secluded getaway. Housing only an immigration counter, a pull along luggage cart and a small WC, the airport arrivals hall was about the cosiest we’ve seen. A few kilometres down the road, we reached our hotel on the beachfront. Spending three days at the beach gave us the chance to unwind after our first week and a half of hopping between cities. From first impressions, Ngapali Beach was one of the most idyllic, unspoilt beach resorts we’ve had the pleasure of visiting.

In fact our chosen resort was on a separate bay a kilometer or so North of the main beach, which made it even more secluded. It was beautiful and empty most of the time, giving the place a remote island feeling. For anyone planning to visit the area, we would highly recommend the bay we stayed at over the main Ngapali Beach.

We enjoyed walking along the bay sipping on coconuts and watching the many red crabs. The crabs were very shy and tended to disappear away into their holes as we got close, but they left behind impressive patterns in the sand resembling tiny crop circles, which could be found all over the beach.

Considering how quiet the beach was, we did notice there were a lot of boats, which seemed to be permanently moored in the Southern half of our bay. It turns out this was because we were visiting during the full moon. As we learned, many of the local fish swim deeper to avoid the bright moonlight during this time, which means sea fishing doesn’t yield much.

Thankfully the full moon did not mean a shortage of fish. Everyday we indulged on local seafood, sampling from just about all of the different beach front restaurants across the three days. Most of them served broadly the same foods, but we wanted to support the locals equally rather than just sticking to one restaurant. The majority were family run and all were very reasonably priced: a typical 3 course set meal costing £4 to £5, plus 75p for a fresh coconut or £1 for a cocktail.

We spent most of our time at the beach without cameras. Unfortunately this meant we missed a couple of interesting shots, including when the restaurant we were visiting decided it was time to trim the palm trees above us. This was done using a machete and a custom made set of shoes, with long curved metal hooks sticking out in front of the toes to allow the user to literally walk up the tree. Health and Safety was obviously a concern, so the owner asked us to move to the next table before coconuts and palm leaves began crashing to the ground, mere inches from where we had just been sat (they were about a metre away now, much safer). The waitress did not seem phased by this, as she darted between the falling debris to bring us our drinks. Nice to see a waitress who recognises that customer satisfaction is worth risking her life for…

With Ngapali being situated on Myanmar’s Western Coast, we thoroughly enjoyed watching the sunset from the beach as each day drew to a close. Better still, being such an unspoilt beach meant there was no nightlife once the restaurants had closed, so we had three peaceful nights of sleep.

When it came time to depart, we were again back to our favourite airport. There were no departure boards, no luggage carousels and apparently no laptops, as the check in staff simply ticked our names off a piece of paper before handing us a coloured sticker to indicate our destination. Seats were not assigned but within 15 minutes of the inbound plane landing, we were all aboard and on our way. What novelty!

The entire Ngapali area was much like the airport in this way – very laid back and simple, yet somehow everything functioned seamlessly. Clearly our Western lives add complication to even the most basic matters. Customer service has been top notch as well, with hotel porters, restauraunt waiters and general staff quick to engage at the first sign of discomfort. Our entire time at Ngapali was a joy – this has been a little piece of paradise!