Staying on Loh Dalum Bay: beach resorts and hostels on Koh Phi Phi's party beach

Who should stay on Loh Dalum Bay?

Loh Dalum is for people who came to have fun. Groups of friends, solo travellers and backpackers stay here because the bars, the fire shows and the social hostels are on the doorstep, and nobody needs to walk home through the village at 02:00. It also suits couples who want a room on the beach and a view of the bay at sunset and do not mind the music, especially in the resorts at the western end and on the eastern hillside, which are further from the loudest bars.

It does not suit light sleepers or families with small children who want quiet nights. The beach bars play music until 01:00 or 02:00 or later, and bass carries a long way across the water; rooms on the hillside or in the northern part of the bay are quieter, but not silent. It is also not the best beach for swimming: Loh Dalum is very shallow and strongly tidal, and at low tide the water retreats far out, leaving sand and pools. At high tide it is calm and warm. For a real swim, Long Beach is a short long-tail ride away.

Resorts, hostels and hotels on Loh Dalum Bay

The 28 properties listed here are a mix of beach resorts and hostels, with a smaller number of hotels and guesthouses. The resorts, several with pools and sea-view rooms, sit on the beach and at the western end of the bay and charge roughly 2,000 to 5,000 THB a night, more at Christmas and New Year. The hostels, some of them attached to beach bars, sell dormitory beds from about 300 to 650 THB and private rooms from around 1,000 THB; they are the busiest beds on the island in high season and often sell out. Small hotels and guesthouses in the lanes behind the beach charge about 1,200 to 3,000 THB. The hillside properties on the eastern slope, some of them bungalows with views over the whole bay, are reached by steps and suit travellers with light luggage. Most rated properties here carry two or three stars. Each listing states the distance from the pier and whether the property is on the sand, in the lanes or up the hill.

The properties in the northern part of the bay, a longer walk along the shore from the eastern end, are the most secluded in this zone: some run their own long-tail from the beach during the day and charge for trips after dark. Their listings say how they are reached.

How do you get to Loh Dalum Bay?

From Tonsai pier, walk through the village: the beach is about 300 m from the pier as the crow flies, three to ten minutes on foot depending on which end you are heading for. There are no cars; porters with push carts take luggage from the pier for a fee, and the hillside and northern properties often send staff to meet the boat if you give them your arrival time. The hillside rooms at the eastern end are reached by stairs from the beach path.

Long-tail boats wait on the sand of Loh Dalum as well as on Tonsai Bay, for trips to Monkey Beach, Nui Beach, the northern bays and Phi Phi Leh. Kayaks rent on the beach for about 150 to 300 THB an hour. From the eastern end of the bay, the path up to the viewpoints climbs about 340 steps to Viewpoint 1 and continues to Viewpoints 2 and 3, from where jungle trails lead down to the east coast.

What is there to do on Loh Dalum Bay?

The fire shows are the signature of the beach: every night from about 20:30 or 21:00 the bars on the sand stage fire dancers, followed by music and dancing that go on into the early hours. Drinks are sold by the bucket, beer costs about 80 to 150 THB and cocktails 150 to 250 THB.

By day the bay is calm. Kayaking to Monkey Beach takes about 20 minutes from Loh Dalum, and Nui Beach, a secluded cove on the western headland, 45 to 60 minutes; long-tails make the same trips in a few minutes. The monkeys on Monkey Beach steal food and bags and can bite, so keep your distance. At high tide the shallow bay is good for a swim; at low tide it is a place to walk on the sand flats and take photographs of the cliffs. The viewpoints are closest from the eastern end of the beach: the view from Viewpoint 2 over Loh Dalum and Tonsai Bay, two curves of sand back to back, is the most photographed scene on the island, and sunset from there is worth the climb.

Everything in Tonsai Village, from the dive schools and tour desks to the restaurants and the market, is a few minutes' walk away.

Loh Dalum and the 2004 tsunami

Loh Dalum Bay was the part of Koh Phi Phi hit hardest by the tsunami of 26 December 2004, when the wave entering the bay reached about 6.5 m and swept across the isthmus. The village was rebuilt within a few years, and today the blue evacuation signs in the lanes, pointing uphill to the viewpoint, are the main visible trace. They are worth noting on arrival, as in any coastal village in the region.

When to stay on Loh Dalum Bay

The party runs all year, but the busiest months are December to April, the dry season, when the sea is calm, the evenings are warm and dry, and the fire shows draw the biggest crowds; prices and occupancy peak around Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. From May to October the south-west monsoon brings showers, fewer visitors and lower rates; the bars stay open but some nights are quieter. The tides matter more than the season for swimming: check the tide times, because at low tide the water can be a long walk away.