Chaloklum Beach
4.5★ · 355 Google reviews
Chaloklum (Haad Chaloklum) is one of the few beaches on Koh Phangan where a working Thai community still sets the rhythm. Long-tail boats and trawlers sit at anchor across the bay, drying squid hangs along the lanes, and the long curve of sand runs past family shops, low-key cafes and a sizeable government pier. It faces north into a sheltered bay, so the water tends to stay calm — though the sand is more functional than postcard-white, and at low tide stretches of it turn to mudflat rather than swimming beach.
What makes Chaloklum punch above its weight is what leaves from it. The pier is the island's main jumping-off point for dive boats to Sail Rock, the Ang Thong Marine Park and the Koh Tao sites, and it's where you catch the taxi-boat to road-less Bottle Beach around the headland. Add genuinely good village restaurants a minute from the sand, and you have a base that rewards travellers who want everyday Thai island life over a manicured resort strip.
- Working fishing village — boats, drying squid and everyday Thai island life, not a resort strip
- Large government pier: main departure point for Sail Rock, Ang Thong and Koh Tao dive trips
- Catch the taxi-boat from here to road-less Bottle Beach around the headland
- Calm north-facing bay; swimming is best December–March when tides run higher
- Strong cluster of village eateries (Foods & Roots, Kaif, MYTHAI Burgers) steps from the sand