- Three TreasureBeaches
- The area is known for bird watching and surfing
- Muko Chumphon National Park is an attraction
- Chumphon has an airport and railway station
- Favorite stays:
Santi Beach Retreat ***
Sara Resort Chumphon ***
Cabana Resort **
Tonglang Resort *
Bang Son
Thung Wua Laen
Quiet Beach
PLACE
Most of the tourists that pass Chumphon take a ferry directly to Ko Tao. We advise you to spend a few days on the mainland. Close to Chumphon is a beautiful national park and some beaches near the city are good and relaxed. The area is known for bird watching and surfing, and we noticed at least one diving center in Thung Wua Lean.
WHAT TO DO
Chumphon is a lively town with wooden houses, lively markets, and a number of hotels. You can eat well in town and you find a pleasant night market at Chumphons’ train station, where you can enjoy all kinds of food.
Muko Chumphon National Park is an attraction near Chumphon. There are more than 40 islands in this park with lots of natural beauty to explore. Coral reefs can be found around the islands, and although the coral is not as beautiful as on Ko Tao, it is still a very nice daytime activity. At the tourist center of the national park on the mainland near Quiet Beach, you can go for an impressive hike through the mangrove forest via a long wooden bridge where you will certainly see monkeys.
TRANSPORT
Chumphon is a town in the southern end of the Upper Gulf. The town has good connections to all of the surrounding bigger cities, and to Bangkok as well. You can take a minibus from Bang Saphan to Chumphon (2 hours). The train station at Chumphon offers good connections to Bangkok and Hat Yai via Trang. AirAsia also has daily flights from Bangkok to Chumphon.
Thung Wua Laen and Bang Son are 15 to 30 kilometers north of Chumphon close to the airport. From town a tuk-tuk will take you for 350- 600 baht. A taxi to the airport is 200-400 baht. Quiet Beach is 24 kilometers southwest of Chumphon, and 11 kilometers from Pak Nam. It is also close to the Muko National Park. You will need your own transportation to get here. Finally, we did not find Pak Nam’s main beach too impressive, which is why it was not added to the database.
Ferries departing from The Lompraya Pier are going to Ko Tao, Ko Phangan and Ko Samui. The pier is 25 kilometers south of town, 43 kilometers from Saphli, and 16 kilometers extra from Bang Son. A taxi from Saphli and Thung Wua Laen to the pier costs 800 baht.
You can rent scooters in Thung Wua Laen, but if you stay at Quiet Beach or Bang Son it’s better to rent a scooter in town.