Ngalapi Beach (Myanmar) - Don't bother

I'll post a trip report with photos when I get back home.

But if you've ever thought to visit the 'paradise' beach of Ngalapi, forget it!

I rode my motorbike for 2 days to reach this beach (yes, you can fly from Yangon, but I fancied a bike tour).

They have made the most fundamental planning fcuk-up that is the absolute no-no at beach resorts.

They have build on the beach side of the beach road.

Meaning... the big hotels owned by the military and their cronies (true..), have built next to the beach, thereby hiding any view of the beach from the beach road, AND severely restricting public access to that beach for all the smaller hotels on the other side of the beach road.

A total, 100% fcuk-up, no view of the beach at all, unless you pay over-the-top prices for a mediocre room on the beach side, (which I did..)

More to follow in a separate post. I need to cool off after riding for 7 hours in the Rakhine Hills...

Swear I was just about to book hilton there as they have Asia Pacific sale at the moment.

It's a no?

Oh well it's just water and sand.

If you can fly to a beach resort in SEA, and possibly just about anywhere, then you need to not get your hopes up too much about what you're going to find there.

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Swear I was just about to book hilton..

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Well, if it's the Hilton, then it will be on the beach side of the road, so all fine for you.

I was expecting a beautiful beach and gorgeous views. Maybe I've been spoilt by Phuket (Mai Khao beach etc).

At least my mad ex isn't here to make things even worse....

Maybe you're just tired and crabby after your 7 hour bike ride, you raving nutter:)

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Maybe you're just tired and crabby after your 7 hour bike ride..

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Nope - Being tired and crabby doesn't alter the fact that 'they' have ruined a beautiful beach view by building on the beach side of the road - I would demolish all those hotels.

Dinner tonight was OK, but accompanied by the worst musical band that I have ever heard. Well, the guitarist was OK, but the music was blasting out, full of feedback and the singer was so out-of-key that I've heard far better in a drunken Thai karaokee. Not good at all, even the waitress apologised to me about it :)

Just add the word tsunami to the hotel names for Google search to index

I take it Simon's photos will be a bit different to this. :)

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2018/04/214.jpg

Obviously resorts ruin beaches that's why you keep driving/riding a few km in either direction past the resorts for the nice stuff. Resorts/hotels are just for sleeping in, you have a bike with you so no excuse for the whining unless the accommodation is shit.

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..that's why you keep driving/riding a few km in either direction past the resorts for the nice stuff

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Wish it was so. I rode the whole length of Ngapali Beach until I reached the fishing jetty at the end. There was only one single place about 30 metres wide where it was possible to see the sea from the beach road.

Honestly, when I first arrived on the beach road and drove up and down, I thought I hadn't reached the beach because I couldn't see it. It was only after riding to the fishing village and checking my GPS that I realised I was in the right place and the beach was completely hidden from view.

The Irrawaddy website has a good description of this problem, and how the it's the military/government and cronies who have grabbed the beach front and built walls to obscure the view.

https://www.irrawaddy.com/features/b...s-sparkle.html

Today I will drive further along the coast, south to Kanthary Beach, which is meant to be completely unspoilt..

Sounds like a great beach

No stinkin backpackers or teflers getting in the way of sundowners:)

^it's unfair if only the dillingers, jackmeoffs & SLandreths in the world are allowed to be on a beautiful beach, which is one of mother nature's gifts and is supposed to be free. (But yeah, I know, life is often unfair). :)

I've just watched a vid of Ngapali beach by Joshua Cornell on utube - his vid includes drone shots. What I saw were mostly trees (lots of them) along the beach; I didn't see a road. So I guess the resorts "own" those trees as well as the beachfront area. So yeah, no place for backpackers and teflers. :(

I think PhuketRichard (who has been to Myanmar several times) said that he didn't like the beach in Ngapali (or he didn't like overpriced resorts) and that he preferred the beaches on the east coast of Myanmar, which is near Dawei, IIRC. I met a couple of backpackers when I was in Myanmar who've been to/ near Dawei, and they said that the beach they went to was pristine and isolated most of the time.

@Simon43 - for your next beach trip, pls get yer add to/near Dawei and report back here. :D

Hi Katie, I think you mean Dawei on the west coast (there is no east coast in Myanmar...).

Yes, I used to visit that region many years ago when I lived in Phuket. For sure, there are many (MANY!) unspoilt beaches.

But right now, I have found a beautiful beach :) I've just ridden about 100 Km south of Ngalapi Beach to a bay called Kanthara Beach (i'll post up photos when I get back to Naypyitaw).

This bay is totally deserted - there is one resort being built and there is one basic guesthouse, (where I'm staying for the night because it is too far to ride today to the next town in daylight).

The place reminds me of Mai Khao beach in Phuket. Sandy beach stretching away into the distance and not a single soul to be seen....

I've got beer, my computer with internet via my mobile phone, an acceptable bathroom and a beautiful view of the beach and bay.

Not much else you need in life really... :)

Looks like a nice area to ride?

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Looks like a nice area to ride?

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It's nicer to ride in the hills, simply because it's the hot season right now and midday temperature is above 40 degrees - at least in the hills it's cooler with a mountain breeze (which is why I prefer to ride in the Shan Hills, but I felt obliged to visit Ngalapi because many friends rave about it).