Bang Saen day trip from Pattaya: beach, aquarium, monkeys

Bang Saen is the nearest beach to Bangkok, 108 km from the capital, and it has been a Thai family resort since the 1940s. It lies in Saen Suk, a university town on the Gulf between Chonburi city and Si Racha, about 40 km up the coast from Pattaya. Few foreign visitors stop here, which is the attraction: this is a beach town run for Thai weekenders, with Thai prices and Thai habits.

What is Bang Saen, and why go from Pattaya?

Go for the atmosphere, the food and three good small sights, not for the swimming. The town has a long palm-lined promenade, a university campus with a public aquarium, a hill of wild monkeys with a sea view, and a rocky cape where the town gathers at sunset. A day here shows how Thai families holiday: eating under awnings on the sand, renting tandem bicycles, flying kites, buying dried squid to take home.

If you want clear water for swimming instead, stay closer to home: see the Koh Larn guide and the Jomtien Beach guide.

What is the beach like, and how busy does it get?

Bang Saen Beach runs for about 2.5 km, maintained by Saen Suk municipality. The sand is firm and brownish, the sea shallow and usually cloudy, clearer between October and February. Rows of canvas deckchairs under awnings line the whole length; the vendors who rent them bring food and drinks to your chair. Rubber rings, banana boats and bicycle hire, including tandems and three-seaters, fill the gaps. The shaded promenade behind the beach is wide and flat, good for a walk or a pushchair.

From Monday to Thursday the beach is half empty. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays it is packed from mid-morning, the beach road slows to a crawl and parking is hard to find after 10:00. Unless a crowd is what you came to see, pick a weekday. Swim only where others are swimming and inside any marked zone, keep clear of the banana boat lanes and watch children closely: the bottom shelves gently but the water is not clear enough to see them under the surface.

What is at the Burapha University aquarium, and what does it cost?

The Institute of Marine Science, which everyone calls Bang Saen Aquarium, is on the Burapha University campus at the south end of the beach road. It is a working research institute with a public side in two parts. The aquarium has more than 40 saltwater tanks arranged by habitat, from tide pools and coral reef to a large tank of giant groupers, sharks and rays, with a jellyfish zone, seahorses, horseshoe crabs and a touch tank. The Marine Science Museum shows shells, traditional fishing boats and gear, and the skeleton of a Bryde's whale from the Gulf of Thailand.

Divers feed the fish in the big tank in the afternoon, with an extra morning session on weekends and holidays; the times are on a board at the ticket desk. Allow an hour to an hour and a half. It is air-conditioned, which makes it the right stop for the hottest part of the day, and it is priced for school groups: expect several of them on weekday mornings in term time.

What is Khao Sam Muk, and are the monkeys safe?

Khao Sam Muk is a 45-metre hill between Bang Saen and the fishing village of Ang Sila, just north of the beach. A paved road loops over the top, so there is no climb. At the foot, facing the sea, is the Chinese-style shrine of Chao Mae Sam Muk, the young woman of a local legend who threw herself from the cliff with her lover Saen: the hill and the beach carry their names. Fishing families still come here to ask for protection at sea, so dress and behave as you would at a temple.

The summit car park looks over the whole bay and is the best sunset point on this coast. It is also the home of a large troop of wild long-tailed macaques. They are used to people and will take anything that looks like food.

• Keep food, drinks, plastic bags and sunglasses inside the car or a zipped bag.
• Do not hand-feed the monkeys, and do not let children approach or touch them.
• Do not smile with bared teeth or stare at a large male: both read as a threat.
• Keep car windows closed and check the roof and bonnet before you drive off.
• A scratch or bite needs washing with soap and water and a hospital visit the same day for rabies treatment.

Laem Tan, the rocky cape at the north end of the beach just below the hill, has a paved terrace, a small garden and rocks where locals fish in the evening. At weekends food vendors set up a walking street beside it.

Where do you eat seafood in Bang Saen?

On the beach, order from the vendor whose chairs you sit in: grilled squid, steamed blue crab, fresh oysters with fried shallots and chilli, som tam and grilled chicken, brought on trays. Ask for the price list first; it is posted or printed. For a table and a kitchen, the restaurants along the beach road and around Laem Tan serve the full seafood menu. Ang Sila, a few kilometres north, is an old fishing community with a long-established market, known across Thailand for its seafood and its stone mortars. Go in the morning.

Before leaving, stop at Nong Mon Market on Sukhumvit Road at the turn-off for the beach. It is where every Thai visitor buys gifts: khao lam, sticky rice with coconut milk roasted in bamboo, along with dried squid and shrimp, shrimp paste and steamed fish curry cakes.

The dishes and how to order them are explained in what to eat in Pattaya.

What can you see in Si Racha and Koh Loy on the way?

Si Racha is the town between Pattaya and Bang Saen, about 30 km north of Pattaya and 10 km south of Bang Saen. It is a port and industrial centre with a large Japanese community, and it gave its name to the chilli sauce. The stop to make is Koh Loy, a small rocky island joined to the waterfront by a causeway you can drive or walk across. It has a hilltop temple with a view over the harbour and its fishing boats, a seaside park, and the pier for the ferries to Koh Si Chang, 12 km offshore and 40 to 45 minutes away. Half an hour is enough for the island; the waterfront park beside the causeway is pleasant in the late afternoon.

How do you get to Bang Saen from Pattaya?

By car, 30 to 40 minutes on Sukhumvit Road or Motorway 7. A hired car with driver for the day is the best arrangement, because the sights are spread over ten kilometres and you can add Si Racha or the zoo. App cars will take you there with the fare shown in advance; book the return before the evening rush. By public transport, buses and songthaews running north on Sukhumvit Road stop at Nong Mon Market, where red songthaews shuttle down to the beach for a few baht; it works, but allow well over an hour each way.

A day that works: leave Pattaya at 08:30, walk Koh Loy at 09:15, reach the beach by 10:30, eat lunch under the awnings, spend the hot hours in the aquarium from 13:30, drive up Khao Sam Muk around 16:30 and watch the sunset from Laem Tan before the drive home.

With children, swap Si Racha for a morning at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, 20 minutes inland. Transport options from your hotel are in getting around Pattaya.