Oriental Beach Village Naturist Resort

Where is it?

Opened in 2019, formerly known as Ocean Breeze Residence, Oriental Beach Village Naturist Resort (OBV) is actually located at the northern end of Phang Nga Province -- about 110 km from Phuket International Airport and a solid 2.5 hours drive to get to with a ferry trip in between.

The drive is relatively simple. From Phuket International Airport, you travel north along Route 402, then turn onto Route 4 and continue north, passing Khao Lak until you reach the pier at Ban Nam Khem in about 2 hours. There, you'll find a ferry service ferrying people and vehicle to the opposite shore.

On my arrival, it took over an hour to clear custom. This means if your flight does not arrive in the morning, your safe bet will be staying overnight at Khao Lak rather than risking arriving at the pier only to learn the last ferry had departed.

For bicycle / motorcycle, you can just push it onto a long tail boat but if you are driving a car, you have to wait for the car ferry which closes at 17:30 daily. Fare for 1 car and 2 person was THB150. There is "kind of" a schedule but the ferry will depart whenever it is full, so make sure you arrive at least 30 minutes earlier to secure a spot. After that, it is just another 15 minutes drive to the resort. The GPS coordinate of the front gate is 8.926492, 98.257315.

OBV does offer one way transfer at THB2,500 which mean a round trip will cost you THB5,000 -- more expensive than renting a car for a week!

Arriving at the resort

There are several parking spaces outside for guests arriving in their own vehicle. Having a Thailand SIM card is a plus because there is a security lock at the main gate and you will need to call the resort staff to open the gate for you.

Speaking of staff, if you frequent their Chiang Mai counterpart, you will find some familiar faces here because some staff moved with their family all the way from Chiang Mai to here. One told me she found the environment much quieter, air is cleaner and weather is better.



There is a main access down the length of the resort, with two and three storeys high villa on its side. The access ended at the swimming pool with a shaded restaurant area on the other side where you can take your meals.

Fun Fact -- That big round tower thing you see besides the swimming pool is a Tsunami Tower. In case there is a Tsunami, guests can seek refuge at the top.

 

While the pool is of good size, the real gem is the beach front just a few meters away. Beach chairs were there for your use and you can easily spend hours soaking up the sun. You should be aware of the fact that there are two other resorts neighboring OBV and on occasions, their guests will walk pass this section of the beach. As far as I can tell, they have no problem seeing me sunbathing in nude. If you fancy a stroll down the beach, just cover yourself until you cleared these two resorts. You can enjoy a long naturist-style sunset stroll along the coastline.

Strange Fact -- while it is cool to be able to swim in Andamen Sea, something stung us in the water. Really, both me and my partner fell it and decided to get out of the sea after mere minutes.

How is the food?

The menu is basically the same one you will find in their Chiang Mai counterpart. Both lunch and dinner tasted good although their potion seems to be smaller in comparison. Breakfast is being serve as buffet style instead. Choices are limited and tasted flat, very flat -- seriously, this is the first time I ever added salt to beacon. Not to mention hot dishes are merely "warm" at best. To be honest, I do prefer breakfast sets in Chiang Mai.

What to do on an island?

OBV has several excursions for you to choose from, ranging form visiting local village to island / beach trip. Sadly, because I only stayed for 3 nights, I did not had the chance to try them out. Franky, I never expect Thailand will be this hot in February. All I want to do is soaking in the pool with an ice cold drink in hand :P Oh well, more reason for returning later :)

-- 02/2020

Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.