The mountains are beautiful, but give me sun and water any day! Sorry Iowa, I have no plans of ever moving back to the snow. And, in my opinion, the best time to leave our Nepal home is November through January. Plant me in the sun! Have you been to the beach in Thailand? We’re making our way to a conference in Chiang Mai, so our dates weren’t super flexible, but off-season turned out to be nearly perfect. We stayed a couple hours South of Pattaya City and pretty much had the beachfront to ourselves. FYI, staying South of Pattaya avoids all the sex tourism and is super family friendly. Even just 20 minutes south of the city center is significantly cleaner, safer, far less congested, and not once did we have to ask the kids to look away or were approached for anything inappropriate. My oldest two daughters and I previously stayed right on the beachfront about 30 minutes South of the City and it was lovely. We dined on seafood served right on our porch that overlooked the ocean.

We did have a couple days of drizzle, but it really only rained at night and to be honest, the cloudier skies made for more tolerable days on the beach. Our Airbnb was a large 6 bedroom home nestled in a compound surrounded by greenery and a melody of birds. I would have loved a few more blankets in the house and better water pressure, but overall it was clean, spacious, the groundskeeper was so kind, transportation was easy, beach access was a two minute walk, we had access to a washer (though no dryer), and we basically enjoyed a private swimming pool. The house cost a total of $350 for six nights.

The beach itself was great. We’re traveling home with bags of seashells, we saw jelly fish and puffer fish, the kids had the time of their lives hunting crabs one night, one of them found a sand dollar, and we were only approached once or twice by locals trying to sell us tourist traps.

We enjoyed exploring piers, walking the shorelines, local shopping and food in the nearby town. We raced (literally, and it was so much fun!) through the Rayong Botanic Garden in paddle boats, and we took the kids to the Rayong Aquarium, which although was small, had a pretty awesome variety of fish and sea creatures. And since we happened to go on the King’s birthday, entry was free. Visiting the Pattaya Floating Market during off-season was a very different experience. Though several stalls were empty and there weren’t nearly as many food options, the stop was still worth the experience (and the entry fee) and we did find several goodies and souvenirs. One of the most obvious downfalls to traveling outside of the peak season is that many of the local restaurants had several unavailable items. It seems they only serve the best of the best when the demand is higher, which makes sense, but I was a little bummed that my family wasn’t able to experience a few of my favorite memories. Overall, our off-season, off-the-beaten path vacation was pretty great, and there’s still more we could have done (the Dolphin Aquarium, the Tiger Park, etc.), On or off season, South of Pattaya is a great family friendly beach destination with low budget and luxury options.

Stay tuned for my reviews of transportation, food, and Bangkok. 🇹🇭
Visit strengthanddignity.net_ on Instagram to view my South of Pattaya reel.