Pirates
Bar

Somebody on the quiet west coast of Koh Phangan decided the finest way to watch the sun drop was from the bow of a ship, then built one out of driftwood and bamboo on the rocks at the end of Haad Chao Phao. Pirates Bar is that idea made real, a thatched galleon leaning over the sea near Sri Thanu, cushions on the deck and a hull below that pours the drinks. It is a bar and only a bar, never a lounger club, and grasping that from the start is the key to loving it.

For a couple it can be the softest hour on the island, though Pirates keeps a second face. A few times each lunar month, in the run up to the Full Moon Party at Haad Rin, the ship throws its own Moon Set nights of fire shows and DJs. Only one of those two evenings is quiet, so the date you pick matters more than anything else here.

The romance is real and it is specific. It lives on the seaward tip of the deck, the narrow timber bow where a pair of cushions sits about twenty metres from the waterline with nothing between you and the horizon. On a normal evening the crowd is thin, the music stays low enough to talk over, and at high tide the whole structure feels as if it has slipped its mooring. Aim for that corner, and come early, because it is the first to be taken.

The other face arrives with the calendar. In the nights before each Full Moon Party the Moon Set sessions bring fire dancers, DJs and a crowd, turning the same deck into one of the livelier parties on the west coast. A fine night if that is what you came for, and a shock if you booked the evening for two. Check where the full moon falls first, and give the party nights a wide berth if you want the quiet version.

Where it falls short is comfort and swimming. There are no loungers, only cushions and low tables on wood, and the water below is rock rather than the powder sand you get along the rest of this coast. Come for the sundown drink and the novelty of the ship, and do your swimming earlier somewhere softer.

Haad Chao Phao is one of the calmer west coast bays, a curve of pale sand and shallow water set between the wellness village of Sri Thanu and the longer stretch of Haad Yao just to the north. It is the sort of coast people choose to base on precisely because it stays gentle while Haad Rin keeps the noise. Do your swimming and lazing along the sand in the afternoon, then walk to the rocks at the southern end as the light softens and let Pirates take the evening. Our Koh Phangan sunset guide maps the rest of the west coast bars if you want to string a few together.

Most people reach Pirates on two wheels. A scooter from the Sri Thanu and Haad Chao Phao area is a short ride, though the last approach is a rough track and a scramble over the rocks, so wear something on your feet and mind the path in the dark on the way out. A taxi drops you at the nearest lane and you walk the final stretch. The deck sits low over the water, so a calmer sea makes the walk in easier.

There is no reservation system for a normal night, which suits a couple perfectly, you turn up early and claim your cushions. For a Moon Set party night, or a group wanting a table held, tell us the date and we will put the question to the venue and come back with what they can promise, at no charge. It is the simplest way to know before you ride out whether your evening is the quiet one or the loud one.