Recommendation - Dawei Area - Great beaches

[DaweiBeach]

I have been to a lot of places in Myanmar but the area surrounding Dawei has easily been the best. Of course it is all up to what you like personally, but since I am into exploring things by motorbike and also like beaches and nature, the Dawei area is second to none. In fact I don’t think that I liked any area in South-East Asia as much as the Dawei area. You could probably spend weeks in the area and not run out of places that are worth exploring. There are beaches everywhere, north of Dawei, south of Dawei on the mainland and also south-west of Dawei on the Dawei peninsula. The mountain range east of Dawei also looks interesting even though I have not been there yet.

There is not much tourist infrastructure in the Dawei area so if you are looking for a typical beach resort than Ngapali, Ngwe Saung and Chaung Tha are obviously better places in Myanmar. The closest thing to a beach resort is Maungmakan Beach, which is about 25 minutes from Dawei. There are two basic guesthouses there and a more comfortable but still reasonably priced hotel. Maungmakan offers plenty of beach restaurants that serve delicious fish and seafood dishes but are a bit pricey. Other than that Maungmakan offers little and is not much more than a small, sleepy town. Before getting to Maungmakan I read plenty of reviews that said that the beach isn’t that great but in all honesty I thought it was easily more beautiful than Ngwe Saung and Ngapali. In particular the sunsets are spectacular. The northern and southern part of the beach is empty, just the centre the beach is sometimes crowded with local people. Not many foreign tourists are around yet.

South of Maungmakan Beach is a famous pagoda called Hmyaw Yit. The pagoda itself is not really interesting but the fact that it sits on a small island, reachable with a bridge, is what makes it special. It offers fantastic views on the beaches to the north and south. This is one of the places in which the beauty of nature is really spectacular even if you have seen hundreds of beaches in your life. The pagoda is easily reachable by motorbike in about 30 minutes from Maungmakan Beach. The road connecting Maungmakan Beach and Hmyaw Yit is in good shape and mostly sealed. There is also not much traffic which makes it an easy and comfortable road to ride on, even for people who are not experienced motorbike riders. On the way to Hmyaw Yit you will also pass two beautiful beaches that are totally empty and are worth a visit. Hmyaw Yit pagoda is popular with local people so there are also restaurants and shops on the way to the pagoda and at the pagoda itself.

North of Maungmakan Beach is Nabule Beach, which is the area in which the harbour of the new economic zone will be situated. I have not been to Nabule Beach yet but will definitely visit when returning to Dawei.

The Dawei peninsula is harder to reach from Maungmakan Beach since it can only be accessed from Dawei. So if you plan on visiting the beaches on the peninsula than you should choose a Dawei hotel. In the very near future there will also be a road from Hmyaw Yit to Naw Pyin beach on the peninsula, this road is already under construction and will allow visiting the Dawei peninsula from Maungmakan beach. I have personally seen the construction work of the road and think that it will be finished in just a few months (been in Dawei in October 2015). This road starts in the village Kam Pa Ni next to the southern end of the beach just south of Hmyaw Yit pagoda.

Contrary to other travel reports of the Dawei area I would recommend first time visitors to base themselves in Maungmakan and explore nearby beaches instead of visiting the Dawei peninsula, based from Dawei. The reason for that is that the distance between Dawei and the beaches on the peninsula is uncomfortably far for people who are not passionate motorbike riders or serious adventurers. All of the beaches on the peninsula can also only be reached by unsealed roads that often pass a rather big mountain range that separates the beaches and the rest of the peninsula. You need to be a good motorbike rider since accidents on these often really remote roads can spell disaster if your motorbike is damaged or you are injured. All of this is not really worth the hassle since the beaches south of Maungmakan are not less beautiful or less empty than the beaches on the peninsula. Especially difficult can be the trip to Tizit Beach. The road to Tizit Beach starts just south the township capital Launglon. The road from the main peninsula road to Tizit Beach passes the mentioned mountain range and is unsealed, the real problem however is that the road only leads to a village next to the beach and not the beach itself. Between the beach and the village is a lake that can be dry when there is low tide or up to 1m high when it is high tide. Needless to say in case of high tide you will have to park your motorbike in the village and walk or swim through the lake to get to the beach itself. Walking through the lake during high tide takes about 30 minutes. Obviously there is no shade so this is very unpleasant and exhausting. At Tizit Beach there is also construction work. A huge resort is taking shape. If you are lucky and make it to Tizit you can meet the foreign owners and managers of the resort and have a chat with them. Unfortunately for me, as you might already guess, it was high tide when I arrived at Tizit Beach. This made my trip to Tizit beach the only really bad experience while visiting the Dawei area.

Shan Maw pagoda, at the southern tip of the peninsula, is easy to reach despite being the furthest away from Dawei (50 miles). It can be reached by the sealed main road and there is no need to pass the mountain range. About 5-10 minutes from Shan Maw pagoda are a few smaller beaches and a big beach is visible when driving/riding on the main road. So if you want to visit more beaches than you get multiple chances.

Dawei itself is a pleasant town that offers everything that you may need. It has a few ATM´s, a western restaurant (on the roof of Golden Guest Hotel), good hotels and guest houses, a small supermarket and a surprisingly good hospital. There is also a big pagoda that is worth a visit. Obviously nobody comes to Dawei because of the city itself so coming to Dawei is only worthwhile for people who want to explore beaches and nature.

There are some blogs available that cover Dawei and southern Myanmar so if you want to get more information on the area these blogs are a great source. I don´t own any of these blogs so please don´t think I am advertising for blogs. I just want to share my excitement about Dawei and its surroundings. Using Google Earth helps a lot since many of the beaches don´t have names and generally can be hard to find.

These are the hotels that I used while beeing in Dawei and Maungmakan.

Dawei:
Shwe Maung Than Hotel
We stayed in a three person room that cost 45 USD a night. Great value for money. Modern hotel with all comforts that you might ask for, including laundry and Wi-Fi. The hotel is very clean and well maintained. Manager speaks very good English and can help out with whatever you need. Hotel also rents motorbikes for good prices. Breakfast-area is on the roof and offers great views over town. Only negative is the dreadful breakfast which consists of the usual fried rice/noodles (worse taste than in any average restaurant) or toast with butter and strawberry jam (equally bad). What makes it really dreadful and worse than other hotels is that there is not even the usual 3-in-1 Nescafe, fruit juice or fresh fruits available.

Maungmakan:

DDPC Bungalow
Right next to the beach. Bungalows are very simple without A/C, hot-water showers and no electricity during the day-time. Staff speaks little English but is as helpful as possible. Restaurant is ok, cheaper than local beach restaurants but not quite as good. Main problem is the lack of trees which means that there is little shade outside the bungalows. Beds are very hard and uncomfortable but have mosquito nets. Fan helps to stay comfortable during the day. Bungalow with double bed costs 20 USD a night.

Tanintharyi Beach Resort
Best value for money hotel at Maungmakan. 45 USD a night for a double room. 55 USD a night for a triple room. 24 hours electricity. Big, modern rooms with nice beds, A/C and hot-water showers. Right at the beach. Breakfast is good and consists of the usual toast with jam and butter but also four kinds of hot dishes (fried eggs, two kinds of fried noodles and fried rice). Good coffee, juice and fruits are available too. Usually there are also 1-2 kinds of sweet, local snacks (i.e. like in a regular Myanmar tea-shop) available. Staff speaks decent English and can help when renting motorbikes. It is easy to tell that Tanintharyi Beach Resort aims to meet international standards. Overall a very well-priced option that offers a lot more comfort than DDPC Bungalows and Coconut Guesthouse (have not stayed there personally).

Remember I don´t own any of these blogs. This is not advertising. I just want to help others to find more information on Dawei so they can better prepare their trip to this lovely area of southern Myanmar.

https://myohmyanmar.wordpress.com/2014/03/14/no-need-to-archipelago-try-the-beaches-on-the-dawei-peninsula/

www.southernmyanmar.com

http://www.elcaminosinfin.com/dawei-myanmar-part-3-tizit-beach/

If you have a question please feel free to ask me.
Have a good time!

Edited November 28, 2015 by DaweiBeach

[DaweiBeach]

View from Hmyaw Yit Pagoda

Beach south of Hmyaw Yit

Beach north of Hmyaw Yit

Hm

[DaweiBeach]

Maungmakan North

Maungmakan South

Maungmakan Restaurants

[phuketrichard]

thanks for the report,I am heading south next week, flying into Yangon an making my was south an exiting at Kwathoung.
was planning on 2 days or so in Dawei and renting a bike

although i do love beaches an islands ( i live on one) i am more interested in the people & markets, what were they like.?
were there fishing villages at some of the beaches? See any Chao Lay ( sea gypsy's) ?

Your last shot looks like many of Phukets beaches in the late 80's

Thanks again

[DaweiBeach]

There are plenty of fishing villages. Not at Maungmakan Beach but on the beach just south of it and also on the road to Hmyaw Yit pagoda, right before getting to the pagods. Can't be missed.

To be honest I found regular villages much more pleasant and friendly than the fishing villages I have seen but obviously still interesting and worth a visit.Maybe it is because the fishing villages are full of people from other divisions (mainly Ayeyarwaddy Division) coming to work and thus not really cared for.

I didn't notice sea gypsies but didn't look for them so I might have missed them.

People in the Dawei region see themselves as one of Myanmar's minoritiy groups and speak their own language despite using the Burmese alphabet. The Dawei area has been the only place in Myanmar that I have been to in which many people can't speak Burmese language. That can make communication difficult even for native Burmese speakers.

I am living in northern Myanmar, so I am used to life in Myanmar and still found the people in Dawei very pleasant. They are definitly more unpredentious and humble than the people in "my" city (Myitkyina, Kachin state).

Only big market I saw was the main market in Dawei city which looked like any other big market in Myanmar to me. Again I did not look for markets so might have missed interesting ones.

[phuketrichard]

curious, what do u do up in Myitkyina?

i was there in April , found it a nice town, loved the outdoor street market at night and the restaurant on the river

[DaweiBeach]

I am managing a boarding school with my Kachin wife. But plan on relocating to Dawei within the next two years. Myitkyina is a decent town but there really is little to do since Myitkyina is very far away from everything. Plus it is very lonely up here, there is not even one other foreigner living here.

[phuketrichard]

I am managing a boarding school with my Kachin wife. But plan on relocating to Dawei within the next two years. Myitkyina is a decent town but there really is little to do since Myitkyina is very far away from everything. Plus it is very lonely up here, there is not even one other foreigner living here.

thats why i liked it :-) out of 4 days there, saw only 2 other white faces LOL

Cant wait till they open that part of the river to Tourists down to Bhamo, had to fly instead before i began my river trip

http://www.reitman-photo.com/p299868307

[DaweiBeach]

I am managing a boarding school with my Kachin wife. But plan on relocating to Dawei within the next two years. Myitkyina is a decent town but there really is little to do since Myitkyina is very far away from everything. Plus it is very lonely up here, there is not even one other foreigner living here.

thats why i liked it :-) out of 4 days there, saw only 2 other white faces LOL

Cant wait till they open that part of the river to Tourists down to Bhamo, had to fly instead before i began my river trip

http://www.reitman-photo.com/p299868307

I rarely see tourists these days. There were more tourists coming before but now people know that road and river to Bhamo are closed so they don´t come anymore since they need to fly to Bhamo to make the boat trip to Mandalay.

Most of the foreigners here are working for NGO´s but they usually stay just a few days and don´t live here permanently.

I am the only foreign resident. It is very lonely despite being surrounded by my family (wife and son) and our students. Very boring as well since there are only few places outside the city that can be visited and are of any interest. Lack of roads is the main problem. All of the mountains that would be great to visit are far away and can only be reached with organized trekking groups. Since so many people are addicted to Heroin most of the villages outside Myitkyina are downright depressing anyways.

Edited November 29, 2015 by DaweiBeach

[sabaijai]

" Before getting to Maungmakan I read plenty of reviews that said that the beach isn’t that great but in all honesty I thought it was easily more beautiful than Ngwe Saung and Ngapali. In particular the sunsets are spectacular."

I agree 100 percent. For me it's the nicest beach on the mainland.

[phuketrichard]

Visited the beaches near Dawei, beautifull, not wide at the main one and u can have an air con bungalow with tv and hot water for $30 at the Maungmagan beach resort. Sea view for 40, great value as there a 5-6 small bungalow resorts nearby and they are $20!!!! There is also coconut bungalows but its a long 600 meter walk to the beach. Plenty of small restaurants on the beach

Went to Nabula beach. Long white sand, crystal clear water and nobody. Small resturant at the north end offers fried rice only. U can come back on the new hard packed dirt road that runs thru the Dawei special economic zone, its 54 km trip one way!!

Italian -thai company has brought up hundreds of acres of beach front land.

Near the goverment ddpc bungalows they have already laid out plots of land for sale

Its very beautifull. Reminds of what khao lak, north of phuket looked liked in the 90's

By road Dawei is Only about 6-7 hours from Bangkok

Ps: the fresh early morning seafood market is Great!!

Shwe Moung hotel is 18,000 kyat on 4th floor, breakfast ,fried egg, toast,jam,noodle soup and yhe do have the 3 in 1 coffee

Edited December 11, 2015 by phuketrichard

[sabaijai]

In the 90s I used to stay in a two-story wooden guest house in the center of Dawei. Very simple but lots of atmosphere and excellent Mon meals. Can't recall the name, wonder if it's still around.

[jphasia]

That's sound really nice. I am been in Myanmar for more 3 years but for work. I have mainly all around, ayerrawaddy division, based in Pathein, so going several times to Ngwe Sang beach or Chaungtha beach but i couldn't find the beaches as beautiful as South Thailand. I have been from Yangon to the North, including Magway division, Nay Py Taw, Mandalay division, Sagaing division (mainly all the division), Shan States (North and South), Kachin (up to Meitchyna)...but never been to this part of the South, Mon state, Dawei...down south. But that what I am planning for this year (well 2016) as I am beach lover. I have been to this town down south (Khawthong?) But only when i had to visa run from Thailand many years ago. Also to this island with a resort and a casino?

So you post is interesting for me and I might come back to you for advises or feedback. Working in Myanmar but also leaving in Phuket.

[Sandy Freckle]

Hi, I'm a surfer and have heard reports that occasionally Andaman Sea swells can sometimes produce surf able waves in Myanmar.
I have heard that the northern coast of Myanmar does gather some ocean swells, but much or all of that northern coast are off limits to weatern tourists. To cut to the chase - Is there anyone here in this sub forum who knows of any surf able waves anywhere along Myanmar's extensive coasts..., including adjacent islands ?
All info would be greatly appreciated.
Regards Sandy