Stage 4: Bang Tao Beach → Kamala Beach
Stage 4 was the shortest and gentlest stage so far: 7.5 km from Bang Tao Beach, through Surin, to Kamala, with 17 of us walking together. But the best part wasn't the walking. it was what waited for us at the finish. More on that at the end.
We set off from Bang Tao Beach, and the first challenge came quickly: crossing the khlong, the small canals that cut across the sand where the water meets the sea. The water was shallow at that time, so some of us jumped across and others simply walked through it. Then, just before Carpe Diem, we had to leave the beach and take the road, because the sea has already taken that part of the coastline. There was simply no way through on the sand anymore. It's a small reminder of how the coast is always changing.
From there, we followed a quiet road down to Surin Beach. Surin is one of the prettier beaches on this coast, a curve of soft sand backed by trees, and calmer than some of its neighbours. It used to be packed with beach clubs years ago; today it's cleaner and more open, a nice place to pass through on foot.
After Surin came the most challenging part of the stage: a climb on the road 4030. To make the most of it, we stopped at the Laem Singh viewpoint, one of the best views on this stretch of coast, looking down over the bay and the sea below. A good excuse to catch our breath and take some photos.
After the viewpoint, it was an easy walk down the road into Kamala Beach. Kamala is a quieter, family-friendly beach with a real local feel, a Muslim fishing village at its heart, with local restaurants and a relaxed pace. It's also home to one of the five organizations this walk supports, Phuket Has Been Good To Us, which made it the perfect place to finish.
Waiting for us in Kamala was a beach clean-up, organised by Phuket Has Been Good To Us, together with some of the children from their school. We spread out along the sand and worked side by side with them, filling bags with the litter that washes in and gets left behind.
This was the heart of the morning. Walking to raise funds for the children of Phuket is one thing. Cleaning a beach shoulder to shoulder with them is another. It turned a walk into something we did together, and it's a morning I won't forget.
If you'd like to walk this stretch yourself, you can download the route below and follow the exact path we took. Just be ready for the khlong crossings (there's one at the start and near the end) and take care on the road section.
Four stages down, seventeen to go. One island, one step at a time.
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