The Lively Beaches of Pattaya.
Jomtien Beach
Featuring a long straight coastline and long white sand beach, Jomtien Beach is located around 2 kilometers from its less salubrious neighbour Pattaya Beach. Whereas Pattaya Beach is more geared for the party animal, Jomtien Beach has carved a niche as a more family-friendly environment. Like its neighbour, Jomtien Beach is popular for water sports such as jet skiing, but with water that is considerably less murky, it is also a much more attractive location for swimming.
Naklua Beach
Naklua is much smaller than its neighbours and it does not suffer from the mass development Pattaya Beach has experienced. Like Jomtien it is more family friendly. The Pattaya municipality spent 1.8 million Baht on cleaning up the waters around Pattaya, and in Nakula it is now possible to see fish in the water. This makes bathing in the sea a genuine pleasure. Nakula is also a centre for windsurfers and windsurfing equipment can be hired from the beach.
Pattaya Beach
Pattaya Beach is at the centre of the half moon crescent that makes up the Pattaya coastline with Nakula Beach to the north and Jomtien Beach to the south.
In the last few years though there has been a drive to make Pattaya more appealing to families by restricting some of the less salubrious activities. This has been successful to an extent but the area still maintains its go-go, discos and nightclubs. By day the area is somewhat different the water is packed with jet-skiers, water skiers, powerboats and the sky is full of parasails! It is also a centre for scuba divers. Although as a dive site it might not meet the excellence of other places in Thailand, Pattaya is convenient for Bangkok and those with limited time who want to experience diving might well benefit from taking a course at one of Pattayas numerous and inexpensive dive shops.
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