Map › Pranburi - Pak Nam Pran › Pak Nam Pran
Spot · tier 1 · Thailand
Pak Nam Pran
A 7km flat-water beach about 30 minutes south of Hua Hin on the Pranburi coast, generally windier and less crowded than Hua Hin proper. It's the base of Yoda Kite School and shares the wider Hua Hin/Pranburi coastline's northeast-monsoon winter season and thermal-driven spring season, shifting from choppier wind-swell in the main season to flatter water with exposed sandbanks later in the year.
freerideintermediateadvancedflat waterfreestyle
Wind
| best months |
|
|---|---|
| season notes | Regionally (Hua Hin/Pranburi coast), mid-Dec to mid-Jan brings a northeast wind of 10-20 knots; March to mid-April brings an afternoon thermal breeze of 15-20 knots. Per local reports for this specific spot, water is choppier Oct-Jan and flatter with sandbanks exposed Feb-Jun. |
| avg knots | 10-20 (winter monsoon), 15-20 (spring thermal) |
| wind name | Northeast monsoon (winter) / southerly thermal (spring) |
| quality | steady in the winter monsoon window, more thermal/gusty in spring |
| typical kite sizes | 9-12m |
Water
| type | flat water with sandbanks (Feb-Jun); choppier wind-swell (Oct-Jan) |
|---|---|
| wetsuit | Regionally, average water/air temperature rarely falls below 28°C and a wetsuit is generally unnecessary (Hua Hin-area source, applies to this stretch of coast). |
| tides | High tide (roughly Nov-Mar) covers most of the sand and limits beach space; low tide (roughly May-Oct) exposes long sandbanks. Spring tides roughly every 14 days amplify the swing (regional Hua Hin-area pattern). |
| standing depth | Shallow sandbank zones exposed at low tide provide standing/learning areas. |
Levels
| beginner | yes |
|---|---|
| intermediate | yes |
| advanced | yes |
| notes | More open and less crowded than Hua Hin itself. Low-season sandbank pockets suit learning/freestyle; main-season chop suits freeride and more experienced riders. |
Launch & crowd
| description | Long, open 7km beach gives plenty of room to rig and launch. |
|---|---|
| busy months |
|
| vibe | Quieter and more spread out than Hua Hin, favored by kiters wanting more space and more consistent wind. |
Monthly wind statistics
Station: Hua Hin Airport (Windfinder, ~28.2 km) — Pak Nam Pran itself has no windfinder statistics ('no statistical weather data available'); Hua Hin Airport, ~28 km N along the same Gulf-of-Thailand coast, is the nearest station with a monthly direction record. Air temperature table for this station did not parse cleanly (irregular row count) so per-month air_c is omitted here; annual average is 30C day / 26C night. Windfinder's current site design no longer publishes the monthly wind-probability(>=4Bft)/avg-knots table as text -- it is only rendered as an unlabeled bar chart (confirmed on Tarifa, Talat Yai and other well-known spots too, so this is a site-wide change, not a data gap for this station). Recorded here instead: annual avg wind speed/direction, monthly dominant wind direction, and monthly avg daytime air temperature, all pulled from the station's windstatistics page via a text-rendering proxy after windfinder.com rate-limited direct fetches for a time.
| Month | Wind ≥4 Bft | Avg kn | Dir | Air °C | Water °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | —% | — | NE | — | — |
| Feb | —% | — | ESE | — | — |
| Mar | —% | — | SE | — | — |
| Apr | —% | — | SE | — | — |
| May | —% | — | SE | — | — |
| Jun | —% | — | S | — | — |
| Jul | —% | — | SSW | — | — |
| Aug | —% | — | SSW | — | — |
| Sep | —% | — | SSW | — | — |
| Oct | —% | — | SW | — | — |
| Nov | —% | — | NE | — | — |
| Dec | —% | — | NE | — | — |
Hazards
- exposed sandbanks and shallow patches at low tide
- choppier wind-swell in the Oct-Jan main season
- large tidal range changes the rideable area significantly - check tide times
Tips
- low season (Feb-Jun) sandbanks create flat, semi-protected inside pockets good for freestyle
- main season (Oct-Jan) is windier and choppier, better suited to freeride/advanced riders
- check tide tables before you go - the beach width and rideable area change a lot with the tide
Travel basics
| airport | Hua Hin (HHQ) or Bangkok (BKK/DMK) |
|---|---|
| getting there | About 30 minutes' drive south of Hua Hin town. |
| accommodation | Resorts and guesthouses along the Pranburi coast; fewer large hotels than central Hua Hin. |
| cost level | mid |
Nearby: Khao Kalok Beach, Hua Hin
Sources: iksurfmag.com · en.wikivoyage.org