We were so happy when we got to Ngapali after four days of cold and rain in Bagan and Inle Lake. The sun was shining, the beach was beautiful…we just threw ourselves down and fried in the sun.
I loved Ngapali, but I don’t know if I’ll ever feel the burning need to go back. My thoughts on beach resorts is, you seen one, you’ve seen them all (unless its Bali or a particularly beautiful beach in Thailand). I will say, however, that the water is super shallow so you can go far, far out, and the sand is amazingly soft, perfect for running or frolicking in the waves. The beaches aren’t too busy, and the people selling fruit and other wares are not pushy- like all Myanmari people I met, they were super friendly and smiley and never tried to actively sell anyone anything, in fact!
The best thing about Ngapali, to me, was the food. Although I eat vegetarian at home and in most places I travel, when I’m right by the seaside, its pretty spectacular to have fresh seafood, and in Ngapali, the options are endless.
Ngapali Kitchen
We stopped in here for lunch. Sadly only two pictures remain, but the food here was very good. I had an avocado salad and it was more than enough to hold me over to dinner. Since most resorts include breakfast, we tended not to go for lunch, but eat heavy at breakfast and snack, but since we wanted avocado salad so much, I made room to try this place! If you’re coming from afar, I’d say skip here and go to Min Thu, a delicious place right down the street, but if you’ve already been there, this is a good place to try.
Min Thu
This is the number one rated place on TripAdvisor and I can see why. If you’re staying further north up the beach, it might be a little annoying to get to, but our resort was only a few minutes’ walk from Min Thu, which is good because there aren’t sidewalks so walking there in the dark was a little scary.
Get there early because it fills up really quickly. The service was kind of slow but the food is so good that its worth the wait, and as we found in Myanmar, nothing is super fast or running on a strict schedule, so just relax and take that in stride.
I’d highly, highly recommend the avocado salad, which was fabulous, and the grilled prawns.
They are open for lunch and dinner, and trying them for lunch, if you’re thinking of eating dinner on the beach, might be just the thing, because then you can eat on the beach and watch all the bonfires going on over dinner.
Sunset View Restaurant
There are two Sunset View Restaurants, but do yourself a favor and go to the first one along the beach (if you’re approaching from the busier resort side). This place was C.’s favorite out of all our dining experiences in Myanmar. I really enjoyed it too, mostly because it was really cool to sit right on the beach eating an avocado salad (it became an obsession whilst there) and watching people have fun at the various bonfires that crop up on the beach each evening.
Ngapali was one of those experiences you NEED on a long trip. It really pepped us up (and warmed us) after a cold start in Bagan and Inle Lake. It really energized us for our next few days in Hpa An, too. If you’re traveling for a long period of time around Myanmar, or just want to check out for a few days and enjoy sun and sand, this is the place to go.