Handpicked experience · Pattaya
Pattaya, Thailand
A floating cafe that moves rather than stands, in a town that was a fishing village until the 1960s.
Snap Instragram-worthy photos of the nice seaview at floating cafe.
Take a break from the busy day and find yourself falling in love with yummy food and beverage here.
Challenge yourself and enjoy the squidding experience on a floating cafe at Tappia.
Reward yourself with the fresh squid sashimi that you caught.
Seating at water level rather than above it
A short gangway from the promenade
Espresso drinks, cold brews and Thai iced tea at the counter
Late afternoon light on the water
A small platform that fills and empties through the evening
The Tappia floating cafe is moored off the Pattaya promenade, reached by a short gangway: coffee, Thai iced tea and light food ordered at the counter, with seating right at the waterline.
The platform is buoyant rather than piled, which is the whole point of it, and the consequence is that it never sits perfectly still. Tide changes the height of the gangway between morning and evening. Passing boats send wake that arrives a few seconds after you have watched them go by, and the whole floor lifts and settles.
None of this is a fault. It is the difference between a café with a sea view and a café actually on the sea, and it is worth knowing before you set a full cup down near the edge of a table.
The bright orange drink on the menu is cha yen, and its colour is not from the tea. It is strongly brewed black tea, usually a spiced blend, sweetened with sugar and finished with condensed milk and evaporated milk poured over ice — which is why it separates into layers before you stir it.
It is far sweeter than iced tea elsewhere, and it is meant to be: the sugar and the dairy are doing the same job as they do in Thai coffee, standing up to a brew strong enough to survive melting ice.
Pattaya was a fishing village of a few hundred people into the mid-1960s. What changed it was American servicemen coming down from bases in the northeast for rest leave during the Vietnam War, and the beachfront economy that grew around them. Everything you can see from this platform — the high-rises, the promenade, the boat traffic — postdates that, which is why a town on a coastline settled for centuries looks entirely modern.
Seating is limited and there is no reservation, so expect a short wait at peak times and around sunset. Getting here is your own arrangement — the platform sits on the promenade side of town and everything is bought at the counter. Shade is partial; at the waterline the reflected light is stronger than it looks.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Yes, constantly. It floats rather than standing on piles, so the tide changes the gangway height through the day and passing boats send wake that lifts the whole floor a few seconds later.
No, it is the point — it is the difference between a café with a sea view and one actually on the sea. Just be careful setting a full cup near the edge of a table.
Cha yen, Thai iced tea: strongly brewed black tea, usually spiced, sweetened and finished with condensed and evaporated milk over ice, which is why it arrives in layers.
Deliberately. The sugar and dairy stand up to a brew strong enough to survive melting ice, the same logic as Thai coffee.
No. Seating is limited and works on a first-come basis, so expect a short wait at peak times and around sunset.
No. Everything is ordered and paid for at the counter on the day.
Because almost all of it is. The town was a fishing village of a few hundred people until American servicemen began arriving on rest leave in the mid-1960s, and the seafront grew from there.
Partial. At the waterline the reflected light is stronger than it appears, so bring sun cover if you plan to sit for a while.