Khao Tao: Beach Condos and Pool Villas South of Hua Hin

Khao Tao is where the coast south of Hua Hin goes quiet: a fishing village under a temple hill, low-rise condominiums on the sand, and estates of Balinese-style pool villas on the slope behind. Besides Wan Vayla, which has its own beachfront condo guide, we list nine condos in three beach buildings here and eleven villas, from 5.9M THB for a two-bedroom apartment to 49M THB for a five-bedroom house on the hill. If you have come to buy a villa in Khao Tao, eight of the eleven stand on the two Panorama estates on the hill and the other three are private houses off the estates.

Where is Khao Tao, and why is it not quite Hua Hin?

Khao Tao means Turtle Mountain. It lies about 14 km south of Hua Hin, beyond Khao Takiab, fifteen to twenty minutes from the town centre by car, according to this travel guide to Khao Tao beach. The village beneath the hill still fishes, and Wat Tham Khao Tao looks out over the Gulf from the top.

It is not quite Hua Hin in two senses. On paper it straddles a district line: our listings place Las Tortugas and Malibu in Hua Hin district, while Santipura and every villa on this page are in Pran Buri, which is why most of them carry both names on our site. In daily life there is no town, so supermarkets, hospitals and the night market all mean a drive back up the road, and a car is not optional. For many buyers, as our Wan Vayla guide puts it, that is the entire appeal.

Which condos are on Khao Tao beach?

We hold units in four condominiums on Khao Tao beach; this page covers the three besides Wan Vayla, which was finished in 2015 and is the youngest. Las Tortugas accounts for four of our nine, two- and three-bedroom apartments with a fee of 50 THB per square metre a month. Malibu Khao Tao, from 2012, is the newest of the three and has the lowest fee at 40 THB, and our two units there could hardly be further apart, at 110 and 288 sqm. Santipura Residences, from 2007, is the oldest and charges 59 THB, and our three units there run up to a four-bedroom duplex. If you would rather buy new, Supalai’s low-rise project at Khao Tao is covered in our 2024 post on Supalai’s two Hua Hin launches, although we list no units there; our guide to new condos in Hua Hin covers those we do list.

Las Tortugas, Malibu and Santipura: how do they compare?

With sizes from 83 to 288 sqm, price per square metre, the last column, is the fairer comparison.

Listing	Building	Beds	Size	Price	THB per sqm, rounded
30000035	Las Tortugas	2	83 sqm	5.9M THB	71,100
14000008	Las Tortugas	2	84 sqm	5.9M THB	70,200
HC266	Las Tortugas	3	121 sqm	7.9M THB	65,300
30000033	Las Tortugas	3	118 sqm	8.2M THB	69,500
HC198	Malibu Khao Tao	2	110 sqm	8.5M THB	77,300
HC371	Malibu Khao Tao	4	288 sqm	21.5M THB	74,700
HC341	Santipura	2	105 sqm	6.9M THB	65,700
HC360	Santipura	3	141 sqm	8.2M THB	58,200
HC404	Santipura	4, duplex	284 sqm	13.8M THB	48,600

Per square metre Malibu is the dearest and Santipura goes lowest, down to about 48,600 THB for its duplex, with Las Tortugas between, although the ranges overlap: its lowest figure, about 65,300 for HC266, is just under the 65,700 of Santipura’s HC341. Age may explain part of that order, since Santipura was finished five years before Malibu. Within each building the pattern is simpler: the larger the apartment, the less each metre costs. Fees point the other way: at Santipura’s 59 THB, its 105 sqm HC341 pays about 6,200 THB a month, against 4,400 THB for Malibu’s 110 sqm HC198 at 40 THB. Our guide to common area fees in Thailand explains what that money buys.

Two checks matter more than the price. A building on the beach does not make an apartment with a sea view: only four of the nine are tagged with one on our listings (30000033, HC371, HC360 and HC404), and the rest look over gardens and pools, a distinction our guide to sea-view property in Hua Hin follows along the coast. The second is quota. A foreigner can own a unit outright only within the 49% of a building’s floor area that may be foreign-owned; 14000008 and 30000033 are listed in that quota, while the other seven are marked Thai or foreign quota, so confirm which applies before you make an offer. Our article on what foreigners can own on the beachfront sets out the rule.

Panorama Resort and Panorama Pool Villas: the villas on the hill

On the hill behind the beach, Panorama Resort and Panorama Pool Villas, the latter about two kilometres from Khao Tao beach, are estates of Balinese and Thai-Bali pool villas. We list seven at Panorama Resort and one, HV359, at Panorama Pool Villas, and the Panorama Resort project page shows the estate as a whole. Estate fees run from 39,850 THB a year for HV353 to 110,000 THB for 40000004.

The houses split by view. The four without a sea-view tag run from 12.5M THB to 18M THB, starting with HV178, a three-bedroom Thai-Bali house of 225 sqm, while the four with one run from 17.5M THB to 49M THB. The top of that range is HV337, a five-bedroom house of 772 sqm on a 2,046 sqm plot, reduced from 59M THB.

One clarification for anyone looking for Panorama Black Mountain: these Panorama estates are at Khao Tao, not in the golf valley west of Hua Hin, where we list no Panorama estate; our guide to Black Mountain’s golf condos, villas and land covers what is for sale there.

What does a villa in Khao Tao cost?

To buy a villa in Khao Tao you choose among these eleven, and for a foreign buyer the land column matters as much as the price.

Listing	Where	Beds	Built	Plot	Land	Price
HV178	Panorama Resort	3	2009	586 sqm	Freehold	12.5M THB
HV214	Panorama Resort	2	2013	648 sqm	Freehold	12.8M THB
HV354	Private, near the beach	4	2022	268 sqm	Freehold	14M THB
30000055	Panorama Resort	3	2009	528 sqm	Leasehold	14.5M THB
HV353	Panorama Resort	3	2016	1,080 sqm	Leasehold	17.5M THB
HV359	Panorama Pool Villas	3	2013	880 sqm	Leasehold	17.5M THB
30000054	Panorama Resort	3	2009	792 sqm	Leasehold	18M THB
HV151	Private, large plot	3	2018	3,200 sqm	Freehold	18.5M THB
HV341	Private, near the beach	3	2015	1,272 sqm	Free or leasehold	25.5M THB
40000004	Panorama Resort	4	2014	1,412 sqm	Free or leasehold	28M THB
HV337	Panorama Resort	5	2016	2,046 sqm	Freehold	49M THB

The three private houses are a different proposition. HV354 has no common fee but the smallest plot here, HV151 puts 450 sqm of house on 3,200 sqm of land and has come down from 20M THB, and HV341, a Bali-style house, has no maintenance fee either. None of these villas is on the sand, whatever a listing tag may suggest; at Khao Tao the homes on the beach are the condos.

Of the eleven, five are listed on freehold land, four on leasehold and two as either, so ask which you would be buying before you view. A foreigner cannot own land in their own name and holds villa land through a registered right such as a lease of up to 30 years, and a pre-agreed "30+30" renewal is a promise, not a registered right; our guide to whether a Thai lease can be renewed explains why. Holding the land through a Thai company with foreign shareholders is the structure the authorities are now reviewing, including at the Pran Buri land office, where our listings place every villa on this page, and our update on the 2026 nominee crackdown explains what the land offices check. Our guide to buying a villa in Hua Hin as a foreigner covers the whole sequence from structure to transfer.

Who suits Khao Tao, and who should stay in town?

Khao Tao suits a buyer who wants a quiet beach more than a lively street and is content to drive for everything else. An owner who will lock up and leave for months is usually better served by a beach condo, where the building looks after the pool and the gardens, than by a villa whose own pool and garden someone must keep up in their absence.

Stay in town if you want restaurants, markets and a hospital within walking distance, or would rather not keep a car. Khao Takiab is the halfway house: our comparison of Autumn, Sanctuary, Summer and Seacraze covers four buildings on the road towards it, and our Amari Residences guide a near-beach condominium on the same road. Our guide to beachfront property in Hua Hin runs along the whole coast, and if rent is part of the plan, rental income in Hua Hin shows what a condo or villa returns.

What this page says about Thai law is general information, not legal advice, so take advice from an independent Thai lawyer before you sign anything.

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Ask about a Khao Tao condo or villa

Prices at Khao Tao move and units sell, so tell us which building or estate interests you and we will confirm what is available, and on what quota or land title, before you drive down.