A separation membrane element includes a water collecting pipe, a separation membrane main body having a feed-side face and a permeate-side face, a feed-side channel material and permeate-side channel materials. The separation membrane main body, the feed-side channel material and the permeate-side channel materials are spirally wound around the water collecting tube. A plurality of the permeate-side channel materials are discontinuously provided on the permeate-side face of the separation membrane main body, along a first direction that is a longitudinal direction of the water collecting pipe. The feed-side channel material has a thickness of from 0.15 to 0.5 mm.