Phuket Beaches

Tourists who book rooms at Panwa Cape are usually looking to avoid the late-night crowds Patong and its neighboring districts without stepping too far away from Phuket’s commercialized Andaman coast. Visitors can enjoy cocktails at a simple thatched-roof beach bar, but they can just as easily connect to a livelier scene just a few kilometers to the west.

Surin Beach

Recommended hotels near: Surin Beach Hotel Discounts
Separated from the hotels and the main road by a disused golf course turned into a park, the beach’s clear waters and white sands are lined with tall trees and small Thai style restaurants. The area is famed for its wealth of luxury boutique accommodation, yet mid-range options are growing.

Most hotels are either set back slightly from the beach or in the hills, and there are some great sea views to be found. Surfboards, kayaks and bodyboards are available to rent, and snorkeling is best at the headland at the northern end and out to the headland at Pansea Beach. Unlike some of Phuket’s other beaches, there is a refreshing absence of jet-skis and speed boats in Surin.

The beachfront is a gathering place for locals and visitors alike to snack on barbecued seafood, enjoy a cool drink and escape the heat of the day. Restaurants on nearby Soi 8 have a greater focus on international cuisine, and hawkers offer fruit and snacks on the beach. Outside of the exclusive resort bars, Surin maintains a refined nightlife.

The upmarket Surin Plaza shopping mall is located just before Surin Beach from Cherng Talay, and there are some nearby shop-houses with some quality items closer to the beach.Most visitors arrive in Surin via taxi from Phuket International Airport, which is about 20 minutes away. Surin can be easily covered on foot, and it’s possible to walk to neighboring Bang Tao Beach. Tuk-tuks are available from the main intersection, but the cheapest and most convenient way to get around the rest of the island is to rent a motorcycle from one of the shops near the beach.

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Pansea Beach(24 km from town)

Pansea is a mouth-wateringly scenic enclave dominated by two deluxe resorts: Amanpuri and the Chedi. Film stars or VIPs like to stay there, as they can get away from the crowds. There are just a few restaurants and shops nearby.

Bang Thao Beach / Laguna

Recommended hotels near: Bang Thao Beach/ Laguna Beach Hotel Discounts
Bang Tao is a study in contrasts, with the luxurious resorts and villas along its 8-kilometre stretch of beach just a few minutes' away from the town of Cherng Talay, where many villagers still make their living as their ancestors did - by fishing, farming and rubber tapping. The northern tip of the beach, so far untouched by development, is still an area where visitors might find that they have the beach to themselves.

A wide range of activities - including a ropes course and rock climbing, windsurfing, elephant riding and kids' sports - is available for guests of Laguna's Sheraton Grande, Dusit Laguna, Laguna Beach, Allamanda and Banyan Tree Phuket resorts, and some are open to outside visitors as well.

Play a round of golf at the Laguna Phuket course, practise your swing on the driving range nearby or go horseback riding along the beach. Afterwards, indulge in a massage and spa treatment at the world renowned Banyan Tree spa or at other retreats nearby.

Some of the island's best finds for antiques and other treasures can be found at Laguna's Canal Village and in the rows of shops just outside the Laguna entrance.

The open-air village markets are also worth visiting, if only to take in the sights and sounds of a typical Thai bazaar. While there are many fine dining options within Laguna's resorts, a decent range of bars and restaurants have also sprung up down the road in recent years to cater to the increasing number of visitors to the area.

Aside from the Laguna Phuket resorts, a variety of bungalows, resorts and villas are available for short- or long-term stays.


Nai Ton Beach

This quiet bay nestled at the foot of high hills has a fine strip of sand. There is some accommodation but virtually no other business.

How to get there: Located between Bang Thao Bay and Nai Yang Beach, Nai Ton Beach can be reachd by taking Thepkrasatri Road. Turn at the first traffic light north of Thalang Town to Nai Yang Road. Look for signs indicating the turn-off to Nai Ton.

Naiyang Beach / Naithon (30 km from town)

Recommended hotels near: Naiyang Beach/ Naithon Beach Hotel Discounts
This is where the National Park office is located. The beach itself is on a long curving bay lined with evergreens that provide shade to picnickers. The large coral reef is home to many different species of fish, and Nai Yang is well known as a site where sea turtles come to lay their eggs during the period from November to February; the population of these has however, dropped off greatly. First class accommodations are available and small food vendors cater to the many day trippers. How to get there: Take the Nai Yang road, and look for signs indicating the park entrance.

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Rawai Beach (17 km from town)

Recommended hotels near: Rawai Beach Hotel Discounts
The palm-fringed beach is best known for 'sea gypsies,' a formerly nomadic fishing minority believed to be of Melanesian descent.

Mittrapap Beach

Just south of Chalong, , there are several low-key and peaceful bungalows but the beach is muddy at low tide, when you can almost walk halfway to Koh Lone.

Friendship Beach Resort, on Mittrapap is the usual meeting point for Americans on the island, and holds regular Sunday jam sessions for any rockers, jazzers or bluesmen who happen to be passing.

Mai Khao Beach (40 km from town)

Recommended hotels near: Mai Khao Beach Hotel Discounts
Many kilometers of deserted beach characterize Mai Khao where there is little tourist business. The water is fine for swimming during the dry season; the rainy season brings big waves and strong currents that are dangerous. This lonely beach is another area where sea turtles come to lay eggs. It is also home to what the Thais call a sea cicada, which is a form of marine life. How to get there: Go to the northern tip of Phuket; the beach lies along the road's length.

Promthep Cape

Promthep Cape is a headland forming the extreme south end of Phuket. "Prom" is Thai for the Hindu term, "Brahma," signifying purity, and "Thep" means 'God.' Local villagers used to refer to the cape as "Leam Jao", or the God's Cape, and it was an easily recognisable landmark for the early seafarers traveling up the Malay Peninsula from the sub-continent. Wind tattered palms cling to the steep hillside, and emerald currents swirl in the deep waters below, while breakers hurl themselves in vain against the rocky point. It is one of Phuket's most inspiring vistas, and is the most beautiful place on the island to watch the sunset. From Promthep Cape a road leads northwest to Naiharn Beach How to get there: From Rawai Beach, turn right and go for 2 km.

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Laem Ka Beach

Just south of the Phuket Island Resort hotel, and north of Rawai is a small rocky bay, popular with Thais at the weekend.

Ya Nui Beach

Tucked between Promthep Cape and Rawai, Ya Nui Beach is small but perfectly formed. Steep headlands at either end hem in this slice of sand which is visited by gentle waves from December to March. However, the onset of the monsoon season brings with it crashing surf and swimming during these months is not advised. A few small, inexpensive bungalow operations have esteblished themselves in the wooded area to the rear of the beach.

Ao Sein

Often overlooked due to its proximity to Naiharn, and because the connecting road runs through and under the Meridien Phuket Yacht Club, Ao Sein has a wan air of long lost glamour to it. Those who visited the island two decades ago recall that it was once one of the most popular and populace of the island's southern beaches, and the bungalow operations still in situ attest to its headier days. Today, a treacherous road - suitable only for experienced motorbike riders and four-wheel drive trucks - runs down to the small beach of sand and boulders and its cheif appeal is the epic view it offers of Naiharn and Promthep Cape.

Nui Beach

Possibly the most difficult beach to visit on Phuket, Nui lies between the Kata Viewpoint and Naiharn. A new, wide, dirt road has recently been cut through the forested hillside to replace the winding track down to the beach, however this is just as steep and difficult to traverse and should only be attempted by four-wheel drive trucks and moto-cross bikes. The company which built the road and operates the only restaurant on the beach charges a small fee for its facilities and does not allow visitors to bring their own food and drink onto the sand.