Phuket, Thailand - A beauty in the Andaman Sea
Phuket, the largest island in Thailand and one of Southeast Asia’s premier tourist destinations is located in the Andaman Sea in southern Thailand. Phuket is the most well-known of Thailand’s islands, covered with rainforests, mountains, spicy Thai cuisine, and blue waters rolling up to golden sand beaches lined with palm trees. These blue waters are excellent for snorkeling and scuba diving. The visibility is good and the water temperatures are very comfortable. You can see colorful corals and tropical fish, seahorses, sea turtles, manta rays, and even whale sharks. Travelers from all over the world head to Phuket for relaxation and adventure.
Phuket, with its exceptional climate and warm sunny days, is easy to access; it's a short-hour flight from the hot, humid, and bustling big city of Bangkok. Phuket’s monsoon season is usually mid-May through October, but it might only rain once or twice a day during this period. While you may be tempted to lounge on the beach for your entire stay (and really, who would blame you?), if you're willing to get out and explore, you can sign up for an island tour to discover the stunning seascape surrounding Phuket. The island city of Phuket Town sits on a picturesque bay and has busy markets and the Big Buddha. This is one of the island's most distinctive landmarks. Spectacular 360-degree views greet you once you reach the summit, where this 45-meter-high monument presides.
With world-class beaches, luxury resorts, and shopping malls, Phuket can feel very busy. Phuket is not as relaxed as many of the islands in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. For that reason, some tourists head to other islands on an organized day tour, while some head to different islands to continue their Thai vacation on a smaller island. A few of the most visited outer islands are;
Phi Phi Islands: Among the most picturesque islands in the Andaman Sea, and you can explore them on guided speed boat day tours, which include a visit to Koh Phi Phi and beautiful Maya Bay, made famous in the movie, The Beach, with plenty of time to swim and snorkel at a secluded cove. A beachside lunch on Phi Phi Don is often included.
Phang Nga Bay: This can be visited from most small islands in the Andaman Sea, as well as from Phuket. Floating across the Sea, you’ll come across dozens of stunning limestone karsts rising from the jade-green sea. This tour always includes a stop at "James Bond Island," famous for being the filming place of a scene in the Bond movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’. Depending on the tour, you paddle through tranquil lagoons on a canoe, explore limestone caves, visit a Muslim floating village, and/or have time to relax and swim at a peaceful beach. Thai lunch at some point is usually included.
Similan Island: The Similan Islands are known for their crystal-clear waters, dazzling beaches, and fantastic snorkeling and diving. This is a longer day trip, but there are plenty of options for visitors who want to spend a few days in the water exploring the many coral reefs and/or hiking up to scenic viewpoints.
Phuket has many elephant sanctuaries, none of which we have visited, (see our post on Chiang Mai, where we discuss the Elephant Nature Park). A wildlife sanctuary in Phuket that we visited is the Gibbon Rehabilitation Center. This is a great place to learn more about these intelligent creatures and support important work at the same time. The center's mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and return gibbons to their natural environment.
There are local markets all over Phuket. Some of the most popular are:
Sunday Walking Street Market isset in the heart of the historical part of Phuket town. As the name suggests, this is a Sunday-only market, which runs from 4 to 9 p.m. The market is vibrant and full of lights, with stalls selling lots of arts and crafts. While the busy and loud market may be an affront to a couple of your senses, the pleasant smell coming from the food stalls awakens your sense of smell and you are soon craving some of the delicious dishes that can be found here.
The indoor Banzaan Fresh Market in Patong is a good place to shop for meat, seafood, flowers, Thai sweets, fruits, and vegetables, and to discover some strange-looking but tasty exotic fruits. Also, if you can sample some sugarcane, coconut water, and/or guava juice, make sure to do so. The upper floor has a food court.
The Phuket Weekend Night Market is open on Saturday and Sunday and is less crowded shortly after the 4 p.m. opening. This is the biggest night market in Phuket, and is worth visiting, even if you don’t plan to buy anything. It’s a wild collection of secondhand goods, curios, Thai souvenirs, cheap T-shirts, live animals, fluffy toys, cell phones, shoes, purses and bags, jewelry, all types of electronic devices, CDs, DVDs, watches, clothes and so much more. Everything but the kitchen sink. Actually, that’s not true, I think there was a stall selling a sink. So, pretty much anything that is legal to be sold can be found here. Plus, there’s a lot of great food to try.
Phuket is great! We’ve been there twice and the experience each time was wonderful. While Phuket has something for everyone, there are definitely some parts to Phuket that aren’t family-friendly. Strip clubs and girly bars can be found. Unfortunately, unsavory elements of the sex tourism industry can also be found here. A lot of these are confined mostly to Patong, but can also be found elsewhere. This isn’t meant to deter anyone from visiting Phuket, but just a note that there is an ugly side to this island paradise.
How to Get to Phuket
Phuket is about 500 miles from Bangkok or about an hour flight. Most tourists arrive through the Phuket International Airport, but a lot of international flights also arrive each day. Or, from Bangkok, you can also get here by a 13-14 hour car or bus ride, a train (although this would involve a transfer from train to bus), or by sea if on a cruise or private yacht.
Where to Stay in Phuket
There are all types and sizes of accommodations in Phuket. On each of our visits, we stayed at the fabulous J.W. Marriott Phuket Resort. Beautiful lawns with local plants, great swimming pools, a wonderful stretch of golden sand, top-notch restaurants, and an amazing staff. On Phuket, you can decide between luxury hotels, luxury apartments, luxury villas, boutique hotels, family hotels, mid-range hotels, budget hotels, and hostels. Another lodging decision is where to stay. If you want to see the sights (really, there isn’t a lot of sightseeing in Phuket, as the water and sand are the main attractions) and be near culture, then Phuket Town is a nice choice. There are many beach hotels, including some hedonistic beach lodging. Some hotels are in areas with better water sports options, while others are in areas with better scuba diving and snorkeling. If you want to get away from crowds of tourists, there are some isolated hotels specializing in relaxation and wellness.
The numerous beaches offer surprisingly different vibes and some are a lot more developed for tourism (and, therefore, more crowded) than others, so it’s important to do some research on the different beach areas. Some of the most popular beaches are Patong, Kata, and Karon. Public transportation on Phuket isn’t very good, unless you want to spend a lot of time in cars with hired drivers, you should find lodging near activities that are of interest to you. For example, as the most popular section of the island, Patong offers the widest selection of places to eat, drink, shop, and stay, but also has the rowdiest (and, often, sleazy) nightlife. Probably not a great place for families to stay. Again, do some research.
What We Did in Phuket
Boat Tour, Phang Nga Bay
We’ve done this tour twice, once from Koh Yao Yoi and a couple of years later, with our kids from Phuket. Largely, the tours were the same. You can read about the tour from Koh Yao Yoi in our Koh Yao Yai article. There are many tour companies that go to Phang Nga Bay, also known as Ao Phang Nga National Park, for a full-day tour. Many of these include pick-up and drop-off at your hotel, and a small breakfast plus lunch, and non-alcoholic drinks. From the Phuket Pier, the enclosed speedboat (very nice, as it was raining on this day) headed into Phang Nga Bay, which is famous for limestone cliffs and rock formations, many small islands, and numerous caves. Ao Phang National Park also protects one of the largest native Thailand mangrove forests. A sense of awe may overcome you while taking in this picturesque setting as the boat glides across the emerald green water.
Panak Island and Hong Island
The first stop is Panak Island and kayaking is the activity here. Both tours we took here had three-person kayaks, two of us and a guide. The guide is important, not only for doing the actual work in the kayak but for pointing out different items. The guide works his way through some sea caves, some of which are pretty narrow, and shows you many nooks and crannies that were naturally developed. You can see some mangrove trees inside the cave. We got back into the boat and headed over to Koh Hong, where we got back in the kayaks (we dropped a Go-Pro camera in the water here, if you find this, please let us know!) We went in and out of caves, with guides showing us rocks that looked like Buddha, Scooby-Doo, and elephants. It rained on us on both islands, but it’s all good! So beautiful!
Kaoh Phing Kan, aka James Bond Island
Jason was really looking forward to the third stop of the day, the site of a villain’s hideout from the 1974 James Bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun. It had stopped raining us now, and we enjoyed the beauty of our surroundings. Well, except for all of the vendors that were selling souvenirs, trinkets, and other crap. We had plenty of time to take pictures of the iconic rock, get in the cool water for a bit and explore a small area of the island.
Koh Panyee, the Muslim floating village
You can see Koh Panyee from far away, a bunch of buildings built on stilts, and a shimmering mosque all with a huge rock monolith as the backdrop. Koh Panyee is a remarkable village, with about 1,600 residents. The village consists of hundreds of huts, shacks, houses, restaurants, at least one mosque, a school and a floating soccer field, a health center, and lots of small souvenir shops, all on stilts above the shallow sea. The village was first a Malay fishing village, but now many of the locals make their living by the dozens of tourist boats that visit each day. This is a Muslim community, and while the locals are very friendly, inappropriate clothing that shows too much flesh (short skirts, short shorts) may result in a cold shoulder from a resident. On each of our visits here, this was around lunchtime and the tour included a feast of a meal at one of the restaurants here.
Ice Cream Cave and Lawa Island
The fifth and sixth (and final) stops of the day. At Ice Cream Cave we were given helmets and flashlights so we could go walk through the cave. Jason felt a little claustrophobic here. Once we were in, we noticed phenomenal formations of stalactites and stalagmites and crystals inside the cave. After walking a bit on the slippery cave floor, the cave started to narrow a bit. We eventually ended up in what feels like the inside of the island, with high limestone cliffs on all sides and a beautiful lagoon right in the middle. At Koh Lawa it was raining again, but the boat stopped and let people hop in for a short swim. It was warmer in the water than on the boat. This brief stop was a nice way to end the day.
Phuket Island Tour
Gibbon Rehabilitation Center (GRC) We hired a guide for the day, Sakky, and he picked us up around 10 am. Our first stop was the GRC, a must-visit for animal lovers, inside the Khao Pra National Park. The Park charges an entry fee, but entry to the GRC is free. The GRC relies heavily on donations from visitors to operate, so if you enjoy your visit, please strongly consider adopting a Gibbon and/or making a donation to the GRC and help them continue doing their good work. The GRC isn’t a petting zoo - there is no contact with the Gibbons. Also, it is hot and humid here so bring rain gear and insect repellent. A visit to the GRC should take 60-90 minutes.
Gibbons are endangered and many of these animals were poached from their
mothers as babies and sold as pets or used in the tourist trade. When poaching a baby Gibbon, the mother is often killed. Gibbons are terrible pets (they are wild animals) and grow very sharp fangs and are known to attack their owners. Sometimes this leads to the Gibbon having their fangs removed, and oftentimes eventually killed, or abandoned back in the wild. If released in the wild after having its fangs removed, the Gibbon has no chance to survive.
The GRC rescues Gibbons from various situations and accepts Gibbons returned from their owners. The goal is to rehabilitate the Gibbon so it can be released back into its natural habitat, however, many Gibbons will live the rest of their lives at the GRC. Visitor contact is limited with animals suitable for release, so they don't become habituated to humans, however, you'll have a chance to meet some of the animals that live full-time at the sanctuary and hear stories about their miraculous rescues.
After visiting the GRC, trek through the lush tropical forest for about 15 minutes to the Bang Pae waterfall for a refreshing dip in the pools.
Phuket Town
After lunch, we headed up to Khao Rang, a hilltop site with a park and terrace for a great view of Phuket Town and the offshore islands. There are three restaurants up here, all with sweeping panoramic views. After Khao Rang, we went to Phuket Town and walked around, did some shopping, and saw some Wat’s, Temples, Shrines, and Museums. Unfortunately, other than Wat Chalong, we didn’t have time to visit any of these. The last stop of our day tour was Phra Phutta Ming Mongkol Eknakiri, shortened to Ming Mongkol Buddha, which is most commonly referred to as the Phuket Big Buddha or the Great Buddha of Phuket. Sitting on the top of Nakkerd Hill near Chalong, Big Buddha is one of the most important and revered landmarks on the island. Big Buddha is 45 meters high and can be seen from as far away as Phuket Town and Karon Beach. We had seen the Big Buddha in the distance a couple of times throughout the day and were happy to be ending our day tour here. This site offers the best 360-degree views of the island, with sweeping vistas of Phuket Town, Kata, Karon, Chalong Bay, and more. We were at the end of a long, hot day and were dripping in sweat. The great views and chanting of monks being played over the outdoor speaker system was very peaceful and calming.
Keep in mind that the Phuket Big Buddha is a religious site, so be respectful. It's considered disrespectful to arrive in beachwear, short skirts, and T-shirts with offensive texts or images. Kim and Madison had to borrow sarongs to cover their shoulders. These were free of charge from the site center.
On the way back to our hotel, we came upon an overlook area above Kata and Karon beaches we saw several places where you could ride elephants. After visiting the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai and learning about elephants and how riding elephants isn’t good for them, this made us sad.
Mai Khao Beach bike ride
The Marriott had a three-hour guided sunset bike ride from the resort that covered about 13 miles. The tour had a few stops, first at a rubber tree farm to learn how the rubber trees express the rubber and how farmers gather the rubber. The next stop was Wat Mai Khao, which wasn’t anything special but was in a very peaceful, secluded setting. However, the females on the bike ride were in exercise gear and couldn’t enter the grounds. The last stop was at Mai Khao beach, which had pretty views as the sun was starting to set.
Where We Ate in Phuket
Kin Dee
Bill Bentley
Ginja Taste - Thai restaurant at the JW Marriott.
Andaman Grill - Steak and seafood restaurant at the JW Marriott.
Siam Deli
Crust - Pizza restaurant at the Anantara Resort
By-Pass Seafood
Noo Nit Kitchen