Beaches in Phuket

Patong is Phuket's busiest beach and the one the island is known for, a three-kilometre bay backed by hotels and malls with Bangla Road's bars a block behind the sand. Jet skis, parasailing and loungers run the length of it. It is crowded and commercial, which is either the reason to come or the reason to stay elsewhere. How to Reach: About 40 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April; the undertow from May to October is why the red flags go up.

Paradise Beach is a pair of small sandy coves just south of Patong, run as a private beach with an entry charge, day beds and a bar. It is best known for its monthly full-moon party, which is by a wide margin the busiest night it gets. When the main cove fills up, a short walk over the low hill to the left reaches the quieter second one. How to Reach: About 40 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport, or a 10-minute longtail from Patong. Best Time to Visit: November to April.

Kata is the beach most people pick when Patong sounds like too much: a long stretch of west-coast sand with the same range of hotels and food but a fraction of the noise. November to April is the calm, swimmable half of the year. From May to October the monsoon swell brings surfers and board hire to the southern end, along with rip currents, so take the red flags seriously. How to Reach: About 30 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April for swimming, May to October for surf.

Karon sits between Patong to the north and Kata to the south, and it is the widest of the three, roomy enough that it rarely feels busy even in season. The sand squeaks underfoot, there is reef at the northern end worth snorkelling, and the strip behind it is more spread out and quieter than Patong's. How to Reach: About 35 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April; rip currents make it unsafe from May to October.

Kata Noi is the smaller bay just south of Kata, cut off from it by a headland, with one large resort and not much else. That makes it the quieter of the pair and a better bet for a straightforward swimming day in season. The southern end picks up swell from May to October and gets used for bodyboarding. How to Reach: About 30 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport, roughly 10 km south of Phuket Town. Best Time to Visit: November to April for calm water.

Freedom Beach is a 300-metre strip of white sand between forested headlands on the west coast, and there is no road to it: you arrive by longtail boat from Patong or walk down a steep jungle trail. That is what keeps the crowds off it. There is reef at both ends of the bay, with better coral on the southern side. Bring what you need, because facilities are minimal. How to Reach: Longtail boat from Patong, about 10 minutes, or a steep 15-minute walk down from the road above. Best Time to Visit: November to April, when the boats run reliably.

Surin is a short, deep bay on the northwest coast backed by casuarina trees, with some of the island's most expensive hotels set behind them, Amanpuri and The Surin among them. The beach itself is public, and it was cleared of its commercial beach clubs in Thailand's 2014 beach clean-up, so it is emptier than its reputation suggests. The shore break is steep. How to Reach: About 25 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April; the shore break is dangerous in the monsoon.

Kamala is a long, quiet bay north of Patong, and it has stayed low-rise: a village behind the sand, restaurants along the road and two small shopping lanes, with none of Patong's scale. It suits families and anyone who would rather walk to dinner than drive. The northern end is the calmer half for swimming. How to Reach: About 30 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April; the bay is exposed to monsoon swell from May to October.

Bang Tao runs about six kilometres up the northwest coast, which makes it one of the longest beaches on the island and effectively two beaches in one. The southern end is the Laguna resort strip, with beach clubs, boutiques and restaurants. Walk north and the development thins out until there is little but sand. How to Reach: About 25 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April; surf and rips build from May to October.

Banana Beach is on Koh Hey, better known as Coral Island, a short speedboat ride south of Phuket rather than on the island itself. It is a curve of very white sand with clear water and reef close in, which is why almost every snorkelling day trip out of Chalong stops here. Busy through the middle of the day and quiet at either end of it. How to Reach: Speedboat from Chalong Pier, about 15 minutes. Best Time to Visit: November to April, when the crossing is calm and visibility is best.

Ao Sane is a set of three small rocky coves past Nai Harn, reached down a rough track alongside a resort. There is very little sand, which is the point: the reef comes close in and it is one of the better places to snorkel straight from shore on Phuket. A couple of simple restaurants and some huts sit along the rocks. How to Reach: About 45 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport, then a rough 1 km track. Best Time to Visit: November to April, for visibility.

Nai Harn is at the southern end of the island, a curved bay with a lagoon and a park behind it and far fewer hotels than the beaches to the north, partly because a Buddhist monastery owns much of the land. The water is clear and deep enough to swim, and the headland walk up to Windmill Viewpoint starts nearby. Massage and food shacks sit under the trees along the back. How to Reach: About 45 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April, when the bay is calm.

Mai Khao is the longest beach on Phuket, an eleven-kilometre strip along the northwest coast inside Sirinat National Park and the least developed of the major beaches. The name means white wood. It is a walking beach rather than a swimming one, with a steep drop-off and a strong undertow. Sea turtles nest here, and the approach to the airport runway passes low over the northern end. How to Reach: About 15 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April, though the undertow makes swimming risky year round.

Rawai is on the south coast and it is not a swimming beach: it is where the longtails moor and where you go for seafood. The market at the eastern end sells the catch and the restaurants opposite will cook it, and the pier is the departure point for Coral Island, Koh Bon and the other near islands. Shallow and rocky at low tide. How to Reach: About 40 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April, when boats to the islands run most reliably.

Nai Yang is a curved bay in the north inside Sirinat National Park, shaded by casuarinas with beach bars and shacks under them, and a reef far enough offshore to flatten the water inside it. That makes it one of the calmer swimming beaches on the west coast, and it draws kitesurfers in the monsoon. It is minutes from the airport. How to Reach: About 10 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April for swimming; kitesurfing season runs May to October.

Cape Panwa is the headland on Phuket's southeast coast, with a narrow beach, luxury villas and views across Chalong Bay to Koh Lone and the mangroves. It is a walking and view beach rather than a swimming one: the water is shallow and silty and the tide goes a long way out. Khao Khad Viewpoint is a short drive up the hill. How to Reach: About 45 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April, though this coast stays sheltered year round.

Nai Thon is a quiet stretch on the northwest coast, reached by a winding road over the headland with viewpoints on the way down. There is a small line of restaurants and guesthouses and not much else, and the reef offshore is good enough that people dive and snorkel from the beach. Currents can be strong at the northern end. How to Reach: About 25 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April, when the water is clear.

Laem Sing is a small cove between Kamala and Surin, out of sight from the road and reached either by a short walk down through the trees or by longtail from Kamala. Boulders frame both ends, there are chairs and a couple of food shacks on the sand, and the northern end works for bodyboarding. It is not a long-swim beach. How to Reach: About 30 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport, then a 10-minute walk down. Best Time to Visit: November to April.

Ya Nui is a 200-metre pocket of sand near the island's southern tip, between Windmill Viewpoint and Promthep Cape, and one of the smallest beaches on Phuket. Rocks break the bay into sections you can climb, and there is reef close enough in to snorkel straight off the sand. Kayak hire and a few restaurants sit at the back. How to Reach: About 45 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April, when snorkelling visibility is best.

Pansea is the small cove immediately north of Surin, separated from it by a rocky headland, and it is effectively the private frontage of two resorts. Non-guests reach it on foot around the rocks from Surin at low tide, or by longtail. Short, quiet, and with no facilities of its own beyond what the hotels run. How to Reach: About 25 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport to Surin, then a walk or a short boat hop. Best Time to Visit: November to April.

Layan is the northern tip of Bang Tao, cut off from the rest of it by a river mouth, with a small island called Koh Kala just offshore. It is quieter than the Laguna strip to the south, with a couple of restaurants on the sand and casuarinas for shade. The river mouth leaves the northern end shallow and calm. How to Reach: About 25 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport. Best Time to Visit: November to April.

Laem Ka is a small east-facing beach near Rawai, shallow and calm enough that it is often recommended for families with young children. Coconut palms back it, and the view offshore takes in Koh Bon, Koh Lone and Coral Island. It is easy to drive past, since the turn-off is unmarked and the access runs down a narrow lane. How to Reach: About 40 minutes by taxi from Phuket International Airport, near Rawai. Best Time to Visit: November to April, though facing east it stays calmer than the west coast in the monsoon.