National Parks in and Around Phuket
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Sirinat, Ao Phang Nga, Similan and Khao Sok
Here is the list of 8 National Parks in and Around Phuket
1. Sirinat National Park, Phuket
The only national park on Phuket island, running along the northwest coast and taking in Nai Yang, Nai Thon and the long empty stretch of Mai Khao, along with casuarina forest and a patch of mangrove behind it. Mai Khao is a sea turtle nesting beach, so keep off marked nests, use no lights on the sand at night and do not touch anything you find. The beach also sits directly under the approach to the airport, and standing at the runway end for photographs is not permitted.
2. Khao Phra Thaeo, Phuket
Usually called a national park and officially a non-hunting area, which is a lower designation, but it protects the last significant stand of primary rainforest on Phuket and that makes it the most interesting green space on the island. Two waterfalls, Bang Pae and Ton Sai, are the walking targets, best after rain and thin in the dry months. The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project sits at Bang Pae, where the animals are viewed at a distance and never handled. That is the opposite of the gibbons offered as photograph props on the beach strips, which should be refused.
3. Ao Phang Nga National Park
The limestone bay northeast of Phuket, and the classic day trip: karst towers straight out of the water, sea caves, the stilt village at Koh Panyee and the sea stack at Koh Tapu that the films made famous. Sea kayaking into the hongs, the collapsed lagoons inside the islands, is much the best way to see it and the only quiet one. Go early, because the tour fleet arrives late morning. Do not climb on the karst or break anything off it. Open all year, which matters in the monsoon.
4. Mu Ko Similan National Park
Nine granite islands out in the Andaman Sea, and the best diving and snorkelling reachable from Phuket, with visibility that has nothing in common with the water off the island itself. The critical planning fact: the park closes for the southwest monsoon each year, roughly from mid May to mid October, so it is unavailable for most of the summer. Day trips from Khao Lak are shorter than from Phuket. Overnight stays are limited and controlled. No touching or standing on coral.
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5. Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park
The park covers Phi Phi Leh, the uninhabited southern island, along with Maya Bay and the surrounding water. Maya Bay was closed in 2018 to let the reef recover and reopened under restrictions: swimming in the bay is not allowed, boats moor at the back of the island, visitor numbers are capped and the bay closes again for part of the year. Check the current position before booking anything sold as a Maya Bay trip. Bamboo Island and the snorkelling stops are the rest of it.
6. Mu Ko Surin National Park
Five islands close to the Myanmar border with the shallowest and most intact reef in the region, which makes it the better snorkelling trip and the worse diving one compared with the Similans. A Moken community, sea people who have lived on this water for generations, lives on Koh Surin, and visits should be arranged through the park rather than turned into a photograph stop. Fishing is prohibited inside the marine park. Like the Similans, it closes from roughly mid May to mid October.
7. Khao Sok National Park
Two and a half to three hours from Phuket by road and the only inland park on this list, built around Cheow Lan lake, where limestone towers rise straight out of flooded valleys and the accommodation is floating raft houses tied to the cliffs. Gibbons and hornbills are heard far more often than seen. It is open all year and the wet months are when the forest is at its best, so it is the sensible answer when the marine parks are shut. One night on the lake beats a day trip.
8. Khao Lak Lam Ru National Park
About an hour north of Phuket airport, where forested hills come down to the sea, with waterfalls, short marked trails and a clifftop viewpoint over the coast. It is the least visited park here by a wide margin and the easiest to reach without a boat. Most people pass it on the way to Khao Lak for a Similan trip and never stop. Open all year. Combine it with a night in Khao Lak rather than treating it as a day out from Phuket.
There is one national park on Phuket island, Sirinat, on the northwest coast. Khao Phra Thaeo, which is almost always described as the second one, is officially a non-hunting area rather than a national park, though it protects the last real patch of rainforest on the island and is worth the trip regardless. Everything else on this list is reached by boat or by road from Phuket, and the important thing about most of them is that they close. Mu Ko Similan and Mu Ko Surin shut for the southwest monsoon each year, roughly from mid May to mid October, so a summer trip to Phuket cannot include either. Maya Bay in the Mu Ko Phi Phi park reopened after its 2018 closure under restrictions that include no swimming in the bay itself and periodic seasonal closures. Ao Phang Nga, Khao Sok and Khao Lak Lam Ru are open all year, which is what makes them the answer in the wet season.
This post was published by Harshitha
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FAQs on National Parks in and Around Phuket
How many national parks are there in Phuket?
One on the island itself: Sirinat National Park, on the northwest coast, covering Nai Yang, Nai Thon and Mai Khao beaches. Khao Phra Thaeo is almost always listed as a second, but it is officially a non-hunting area rather than a national park, even though it protects the last real rainforest on Phuket. The marine parks people associate with Phuket, Similan, Surin, Phi Phi and Ao Phang Nga, are all day trips from it.
When are the Similan and Surin islands closed?
Both close for the southwest monsoon each year, roughly from mid May to mid October, and neither can be visited in that window at all. This catches out a lot of summer visitors to Phuket who have booked a trip on the assumption it runs year round. If you are travelling between May and October, Ao Phang Nga, Khao Sok and Khao Lak Lam Ru are the parks that stay open.
Can you still visit Maya Bay?
Yes, but under restrictions rather than as before. It closed in 2018 to let the reef recover and reopened with swimming in the bay not allowed, boats mooring at the back of the island, a cap on visitor numbers, and further seasonal closures for part of each year. Anything sold simply as a Maya Bay trip should be checked against the current rules before you pay for it.
Which park is best from Phuket?
Ao Phang Nga if you have one day and want the karst landscape, and it is open all year. Mu Ko Similan if you are here between mid October and mid May and care about snorkelling or diving, because nothing else nearby comes close. Khao Sok if you can spare a night, because sleeping on a raft house on Cheow Lan lake is the best thing in this whole list. Sirinat if you simply want an empty beach on the island itself.
Is Khao Phra Thaeo worth visiting?
Yes, on its own terms. It is the last significant patch of primary rainforest on Phuket, with two waterfalls, Bang Pae and Ton Sai, which are worth walking to after rain and disappointing in the dry season. The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project at Bang Pae is the other reason to go: the animals are viewed at a distance and never handled, which is the opposite of the gibbons offered as photo props on the beach strips.
Are there sea turtles at Mai Khao?
Mai Khao inside Sirinat National Park is a nesting beach, and that carries obligations rather than a guaranteed sighting. Stay off marked nests, use no lights on the sand after dark because light disorients hatchlings and nesting females, do not touch or dig, and keep dogs away. Nesting is seasonal and sightings are rare, so treat the beach as protected habitat rather than as an attraction with a schedule.
