Phuket beach guide

Posted by Andaman Sam on May 13th, 2010 filed in Activities, Beach life

Phuket has many attractions but undoubtedly, top of the list, are the wonderful beaches. Phuket has long beaches and tiny coves, crowded beaches and quiet beaches, beaches ringled with hotels, shops and bars, and beaches with nothing but unspoilt natural beauty.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PHUKET BEACHES

Phuket’s best beaches are along the west coast, where yearly pounding from the rainy season waves have created beautiful bays with golden powdery sand. Along the south and east coast, are the stony beaches more suited for walking, shell collecting or relaxing in a restaurant enjoying the view.

All the beaches in Thailand are public but unfortunately, in some cases, developers buy all the land around the beach and do not allow access across their land to the beach, effectively making the beach exclusive to their own hotel. If you want to visit these beaches, and then try to enter through the hotel, often, they will not challenge you and the worst that can happen, is they refuse you. But you can still access that particular beach by boat.

SUN LOUNGERS

Most of Phuket’s beaches have sun loungers for rent. At the bust beaches such as Patong, Karon and Kata, they line the entire length of the beach, sometimes in rows, three or four deep. At quieter beaches, they are more spaced out and they are a handful of beaches that do not have sun loungers.

At the busy beaches, the sun loungers are grouped into blocks and a Thai manager on each block. The managers are friendly and provide refreshments at reasonable prices while keeping an eye on your possessions when you are swimming.

WATER SPORTS

There are a variety of water sports available. The busy beaches are a hive of activities with banana boats, parasils and jet skis fizzing across the water. These beaches have cordoned off sections where bathers can swim in safety. You will pay 500-1000Baht for these activities and the prices are un-negotiable.

Some quieter beaches have kayaks for rent, so you can go and explore around the headlands.

DANGERS

Rip Tides: – The biggest danger while bathing in the waters around Phuket is getting caught in a rip tide. Phuket averages around 20 drowning a year. They almost happen during the rainy season when the waves are big. If there are red flags at the beach, this indicates potential dangerous conditions and you should not swim.

Sharks: – There are a few species of sharks around Phuket’s waters but none of them are dangerous to people. They have been absolutely no recorded shark attacks.

Jelly Fish: – There are a few jelly fish around Phuket but most of them are harmless. The major exception is the box jelly fish; they are dangerous and have been responsible for much death around the world. Until recently, scientist thought that the box jelly fish were not present in the Andaman Sea, then in 2008, a box jelly fish stung and killed a tourist in Koh Lanta.

Stings :-  Occasionally, you many notice a light stinging sensation in the water but it fades so quickly, you are not even sure it happened.