samui magazine

Phuket’s Beautiful, Tropical Beaches

Beaches, beaches, and more beaches...

White, soft sand, warm clear waters... They have all got that, but there are so many different beaches here, each with a different mood, and a wide range of holiday experiences for you to choose from..

Beautiful tropical beaches are Phuket's major attraction, and those visitors who travel half way around the world to enjoy them are rarely disappointed.

But do you want a family-type beach?

An active, sporty beach with lots of tanning bodies?

One with cool bars and nice girls nearby?

One where you don’t see another person?

Or not TOO many people sharing your patch of sand?

Be sure to choose your beach before your hotel, and avoid unpleasant surprises

The beaches down the West coast of the island are its prime attraction, for these are washed by the warm waters of the Andaman Sea, a small, tropical body of water on the eastern fringe of the Indian Ocean. Phuket’s east coast faces a large shallow bay, and there are few beaches or hotels here.
 

When planning a Phuket holiday choose both your season and your beach very carefully. Each of the island’s beaches is quite different in atmosphere and density of hotel development. Below we list all major beaches, starting with the most densely populated, moving through to beaches with little or no habitation. First choose your beach, then look for a suitable hotel.

Phuket is just 8 degrees from the equator, helping make the Andaman Sea especially calm compared to oceans in the colder climates where the spinning of the earth creates regular trade winds, and rough ocean conditions. The waters of the Andaman are warm all year around, averaging about 28 degrees Celsius even during the northern winter months when Phuket is at its best. This is the ‘high’ season - November to April – when the Northeast winds are light, often leaving the island’s entire western shore as calm as a swimming pool, and as clear.

Click any beach for photos, more information, hotel lists and links.