Thailand Tourism » Travel to Phuket

PHUKET
These days, when you think about Phuket. you’re wiser to consider it as the heart of a whole area that’s a mind-boggling arena of adventure activities and action sports. This includes the awesome climbing cliffs of Krabi, the jungles and rivers of Koh Sok National Park, the mystical rock islands of Phang Nga Bay, the tropical island perfection of Koh Phi Phi and the underwater splendours of the Similan Islands and Burma Banks. Phuket may be developed, but if you base yourself here — and enjoy all the convenience it has to offer — you still have a great range of world-class outdoors activities on your doorstep. Here are some of the best of them.

DIVING: SOMEWHERE OUT THERE...
Phuket is one of the great diving destinations of the world — though, ironically, there’s very little good diving close to the island itself. Most of the famous sites are around the islands and in the sea immediately to the north. This is the land of liveaboards, and there’s now a substantial fleet of all types, sizes and quality. It’s also the land of bargain-basement prices; there are over 50 dive operators on the island, and fierce competition has led to bitter price wars. But be warned: the consumer is not always the winner. In order to cut prices some operators compromise on service and safety. Overall you’re better off with the recognized operators. That being said, your choices are still great, and at the top end you can expect service, equipment, training standards and safety to be as good as any in the world. And if you’re looking for a place to learn, the competitive prices, high standards and warm, clear water make Phuket an excellent choice.

Day trips: If you don’t want to commit yourself to a live-aboard, your diving options are limited, but still reasonable. Once the only high-calibre dive you could do on a day trip was the aptly named Shark Point, but now high-speed launches can run you up to the Similans in a couple of hours, park while you get in a couple of spectacular dives, and whisk you back in time for sunset cocktails on the beach.There’s also a reasonable wreck — a big ferry named King Cruiserthat sank earlier this year —close to Shark Point and lying in just 12m of water.

The Similans: This cluster of nine small islands is 80km north of Phuket. They’re part of a marine national park, so there’s no development and the environment above and below the water is well preserved. Expect great visibility, beautiful reefs, dramatic rock formations, abundant tropical reef fish and the occasional big pelagic. And if you have time, don’t forget to take a stroll on the islands themselves.

The Surins & Richelieu Rock: Another marine national park, this one consisting of five islands 125km north of Phuket. There’s some great wall diving here, but the big attraction is Richelieu Rock, a semi-submerged pinnacle that seems to be a magnet for big pelagics. Whale shark sightings are virtually guaranteed.

Burma Banks: These underwater mountains don’t even break the surface, but they’re close enough to have coral growing all over their “summits”, and to be diveable. This is the place for big pelagics, especially oceanic sharks. Several operators now offer “shark attraction” dives, in which the great predators are lured in by freshly killed fish. Note that the Burma Banks are within the border of Myanmar, and rights of access seem to be arbitrary and constantly changing. Not all operators can go here.

Lanta and Trang: The diving at Koh Lanta and Trang, south of Phuket, is unremarkable by Andaman Sea standards, but once there’s some infrastructure at these locations they’ll make great springboards for liveaboard trips to the world-class divesites of Hin Daeng and Hin Muang. At the moment there are only a few dive shops in Koh Lanta. Hin Daeng and neighbouring Hin Muang are massive limestone pinnacles which offer sheer underwater rock walls covered with hard and soft corals, sea fans and sea anemones. The richness and variety of fish life compares to that found in the Similans, and oceanic visitors abound. Whale sharks, grey reef sharks and big stingrays all frequent the area.

SEA CANOEING: A STRANGE PARADISE
Phang Nga Bay is one of the natural wonders of the world, a magnificent “gallery” of more than 40 islands, carved and shaped like gigantic sculptures, and set in a 400sq km expanse of calm, milky-green sea. The islands are covered in dense rainforest — complete with trailing orchids, gibbering monkeys and soaring sea eagles — and often have small, secluded beaches where, just a stone’s throw from one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world you can feel like Robinson Crusoe. Many of the islands have cave systems right at sea level, and in some of them the roof of the cave has collapsed, creating an open-air lagoon that can be accessed by an entry cave. Paddling into these “hongs” is a remarkable experience.

As the whole of Phang Nga Bay is enclosed, this is ideal sea canoeing country, and if you don’t want to bring your own craft there are now several commercial operators offering a variety of tours to various parts of the bay. Biggest and best known are Sea Canoe Thailand,

BOARDSAILING: SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Phuket gets good wind virtually all year round, and why it hasn’t yet been recognized as an excellent boardsailing destination is anyone’s guess. From November to April the northeast monsoon brings regular, steady winds of 12-20 knots, though if you’re sailing on the western side of the island —where all the famous beaches and resorts are —you have to go 2km offshore to get to the wind line. An easier option is to go to the channel that separates the island from the mainland where the steady cross-shore winds are enhanced by the venturi created by the two landmasses.The southwest monsoon — May to August — is inconsistent and often brings rain, but it also whips up some waves and can offer plenty of action right on your favourite beach. The downside is that there’s not a lot of good gear available here: you’re better off bringing your own.

An ideal way to explore the coastline of southern Thailand and its magical islands is to hire a sea canoe and set off on an adventure. The limestone bedrock of the country — which has created magnificent spires to climb and caves to explore in other areas — has formed fantastic sea caves and i lagoons perfect for canoeing. There are many tiny deserted beaches for relaxing and spending a night under the stars

The limestone cliffs and karst pinnacles of Krabi (above) are world renowned for great climbing. It’s easy to see why — the area offers a wide variety of climbing from beginner to advanced level, and the views are awesome

SURFING: STOLEN PLEASURES
You’d never come here just for the waves, but if you happen to be here in the southwest monsoon and are prepared to carry a board, you may just get lucky. Unfortunately Sumatra blocks all the big southern swells that create legendary waves in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, but when the southwest monsoon blows it does whip up some reasonable small swells. Karon and Kata beaches both get rough, rideable beach breaks, but if you see any kind of waves hammering the shore here, you’re better off getting into a boat and heading out to a shoal just off the point that separates these two beaches. There are a few boards on the island, and a few closet surfers who come out when the waves are around (and rarely let you in on their secret spots) but overall it’s bring your own and hope for the best.

ADVENTURE CRUISES: EXHILARATING SAILING
The same winds that provide high-speed thrills for boardsailors also make for exhilarating yacht sailing, and Phuket is slowly gaining ground as a major international sailing destination. There’s an ever-increasing number of yacht charter options — that includes selecting the type of charter, the type of yacht and the destination — and certainly there are few better ways to enjoy the majestic landscape of Phang Nga bay than from a yacht under full sail.

Now there’s also a further intriguing option: cruising the islands of the Mergui Archipelago, that chain of thousands of small islands that stretches for 800km up the coast of Myanmar. These islands are virtually unihabited, rarely visited even by the Burmese and have pristine environments full of wildlife. Every trip is still a voyage of discovery, a real adventure.

Three Phuket-based operators are offering combined diving, forest-trekking and island-hopping trips to the Mergui Archipelago from October through to May:

ROCK CLIMBING: THE PROMISED LAND
If you’re a dedicated climber, or if you’re interested in trying this rewarding activity, then Krabi — on the mainland straight across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket — is like the Promised Land. The soaring limestone cliffs here are perfect for rock climbing at all levels, the landscape is magnificent, and the lifestyle and general ambience are idyllic. Climbers flock here from all over the world, and there are now good operators, sensible training courses and hundreds of bolted routes — some up to five pitches in length. If you’re an expert, you’ll love it; if you’re a novice you couldn’t ask for a better place to learn. You can climb pretty much all year round, but November to April has more mild, sunny days, whereas June to September is hot, humid and rainy.

TREKKING: THE COOL JUNGLE
It will be immediately obvious as you drive from Phuket’s airport to the main resort beaches that this island has been heavily developed: not just for tourism or industrial purposes, but also for agriculture. Khao Phra Thaew Park is the only significant remaining stand of virgin rainforest. You can take a short walk here to a scenic waterfall, or you can get a guide from park headquarters and walk all day.

Alternatively, you can explore some of the more extensive national park forests on the mainland. Koh Sok National Park, a few hours drive from Phuket, is a great destination for two-day forest treks. A growing number of operators based on the island have been offering excursions here, and the park now has more than six resorts. The oldest trekking business on Phuket, Siam Safari Nature Tours, no longer run trips to Koh Sok because of overcrowding. Instead they run treks in the easily accessible but less visited rainfoests of Phang Nga Province.

MOUNTAINBIKING: ISLAND HOPPING ON WHEELS
Mountainbiking is a great way to experience Phuket’s natural beauty and the local culture. The island has a number of good roads with little traffic and, instead of bumping into other tourists, you’ll come face to face (or facade) with rural temples and local rubber planters at work. Some tour operators on the island offer combined biking, elephant trekking and jungle walking trips which are ideal if you’re out of shape and want some gentle exercise. On neighbouring Yao Yai and Yao Noi islands there are plenty of back roads and scenic trails for biking, particularly on the east sides of the islands, which face Phang Nga Bay. Mountainbiking is possible year round, but the milder months are better.