Phuket Itineraries

Sleep in Kata or Karon. Both beaches are central to the south of the island, 30-40 minutes from Phuket Town and 15 minutes from the Big Buddha and Promthep Cape, and most Phi Phi tours collect from their hotels.

Day one is short by design. Flights from Bangkok land all day, and the Old Town is best from late afternoon, when the heat drops and the shophouse cafes and restaurants open. Walk Thalang Road, Dibuk Road and the pastel shophouses of Soi Romanee, look into the Thai Hua Museum (about 200 baht) for the island’s tin-mining and Hokkien history, and drive up Khao Rang for the view over town at dusk. Eat mee hokkien, moo hong (braised pork belly) or a southern curry with rice; on a Sunday the walking street fills Thalang Road with food stalls.

Day two is the island trip most people come for. A speedboat tour leaves Chalong or Rassada around 8am, reaches Phi Phi Leh in about an hour, and goes round Maya Bay (no swimming, walkway access from the back of the bay only, closed every year from 1 August to 30 September), Pileh Lagoon and Viking Cave, then Monkey Beach, Bamboo Island and lunch on Phi Phi Don. Expect 1,800-3,500 baht plus the 400-baht national park fee. Day three is the classic south loop: the 45-metre marble Big Buddha before the tour buses (free, cover knees and shoulders), Wat Chalong’s chedi, a long swim, and the Promthep Cape sunset.

Cost: about 3,000-4,000 baht for the Phi Phi day including the park fee, 1,000-1,500 baht a day for taxis or Bolt, 800-1,500 baht a day on food. Three mid-range days come to around 15,000-19,000 baht ($450-570) per person with a shared 2,500-baht room.

Keep the three days above and add two. Stay in the same hotel, or move to Kamala or Surin for the last two nights if you want a quieter beach; both are 30-40 minutes from the east-coast piers.

Phang Nga Bay is a different sea from Phi Phi: flat, green water, mangroves, and more than 40 limestone islands rising straight up. The best tours put you in an inflatable canoe paddled by a guide through the tunnels into the hongs at low tide, which a big boat cannot do; ask the tour operator which islands they visit and whether canoeing is included. James Bond Island itself is a 20-minute stop on a crowded beach, so the canoeing and the lunch at Ko Panyi’s floating mosque village are the real value. Sunset tours that stay in the bay after the day crowds leave cost more (3,500-4,500 baht) and are worth it.

Day five depends on what you have missed. If you have had enough boats, the rainforest at Bang Pae and an ethical elephant visit fill a calm day inland; book the sanctuary in advance, as it runs small timed groups. If the sea is the point, Racha Yai is the island with the bright white sand and visibility of 10-20 metres in the dry season.

Cost: five mid-range days run 25,000-31,000 baht ($750-930) per person, or about 9,000-11,000 baht with hostels, one big-boat tour and the Smart Bus.

A week lets you split the trip between two bases on Phuket and one night or two off it. Spend nights 1-4 in Kata or Karon (days 1-4 as above), nights 5-6 on Ko Yao Noi, and night 7 at Nai Yang or Mai Khao near the airport.

Ko Yao Noi sits in the middle of Phang Nga Bay, a 30-minute boat ride from Phuket but with rice fields, rubber plantations, a Muslim fishing community and no high-rise. Long-tail boats from its piers reach the karst islands of the bay before the Phuket tour boats arrive, and you can rent a scooter or bicycle for the flat road around the island. Its bigger neighbour Ko Yao Yai is even quieter. Boats from Bang Rong run roughly hourly in daylight; confirm the last departure (usually late afternoon) before you go.

The last night in the north saves you the morning drive from the south to the airport, which can take 75 minutes. Nai Yang beach is inside Sirinat National Park, lined with casuarina trees and seafood shacks, and a 10-minute taxi from the terminal.

Cost: seven mid-range days run 34,000-42,000 baht ($1,000-1,250) per person, including the Ko Yao boats (about 200-400 baht each way on public boats).

For travellers who want to sleep on the islands rather than day-trip to them, this seven to nine-day route leaves Phuket by ferry, crosses the Andaman to Krabi and ends at Krabi airport or back in Phuket.

A night on Phi Phi is better than a day trip in one specific way: the long-tail boatmen at Ton Sai will take you to Phi Phi Leh at dawn, when Maya Bay holds dozens of people rather than thousands. Phi Phi Don itself is car-free, crowded and loud around Ton Sai at night; Long Beach and Loh Moo Dee on the far side are quieter. You pay a 20-baht landing fee at Ton Sai pier and the 400-baht park fee when you visit Phi Phi Leh.

Railay is a peninsula cut off from the mainland by cliffs, so it is reached only by boat; it has world-class sport climbing on the walls above Ton Sai and the West and East beaches, and the sand at Phra Nang below the cave shrine. From there Ko Lanta is the next ferry south for a longer trip.

The Similan Islands are the best snorkelling and diving in Thailand and open only from 15 October to 15 May, with a daily visitor limit. Book a speedboat day trip at least a few days ahead in December to March; the pickup from Phuket is before dawn and you are back around 7pm. Divers should look at a three or four-day liveaboard instead, which also reaches the Surin Islands and Richelieu Rock. With a day to spare in the north, add Khao Sok and its lake, two hours inland from Khao Lak.

First-timers: follow the three-day plan, base in Kata or Karon, and book the Phi Phi tour with a clear statement of what is included (park fee, lunch, snorkel gear, pickup). Leave Patong for an evening rather than a base unless nightlife is the priority.

Families with children: Kata, Karon and Kata Noi have the gentlest swimming in the dry season, and resorts with pools fill the afternoons. Choose big boats over speedboats for children under about six (smoother, with toilets and shade), keep boat days to two in a week, and add the Phuket Aquarium at Cape Panwa, Splash Jungle water park in Mai Khao and the Old Town’s trick-art and museum stops. Child park fees are half the adult rate.

Monsoon (May to October): the west-coast beaches have red flags and strong rip currents on many days; swim only where lifeguards post green flags. Boat trips still run on calm days, but cancellations are common in August and September; keep the Phi Phi day flexible and put it on the first calm morning. Phang Nga Bay is sheltered and the most reliable boat trip in the rainy season. The Similans are closed, and Maya Bay closes in August and September. Hotel rates drop 30-50 percent, which is the trade-off; see the Thailand best time to visit guide.

On a budget: sleep in Phuket Town (dorms from 250-400 baht, boutique guesthouses from 1,000) and use the Smart Bus and the blue songthaew buses from the Ranong Road market to the beaches. Take the big-boat Phi Phi tour or the public ferry instead of a speedboat, eat at the Old Town shophouses and night markets, and swap Patong for the free sunset at Promthep Cape. A three-day trip then costs about 6,000-8,000 baht.

Slow travel: add two nights in Khao Lak for the long empty beaches and the Similans, or continue to Ko Lanta after Railay. For a whole-country route that links Phuket with Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the Gulf islands, see the Thailand itineraries.