I often get asked about the best place to go in Phuket, particularly from people wanting to avoid the tourist trap of Patong that feels more like Faliraki than a tropical island.
And so I recorded a video while taking a stroll on Kata beach, I've also compared this with Karon beach; you'll find a link to that review below the video on this page. That way you can decide which beach you want to stay nearest to.
The beach is clean and the water really pleasant, and the views are picture worthy (as you will see in the video).
There is a rocky area at each end where you will see crabs and fish in the shallows, but make sure you wear shoes as some rocks are quite sharp.
If you're a runner, Kata beach is long enough for a relaxing morning run, and even in the day time there's plenty of room to run without bumping into people.
One thing that's nice about Kata beach is that there isn't an overkill of product vendors, and the ones there are tend not to hassle you once you've said “no”.
Thai food is available from local vendors, as is fruit and ice cream.
If you fancy a beer there are drinks available at a few hotels on the beach front.
For the adventurer there's jet-skiing, banana boating and paddle boarding available, too.
It's not the most magical looking beach in the world, but it's very pleasant, and big enough to accommodate everyone without it feeling over-crowded.
You won't be disappointed if you stay near to or on this beach. There's plenty of space even in high season, and just strolling up and down or paddling in the shallows is very pleasant.
>> Now go here to watch the Karon Beach video review.
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Ken says
I guess its pretty much a matter of personal preference when it comes to which beach is best in Phuket but for me Kata is probably number one in my book. There are many reasons for this that I wont go into here but one of the main reasons is that it has the best beach accessible reef in Phuket and I’m an avid free diver. In fact, I usually spend more time underwater there than on the actual beach. The reef is only about 300 yards off shore on the north end of the beach (an easy swim). In the winter months the water is crystal clear and there is an abundance of fish and corals to see. In the off season of course its not really worth going out because the water can be choppy and visibility very poor.
My second favorite beach (a very close second) is Paradise beach. For those of you who have not been there it is a much smaller and more secluded beach with a more laid back feel than Kata. And despite its small size it never seems to be too overcrowded. Once upon a time you could only get there by longtail boat, from Patong but about ten years ago they paved the last part of the road and now it’s easy to get there by motorbike. Paradise also has a very nice reef right off shore similar to the one at Kata. Just remember to go at high tide if you want to explore the reef because when the tide is out the shallow part of the reef is only covered by about a foot of water. You can still explore the deeper parts at low tide but you will need to enter the water from the rocks at either end of the beach. Well, there is also a narrow channel which cuts though the reef which boats use to get in an out during low tide, and you can swim out through this but the problem is its hard to see where it is once your head is at water level. Better just to go at high tide for diving.
Apr 07, 2016 at 2:03 pm
TheThailandLife says
Nice one, Ken. I haven’t been to Paradise so will check that out when I next go to Phuket. I love Railay Beach in Krabi (west side). One of the best beach holidays I’ve had. Need to get a post up on that.
Apr 07, 2016 at 8:52 pm
Ken says
Believe it or not I have not been to Krabi yet but it’s definitely on my list. My nephew wants to go there for the rock climbing so if he ever makes the trip I might go with him. He’s way out of my league as a climber though so I’ll probably just stick to the beaches.
By the way, I forgot to mention before that one of the main advantages to snorkeling/free diving at Kata and Paradise is the lack of boat and jet ski traffic. And this can really be an issue in some other areas. For example I could not really relax while diving off the main beach on Koh Samet because every time I heard a high speed boat coming (which was often) I had to immediately surface and look around to see if it was headed towards me. And I had good reason to be nervous because that very same month a Thai women was killed while scuba diving when she was struck by fast moving boat. Apparently she decided to surface ahead of the rest of her group when she was hit. And from what I understand the propeller split her scull open like a melon and she died instantly.
Of course even slow moving boats can be a problem. When I was diving off Monkey Beach I surfaced right under a Kayaker. And then just 5 minutes later I came up under one of those huge tri-engine speed boats headed out to sea with a boat load of tourists. It was moving very slowly but still, if I had surfaced just 3 seconds later I would have come up right in the propellers. The problem with free diving in such busy places is that when you need air you don’t always have time to take a leisurely scan of the surface for possible dangers before surfacing.
Apr 08, 2016 at 7:43 am
Steve says
Another common one is, when the tourist hands back the jetski, the renter will claim for damage which was already there. They will be intimidating and demand ridiculous amounts of baht for “repairs” to the jetski
Karon is nice, very long and sweeping so never overcrowded. I stayed in Karon on my first ever trip to Thailand. A little quiet for me personally, probably better suited to families. Leam Singh is defo worth a visit. The only issue for some may be the access to the beach. You have to walk down (but more importantly back up) a very steep incline so its not ideal if you’re not the fittest of people. Same goes for Paradise Beach. The road to/from Paradise beach is so steep that we had to take turns riding the bike up the hill as it wasn’t powerful enough when “two-up”. The plus point to that of course is that it puts some people off and is usually quieter than the bigger, more well known beaches.
Dec 14, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Ken says
What kind of bike did you have at paradise? I’ll admit the hill is extremely steep but I never had any problems getting up it on my Honda Wave with my girlfriend on the back. Of course she only weighs 105 lbs and I’m 185 and I suppose even an extra 50 lbs might indeed make it impossible.
Apr 07, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Steve says
I’m a big fan of Kata. Even more so a couple of minutes down the road is Kata Noi which is even nicer and quieter than Kata itself.
I would be careful of renting Jetski’s. But I’m sure most of us have heard of the jetski scams which go on in Phuket.
Obviously everyone has their own opinion, but when it comes to Patong I think it’s party town image is often over exagerated. You can have just as quiet a time in Patong as any other resort in Phuket depending on where you stay. Granted, the beach itself isn’t anywhere close to the best on the Island, but there are some excellent beaches even closer to Patong such as Tri Trang and Paradise beach.
If you get a chance I would recommend heading up to Either of these from Kata and maybe look at Leam Singh too which is just north of Kamala. Its a really nice ride up/down from Kata too
Enjoy the ret of your holiday 🙂
Dec 13, 2012 at 7:08 pm
TheThailandLife says
Hey Steve,
I checked out Karon Beach just down the road and will post up my video of that. I won’t have time to do Leam Singh as I must get back to BKK, but will defo pencil that in for next time. Thanks for the input that will certainly help others visiting Phuket.
I didn’t rent a jetski either. I saw a row though between a renter and a foreigner though. The guy refused to fall for the “I have to charge you double because you went over time” scam.
Dec 14, 2012 at 7:43 pm
bibblies says
Kata Noi is OK. Kata Yai was a bit of an overcrowded dump last time I looked a year or two again. It was fine 18 years ago but now the whole area is too overdeveloped, overpriced and chock full of Russians.
Jan 23, 2013 at 6:50 pm