After 2 weeks in the heat and congestion of Chiang Mai and Bangkok, we were ready for the beach. There are lots of cheap regional flights leaving each day from Bangkok down to the southern island of Phuket, so we hopped on a plane and made our way down south.
Phuket has tons of beaches and each one is different with its own vibe. After hours of research, we decided to start at Kalim Beach and work our way south. Kalim is a small beach just north of the main beach of Patong. Patong is the main tourist destination of all of Phuket. It is super crowded, the beach is littered with trash, and you can’t get in the water unless you want to constantly dodge careless jet skiers.
Unfortunately, the trip took a bit of a turn for me. I decided to get a Thai massage on Bangla Road, but I had not had a good, professional massage in my entire life, and little did I know that a strong massage can release toxins built up in your body which can make you sick. So sure enough, I got sick. We lost about 2 days with me under the covers with chills and fever. After a consistent diet of bottled water and ibuprofen, I started to feel better and it was time for us to leave.
We decided to skip Patong, for the reasons noted above, and continued south to Kata Beach. We absolutely loved Kata Beach. Kata is a really small town with a laid back vibe and the friendliest people. We found a great Airbnb that sat above a souvenir shop. It was only a 10 minute walk to the beach with plenty of bars, restaurants, and markets all within only a few minutes walk.
The beach at Kata was very clean and a lot less chaotic than Patong. We spent several days laying out and surfing. The waves were incredible: nice offshore wind with perfect sets rolling in all day.
We met a local guy named Mee who owns a little bar right next to our Airbnb called Mee Bar (long haired guy in the pics below). He told us about the big tsunami of 2004 that devastated parts of Phuket. He had gotten really drunk the night before, so he was sound asleep as the tsunami approached. His sister called him repeatedly but he didn’t pick up, so she drove to his place and yanked him out of bed and said, “There’s a tsunami coming! We need to leave now!” He laughed and told us that he was the last person to leave town. He stumbled out of bed and hopped on his moped and headed up the mountain where all the towns people had already gathered. When he arrived, everyone asked him, “Where have you been!?” He said he told them, “I was drunk!”
At any beach in Phuket, you can arrange for boat tours to visit all of the nearby islands. We met a local guy from the US who suggested a good tour company, so we arranged for the full day tour. For about $100, you get picked up at your hotel, driven to the marina, carted around the main islands, driven back to your hotel at the end of the day, plus you get a lunch included. The boat ride was a bit uncomfortable, and we had a weird group of people with us who didn’t want to socialize, but we made the best of it and enjoyed a day of swimming and snorkeling.
The highlight of the trip is the Koh Phi Phi islands. This spot is famous for being featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach.
It was really an incredible experience to hang at that beach, even though it was crammed with tourists. We had about 45 minutes to explore and play around in the water. The first stop though was called Monkey Island, well, because there were monkeys everywhere.
We spent our last day in Phuket visiting the Big Buddha. The views from the top of the hill were amazing, and it was nice to take in the spiritual side of the trip.
We had such an amazing time in Thailand. It was hands down one of our favorite destinations of our journey. We will most definitely return to this beautiful country many times in the future. But for now we had to say so long and continue to our next destination…Cambodia!
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